State General Laboratory Annual Report 2019

17 State General laboratory Annual Report 2019 health effects. The results are used in policy making, in the assessment of existing measures and in the design of new policies (2017-2021). 3. "EuroBiotox" - European programme to establish validated procedures for the detection and identification of biological toxins (2017- 2022) 4. "AGROFOOD" (INTERREG V-A). The aim of the project is to highlight traditional and local products of Cyprus and the North Aegean through identification of their authenticity, and enhance their competitiveness (2017-2019). 5. "Carobs, the black gold of Cyprus" . The aim of the project is to create a "forest", organically grown, with 40,000 carob trees, for the production and processing of carobs as well as for the conduct of Research and Development for the production of carob-based products. The aim is the establishment of collaborations with international and local companies, both for the production of existing and conventional products, for which the market demand is increasing, and for the production of new innovative products, based on scientific studies (2018-2021). 6. "Carobs, the black gold of Cyprus – When science meets the industry" . The Project is characterised by strong interdisciplinary synergy between its scientific, industrial and commercial works and aims to play an important role in the development and restoration of the carob industry in Cyprus, in a new modern form. The basic chemical, biochemical and biological properties of the Cyprus carobs will be highlighted through a broad scientific investigation which can be, on the one hand, the basis for the production of new products and, on the other, the discovery of important factors that will determine the productivity of the Cyprus carob trees (2019-2022). 7. "Life with Vultures" (LIFE). The Project supports the overall effort to rescue the Vulture (considered a "natural cleaner" of the countryside) and at the same time to reduce the illegal use of poison bait in the Cypriot countryside, which has an impact on public health (2019-2023). 8. «NatCySoap Production of natural soap from plants of the genus Saponaria» . The aim of the project is the isolation and study of saponin extracts from plants of the genus Saponaria, a common and endemic species of Cyprus, with the ultimate goal of developing antimicrobial soaps" (2019-2021). c) National Research Programmes: i. Seven Pilot research programmes funded by the Ministry of Health. 1. Method development of comparing drug samples using quantitation data 2. Survey on the safety of cosmetic and food supplement products 3. Investigation of the presence of priority substances in treated domestic wastes used to enrich groundwater