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Registration is now open for SPRINT’s conference!

 

Join us as we share our much-anticipated final results and key messages surrounding the impacts of pesticides on environmental and human health. 

 

📅 25 June 2025

📍La Tricoterie, Brussels / online via live stream

🕐 9:00-5:00 CET

 

>> Learn more and register here

 

This event will bring together key stakeholders from European institutions, agriculture, advisory services, NGOs, and research to discuss pressing challenges and innovative solutions.

SPRINT’s experts will present their insights on the environmental and health impacts of pesticides, followed by discussions on transition strategies and successful initiatives to reduce reliance on pesticides.

Participants will have opportunities to exchange ideas and information through interactive discussions, a poster session and informal networking.

The event will place a strong focus on policy recommendations and will encourage active engagement and diverse perspectives. It will conclude with a collective reflection, summarizing key takeaways and outlining future directions.

 

What to expect on the day

 

Morning session: 

⭐ Introduction and context setting

⭐ Keynote speeches from European Commission representatives

⭐ SPRINT project overview and its regulatory context

⭐ Environmental impacts of pesticides: our results

⭐ Human health impacts of pesticides: our results

⭐ Synthesis, policy implications, panel discussion

 

Afternoon session: 

⭐ Invited speaker: shaping the future of sustainable plant protection

⭐ SPRINT toolbox: recommendations for risk assessment and policy

⭐ Cost-benefit analysis results

⭐ Success stories for moving away from pesticide reliance

⭐ Transition pathways: policy recommendations

⭐ Final discussion and panel 

 

We will circulate a final agenda for the day in due course. 

 

Find out more about our venue, La Tricoterie, here: EN - La Tricoterie - Fabrique de liens

If you have any questions about the event, please contact SPRINT: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

 

 

Untitled design

 

We are pleased to share our latest blog post, 'How many pesticides contaminate farmers’ homes and the environment?'. 

Our research reveals widespread presence of hazardous pesticide mixtures—including banned substances—in both conventional and organic farming contexts. It underscores the need for regulators to account for combined effects of multiple pesticides, rather than assessing them in isolation.

Read on to learn about:

  • How many different pesticides we found in each environmental matrix, including indoor dust of farming households, air, water, sediment, and soil; 
  • What these findings mean for health and ecological risk assessments; 
  • Policy recommendations for improving pesticide regulation in Europe.

Read the full blog here: https://sprint-h2020.eu/index.php/blog/item/12-how-many-pesticides-contaminate-farmers-homes-and-the-environment 

 

 

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Join SPRINT’s ‘Ask the Author’ Webinar: Pesticides and Human Gut Health

 

SPRINT is pleased to invite you to our next 'Ask the Author' webinar, taking place on Tuesday, 15th April, from 12:30 to 13:30 (CET).

Register here: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/d70cbbd3-02bd-40ba-ae65-4c7e2469dd83@27d137e5-761f-4dc1-af88-d26430abb18f 

In this session, two researchers will discuss their work on the impact of pesticides on the human gut microbiome, followed by a Q&A session where you can ask your own questions.

 

Meet the Speakers

Maaike Gerritse (Wageningen University & Research): As part of the SPRINT project, Maaike is completing her PhD on the human gut and nasal microbiome in relation to pesticide exposure. She also examines the direct effects of pesticides on human tissue using gut and lung organoids.

Find out more about her work here: https://shorturl.at/uAn5Z

Milla Brandão Gois (University of Groningen): Milla studies the impact of environmental factors on the human gut microbiome, with a particular interest in how environmental, microbiome, and genetic factors interact to influence health.

Read one of her latest papers here: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1223120/full

 

Why is SPRINT studying the microbiome?

Understanding how pesticides affect the microbiome is important as it is a crucial aspect of human health. Read more in our blog post by Maaike: https://sprint-h2020.eu/index.php/blog/item/7-how-and-why-sprint-are-studying-microbiomes

Register now to join this insightful discussion!

 

SPRINT ask the author 3

During our next SPRINT 'ask the author' webinar, Philipp Mäder, PhD researcher and SPRINT partner based at the University of Hohenheim, will provide an overview of his research about the interactive effects of multiple pesticides on soil microorganisms, glyphosate breakdown, and substrate utilisation, alongside providing an overview of some of his other recent experiments, all of which focus on pesticides and soil microorganisms. 

📅 Thu, 20 Mar
⏰ 12:30-13:30 CET, 11:30 - 12:30 GMT

▶️ SIGN UP HERE: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/51e3f59f-ef37-4069-be3f-ddec120d7c47@27d137e5-761f-4dc1-af88-d26430abb18f

In advance of the webinar, check out Philipp's research poster: https://sprint-h2020.eu/index.php/resources/sprint-summaries/research-posters, and his recent paper 'Effects of MCPA and difenoconazole on glyphosate degradation and soil microorganisms', here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749124016403?via%3Dihub