The Cyprus International Institute for Environmental and Public Health of the Cyprus University of Technology joins efforts with 18 partner organizations from 12 countries, in a new EU Horizon2020 project launching January 2020. EPHOR that stands for “Exposome Project for Health and Occupational Research” is a 5-year project, led by TNO (the Netherlands Organization for applied scientific research). One of the novelties of the project is the pooling of large-scale existing occupational data from more than 40 cohorts, comprising data of about 21 million Europeans. EPHOR will contribute to reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases on EU healthcare systems, improving: i) the health and well-being of EU workers, ii) the productivity of the EU workforce and iii) the competitiveness of the EU industry.

The total burden of disease caused by occupational exposure is estimated at 5-7%, similar to the burden of disease resulting from urban air pollution or obesity.  Chronic exposures at the workplace could under certain circumstances lead to diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Τhe aim of the project is to develop a working-life exposome toolbox and ultimately provide evidence-based, cost-effective prevention guidelines to improve health at work. The working-life exposome is defined as all occupational and related non-occupational exposures (e.g., lifestyle, behavior) throughout the course of life.

If you are interested in following the EPHOR project, please visit www.ephor-project.eu (from January 2020).