PNR EST
16/11/2022
Research
2 min

Calls for research projects issued for 2023 as part of the National Research Programme for Environmental and Occupational Health

Today, ANSES is issuing two calls for projects as part of the National Research Programme for Environmental and Occupational Health (PNR EST). The first is dedicated to the themes of environmental and occupational health while the second deals more specifically with the topic of “radiofrequencies and health”. Their aim is to finance research work on current health issues associated with multiple environmental exposures. Researchers interested in taking up challenges related to these issues are invited to submit their proposals by January 2023 at the latest.

Since 2006, ANSES has been coordinating the National Research Programme for Environmental and Occupational Health (PNR EST), which finances research into environmental risks to human health, including in the workplace, and risks to ecosystems. Every year, around 40 projects are funded, for a duration of two to three years. These projects help further research on key questions by considering new risks associated with changes in our environment, consumption patterns and ways of working, the emergence of new infectious diseases, and the development of new technologies. The knowledge acquired is essential for carrying out health assessment work.

The PNR EST 2023 “general” and “radiofrequencies and health” calls for projects are open until 5 and 17 January 2023 respectively.

The general call for projects on environmental and occupational health targets issues identified as priorities in current public policies (French environmental health, occupational health and cancer plans). The topics of interest include:

  • the effects of climate change on health risk factors,
  • the effects of chemical agents including endocrine disruptors,
  • factors promoting cancer,
  • the exposure of workers to emerging risks and the impacts of new technologies and new forms of work organisation,
  • useful forms of civic mobilisation and participation for assessing and taking account of risks.

As part of this general call for projects, an additional budget has been set aside for specific projects dealing with the effects of air quality on health. ANSES also hopes to receive proposals to study the exposome, i.e. all the exposures affecting the health of individuals over their lifetime, as well as proposals whose approach includes the “One Health” concept.

The "radiofrequencies and health" call for projects focuses on four areas of work:

  • the mechanisms of action of radiofrequencies at the cellular and molecular levels,
  • their possible physiological or health effects,
  • electromagnetic hypersensitivity,
  • the characterisation of uses of and exposure to radiofrequencies in real-life situations.

Funding of the PNR EST

The projects selected under the PNR EST are financed by ANSES from budgets delegated by the Ministries of the Environment, Labour, Health and Agriculture, along with two other co-funding partners: the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME), and the AVIESAN alliance's multi-agency thematic institute for cancer (ITMO Cancer) through the French ten-year cancer control strategy.

View the 2023 general call for research projects

View the 2023 call for research projects on "radiofrequencies and health"

Find out more about the National Research Programme for Environmental and Occupational Health.