{"id":294,"date":"2026-02-12T22:01:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T22:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pyropech.imi.hr\/?page_id=294"},"modified":"2026-03-17T09:51:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T09:51:31","slug":"project-summary-sazetak","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pyropech.imi.hr\/index.php\/project-summary-sazetak\/","title":{"rendered":"About PyrOPECh"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em><strong>Note: The project officially ended on 25 March 2025. The dissemination of project results is currently underway.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong>Summary:<\/strong> Epidemiological studies and animal experiments indicate the potential adverse effects of exposure to pyrethroid (PYR) and organophosphate (OP) insecticides on brain and sexual development in children, even at very low exposure levels. However, limited number of studies explored these potential risks during puberty, with inconsistent results and significant methodological limitations, such as insufficiently assessed exposure and cross-sectional study design.&nbsp;The main objective of the proposed research is to assess the risk of PYR and OP insecticide exposure to neuropsychological development and hormonal status in prepubertal and pubertal boys in a 2-year cohort study, while controlling for potential confounders, and using only non-invasive methods.&nbsp;Children\u2019s exposure to PYR and OP insecticides will be assessed by biomonitoring (analysing urinary pesticide metabolites) in the 5th and 7th grades of elementary school, and by dietary exposure assessment &#8211; 24-hour dietary recall on five occasions during 2-year follow-up. In the 5th and 7th grades, neuropsychological development will be evaluated by testing attention, memory and simple psychomotor response speed, and by assessing the characteristics of child\u2019s sleep and behaviour. Pubertal development will be evaluated by clinical examination (according to Tanner and Prader), and urinary gonadotropins and salivary sex hormones (testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate) measurements.&nbsp;The research is expected to 1) increase the knowledge on possible risks of PYR and OP insecticides\u2019 exposure for neurodevelopment and hormonal status in pubertal boys; 2) help to recognise deficiencies and assess available methodology for evaluation of developmental neurotoxicity and endocrine disruption within the framework of regulatory toxicology; 3) improve the insufficient methodology for exposure assessment of non-bioaccumulative pesticides; 4) contribute to the better characterisation of pesticide exposure in the Croatian population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\"><strong>The project was funded by the <strong>Croatian Science Foundation<\/strong>. The project lasted from 1 February 2020 to 25 March 2025.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Project leader:<\/strong> dr. sc. <strong>Veda Marija Varnai<\/strong>, dr. med., znan. savj. u tr. zv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Research team members:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>dr. sc. <strong>\u017deljka Babi\u0107<\/strong>, Ph.D., M.Sc. Pharmacy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Iva Bebek<\/strong>, mag. ing. techn. aliment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Adrijana Bjelajac<\/strong> (ex Ko\u0161\u0107ec), Ph.D., Associate Professor, psychologist &amp; psychotherapist<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>dr. sc. <strong>Jasminka Bobi\u0107<\/strong>, prof. psih., znan. sur. u tr. zv. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>prof. dr. sc. <strong>Selma Cvijeti\u0107 Avdagi\u0107<\/strong>, dr. med., spec. epid., znan. savj. u tr. zv.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Eva An\u0111ela Delale<\/strong>, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, psychologist<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>dr. sc. <strong>Katja Dumi\u0107 Kubat<\/strong>, spec. pedijatrije<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dr<strong>.&nbsp; Jim Garvey<\/strong>, B.Sc. (Hons), Ph.D. Organic Chemistry<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>prim. doc. dr. sc. <strong>Romana Gjergja Jura\u0161ki<\/strong>, dr. med., spec. neuropedijatar<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>dr. sc. <strong>Matijana Jergovi\u0107<\/strong> (ro\u0111. Grgi\u0107), dr. med., spec. epid. i ekolog.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>dr. sc. <strong>Gordana Jurak<\/strong>, dipl. ing. sig.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Andreja Juri\u010d<\/strong>, Ph.D., M. Eng. Bioproc., Scientific Associate<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>izv. prof. dr. sc. <strong>Irena Keser<\/strong>, dipl. ing. preh. teh.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jelena Kova\u010di\u0107<\/strong>, Ph.D., M.Sc. Mathematical Statistics<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>dr. sc. <strong>Sa\u0161a Kralik Ogui\u0107<\/strong>, spec. med. biokem.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bernarda Krni\u0107<\/strong>, dr. med., spec. \u0161kolske medicine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>prim. dr. sc. <strong>Jelena Macan<\/strong>, dr. med., spec. medicine rada i sporta, znan. savj. u tr. zv.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Marija Macan<\/strong>, mag. med. lab. dijag., asistent-doktorand<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>doc. dr. sc. <strong>Marijana Matek Sari\u0107<\/strong>, dipl. ing. bioteh.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dr. <strong>Breige McNulty<\/strong>, Lecturer\/Assistant Professor, Ph.D., B.Sc. (Hons) Human Nutrition<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dr. <strong>Brendan Murray<\/strong>, B.Sc. (Hons), Ph.D. Biochemistry, M.Sc. (Distinction) Applied Toxicology<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>doc. dr. sc. <strong>Vera Musil<\/strong>, dr. med., spec. \u0161kolske medicine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dr.&nbsp; <strong>Anne Nugent<\/strong>, Senior Lecturer, BSc PhD (Nutrition and Immunology), RNutr (Public Health)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tatjana Petri\u010devi\u0107-Vidovi\u0107<\/strong>, dr. med., spec. \u0161kolske medicine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>dr. sc. <strong>Martina Piasek<\/strong>, dr. med., znan. savj. u tr. zv.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Marija Posavec<\/strong>, dr. med., spec. \u0161kolske medicine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>izv. prof. dr. sc. <strong>Snje\u017eana Seku\u0161ak-Gale\u0161ev<\/strong>, prof. psiholog<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>dr. sc. <strong>Antonija Sulimanec<\/strong>, mag. nutr., znan. sur.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Patricia Tomac<\/strong>. mag. psih., asistent-doktorand<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>mr. sc. <strong>Rajka Turk<\/strong>, mag. pharm. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health staff who participated in project activities<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Silvija Bo\u0161kovi\u0107<\/strong>, bacc. med. tehn., vi\u0161a tehn.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Adriana Gustovarac<\/strong>,&nbsp; mag. med. lab. dijag.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Marija Kujund\u017ei\u0107<\/strong>, mag. ing. sec., stru\u010d. sur. u sustavu znanosti<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jagoda Mandi\u0107<\/strong>, nurse, teh. sur.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kre\u0161imir Neki\u0107,<\/strong> kem. tehn., teh. sur.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Franka \u0160aki\u0107<\/strong>, mag. med. tehn., stru\u010d. sur. u sustavu znanosti<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Emin Veledar<\/strong>, M.Sc. Pharmacy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Monika Vuleti\u0107<\/strong>, mag. med. lab. dijag., vi\u0161a tehn.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Volunteers who participated in project activities:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Tamara Be\u0161eni\u0107<\/strong>, mag. psych.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Milo\u0161 Bjelajac<\/strong>, dipl. in\u017e. metalurgije<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ivona Bukvi\u0107<\/strong>, psychology student<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lea Dereani<\/strong>, psychology student<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Marija Magdalena \u0160amal<\/strong>, mag. psych.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Marko \u0160antek<\/strong>, dipl. oec.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Note: The project officially ended on 25 March 2025. The dissemination of project results is currently underway. Summary: Epidemiological studies and animal experiments indicate the potential adverse effects of exposure to pyrethroid (PYR) and organophosphate (OP) insecticides on brain and sexual development in children, even at very low exposure levels. However, limited number of studies &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/pyropech.imi.hr\/index.php\/project-summary-sazetak\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">About PyrOPECh<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":324,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-294","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pyropech.imi.hr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pyropech.imi.hr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pyropech.imi.hr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pyropech.imi.hr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pyropech.imi.hr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/pyropech.imi.hr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":475,"href":"https:\/\/pyropech.imi.hr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/294\/revisions\/475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pyropech.imi.hr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pyropech.imi.hr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pyropech.imi.hr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}