Research activities under this topic should explore evidence on the causal link between exposure to different pollutants (focusing on specific pollutants or a combination thereof) and the development or progression of neurological, neurodegenerative or neurodevelopmental diseases or disorders. Proposals can consider occupational, living and/or social environments and include one or more vulnerable, sensitive or exposed population groups. More specifically research actions under this topic should include several of the following activities while focusing either on neurological, neurodegenerative or neurodevelopmental diseases or disorders:

• Gain better insights on the pathogenesis and the molecular, genetic and epigenetic pathways and biological mechanisms involved in the onset and progression of disease, considering emerging pollutants, specific windows of susceptibility and adopting, when relevant, a life-course approach. Synergistic neurotoxic effects and realistic doses and duration of exposure should also be considered;
• Generate evidence on the impacts of pollution in comorbidities associated to neurodegenerative, neurological or neurodevelopmental diseases and disorders;
• Develop and/or validate better in-vivo, in-silico and in-vitro models, instruments and/or methods and take advantage (as applicable) of structural, functional and molecular imaging methods (e.g. MRI nuclear imaging), multi-omics and bioinformatics to study disease causation and evolution, considering, among others, also epigenetic factors and providing better biomarkers for early detection and disease progression;
• Apply the exposome framework to advance the understanding of the role of environment on neurodegenerative diseases research; elucidating the neuroexposome and emphasizing the brain’s distinctive responses to environmental exposures;
• Contribute to the development of health indicators to inform mitigation and prevention measures, incorporating, when relevant, an intersectional approach that considers diverse individual characteristics such as sex, gender, age, ethnicity, and disability and socioeconomic and lifestyle factors;
• Strengthen the understanding of the possible causative link between exposure and incidence of disease by taking advantage of well-designed longitudinal studies (considering exposure duration and differences in exposure composition, geographical location and sources), rigorously controlled epidemiologic studies and/or clinical, real-world and/or cohort data (building on existing national and international cohorts when available);
• Generate evidence on the potential association between the accumulated long-term exposure of workers and consumers to pollutants (including low-level exposure) and neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. The development of neurodevelopmental disorders in children following parental exposure could also be evaluated.

Gender and sex-related differences should be addressed, where appropriate.

Applicants are encouraged to consider the use of experimental methods not using live animals, where relevant and allowing to obtain data of comparable validity.

Applicants should be acquainted with the activities being developed under the Environment, climate and health research portfolio, the EFSA activities under Environmental Neurotoxicants and Developmental neurotoxicity and the Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals – PARC.

This topic requires the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH) disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

Proposals should take advantage of and connect to European research infrastructures and services in the area of environmental exposure assessment.

Proposals should ensure that chemical monitoring including human biomonitoring data are shared in the Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring (IPCHEM) through involvement with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), and/or in the future Common Data Platform for Chemicals, through involvement with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) or other relevant decentralised EU agency (such as the European Environment Agency – EEA) responsible for the specific domain. In that respect, the JRC, ECHA or other relevant decentralised EU agency(ies) should collaborate with any successful proposal and this collaboration, when relevant, should be established after the proposal’s approval.

In order to maximise synergies and increase the impact of the projects, all proposals selected for funding from this topic will form a cluster and be required to participate in common networking and joint activities. Without the prerequisite to detail concrete joint activities, proposals should allocate a sufficient budget for the attendance of regular joint meetings and to cover the costs of any other potential common networking and joint activities. Guidance on the potential activities to be developed can be obtained by consulting the clusters of projects ongoing under the Environment, climate and health research portfolio.