State General Laboratory Annual Report 2019

16 State General laboratory Annual Report 2019 RESEARCH APPLIED RESEARCH Applied research is an important pillar of the continuous scientific and technological development of the SGL. Research carried out contributes towards problem-solving and prevention as well as supporting policy decisions and legislation, while boosting socioeconomic growth. The main areas of research cover especially food safety and quality, food authenticity and geographical origin, water, environment and health, consumer products as well as narcotics. Research is carried out primarily with EU funds but also with national funds by the Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF) and the Ministry of Health. During 2019, the SGL utilised € 404,836 from national and EU funds for research programmes. The SGL participates, through its Director, in the National Committee of Research and Innovation Coordinators (R&D) representing the Ministry of Health. The results of the above research activities have been presented in international conferences and published in international, well-established, scientific journals and magazines, as well as on the SGL’s website and in the local mass media for keeping updated both the scientific community and the public at large. In 2019, the SGL started or continued the following 19 research projects / studies: a) Two EU Research programmes funded by the European Food Safety Authority: 1. EFSA Multi-Annual Focal Point Grant Agreement (2015-2022) 2. "Risk characterisation of Ciguatera food poisoning in Europe" signed under Framework Partnership Agreement GP/EFSA/AFSCO/2015/03 for the "Evaluation of ciguatoxins (ctxs) in seafood and the environment for the risk assessment of ciguatera fish poisoning (cfp), with the consequent obtainment of reference material" (2016-2020) b) Eight EU Research programmes funded by the Research Promotion Foundation, Horizon2020, INTERREG, LIFE: 1. "EuroMix: Horizon 2020 EU project: Assessing the health risks of combined human exposure to multiple food-related toxic substances" (2015 - 2019) 2. "European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU)" . The aim of the project is to provide scientific support for the safe management of chemical substances and the protection of human health by using biomonitoring studies to understand the exposure of humans to chemicals and the resulting