BRISA, short for Breakthrough Research on Industrial Safety Against Airborne Carcinogens and Emerging Pollutants, will address this challenge through an integrated approach combining safer material and process design, real-time monitoring technologies, artificial intelligence, regulatory intelligence and worker training.

The project officially launched during its kick-off meeting on 15-16 June 2026 at the Instituto de Tecnología Cerámica (ITC), located on the Universitat Jaume I campus in Castellón, Spain.

BRISA is coordinated by the Spanish research and technology organisation Asociación de Investigación de las Industrias Cerámicas (AICE). Irina Celades, Project Coordinator at AICE, says: “As part of the Coordination Team of the BRISA project, AICE is strongly committed to advancing the implementation of Safe and Sustainable by Design principles across industrial value chains. BRISA represents a key European initiative to foster cross-sector collaboration, generate robust knowledge, and support the development of innovative, science-based solutions that contribute to the transition towards a circular, climate-neutral and resilient economy.”

Over the next 48 months, BRISA will develop and validate its solutions across five industrial pilot settings: the ceramic industry in Spain, a sand-casting foundry in Germany, end-of-life tyre recycling in Poland, mineral filler and plastics processing in Türkiye, and plastics recycling in the Netherlands.

Its work will focus on four areas:

• Creating harmonised knowledge and datasets on carcinogenic and emerging airborne pollutants.
• Supporting safer and more sustainable material formulations and industrial processes.
• Deploying robust, low-cost monitoring systems and AI-supported digital twins to predict and manage emissions.
• Providing immersive training tools that help workers strengthen safety practices across the supply chain.

By 2035, BRISA aims to support deployment of its solutions in 600 to 800 industrial facilities, helping protect more than 45,000 workers while reducing material consumption and energy use.

Fraunhofer ITEM's Contribution

Fraunhofer ITEM contributes its extensive expertise in assessing health risks associated with chemical substances and airborne particles in the workplace to the BRISA project. Acting as a scientific "Safety Gatekeeper", the institute supports from a safety and risk assessment perspective the development of the project's solutions for exposure reduction to hazardous substances at different workplaces. The aim is to identify potential health risks at an early stage, evaluate them based on sound scientific evidence, and provide recommendations for safe and responsible implementation. In doing so, Fraunhofer ITEM helps to ensure that technological innovation and safety are considered hand in hand throughout the project.