About
Coordinated by the Institute of Ceramic Technology (ITC) in Spain, BRISA combines research, technology and industrial expertise to reduce workers’ exposure to harmful airborne pollutants in energy-intensive industries.
The project is developing safer materials and processes, smart monitoring technologies, AI-supported predictive tools and human-centred protection measures. These solutions will be tested across five industrial pilots, turning scientific knowledge into practical approaches for safer, cleaner and more sustainable workplaces.
Building the next generation of industrial prevention
Industrial processes continue to evolve as Europe moves towards more sustainable, circular and digitally connected production. This transition creates opportunities to improve how airborne substances are understood and managed across both primary manufacturing and recycling.
BRISA, which stands for Breakthrough Research on Industrial Safety Against Airborne Carcinogens and Emerging Pollutants, is a four-year Horizon Europe research and innovation project.
The project will develop and demonstrate an integrated approach for reducing exposure to selected airborne pollutants associated with industrial materials and processes. It combines prevention at source, improved monitoring, AI-supported forecasting, continuous risk management, adaptive protection and worker training.
Methodology layers:
BRISA applies a multi-layered methodology to reduce workers' exposure to harmful airborne substances.
Intelligence and Knowledge Base
We consolidate regulatory, toxicological, and exposure intelligence into FAIR datasets and harmonised protocols to support consistent, comparable decision-making.
Integrated Intervention and Control
We operationalise the Hierarchy of Controls through:
Safer substitution routes (for example low-silica feedstocks, safer binders, coated minerals, and safer recycled polymers)
Smart monitoring using semi-fixed, wearable, and stack sensor units, combined with AI-enabled digital twins to predict risks
Adaptive protection with continuous risk management, alerts with human involvement, and immersive training
Systemic Assessment and Transfer
We validate solutions across five industrial pilots (ceramics, foundry, mineral fillers, ELT recycling, and plastics recycling), combining TRL6 demonstrations with sustainability and tox/ecotox evidence, techno-economic analysis, and a quantitative scoring framework built for safety.
