Research agenda
RECETOX research focuses on the study of contaminants and their behavior, long-distance transport modeling and bioaccumulation in living organisms. It includes evaluation of the effects of toxic substances, their environmental and health risks, and developing technologies and biotechnologies to break them down.
Interdisciplinary approach
The extensive expertise of RECETOX staff enables us to explore the interdisciplinary relationships between ecosystem contamination and population health, biodiversity or climate change, assess local and regional impacts, and develop new remediation and remediation technologies for water and soil.
Environment and Health
In recent years, the Center's research has expanded to include research into issues related to a wide range of factors affecting human health and well-being, the so-called exposome, chemical safety and the development of biotechnology, materials and bioinformatics tools for biomedicine.
Our motivation
As a result of the increasing burden of chronic diseases, aging populations and increasing societal demands, most developed countries are facing long-term rising healthcare costs and thus pressure on health insurance systems. This makes chronic diseases, together with health inequalities, one of the most difficult problems of the 21st century that cannot be effectively addressed without clarifying and exploring the factors that determine the health of humans and entire populations..
Individuals and populations are exposed to a number of physical influences, such as heat, noise or light pollution, as well as a wide range of chemicals and mixtures thereof. They enter the body through food, products which are used daily, water or ambient air, but also through indoor environments (buildings, offices) or by the nature of ones profession. Many of these chemicals have been shown to interfere with the proper functioning of the endocrine or immune system, causing neurodevelopmental, metabolic or reproductive disorders. The combined effects of toxic mixtures and other environmental factors that also affect stress, socio-economic determinants, lifestyle or eating habits are not yet fully understood.
Our aim is therefore to build a research capacity to examine the exposure of the population to the above-mentioned environmental factors (so-called exposome), to estimate the internal exposure and individual sensitivity of individuals, to predict risks to human health and to contribute to clarifying the etiology of chronic conditions.