New project - PERSEE

The kick-off meeting of the PERSEE project was held on 22 January 2026. The project is funded by ANSES under the Environment-Health-Work Research Call for Proposals (APR EST, No. 25‑EST‑178). The event brought together all scientific partners involved in the project: UMR EPOC 5805 CNRS, UMR ECosys INRAE, and IBACON (Germany). PERSEE aims to develop a new methodological approach (New Approach Methodology, NAM) to improve the ecotoxicological assessment of persistent substances. These compounds, characterized by their strong environmental stability, pose major challenges for risk assessment, particularly due to their potential long-term effects.

In contrast with conventional approaches, which generally rely on short-term exposure studies, PERSEE proposes to integrate multigenerational experimental designs to better characterize the chronic effects of contaminants. This strategy seeks to detect delayed impacts and to improve understanding of adaptation dynamics in exposed populations. The project focuses on TFA (trifluoroacetic acid), a widely occurring persistent substance in the environment whose long-term ecotoxicological effects remain poorly documented. By incorporating both temporal and evolutionary dimensions, PERSEE aims to advance ecotoxicology practices toward approaches that more accurately reflect real environmental conditions. Ultimately, the project will contribute to the development of new toxicity indicators that account for cumulative effects and the adaptive capacities of populations across generations.