BEST-COST is a 4-year EU-funded research project aiming to improve methodologies for understanding the socioeconomic cost of environmental stressors, with a focus on air and noise pollution.

Spring Edition 2026

Welcome to the latest edition of the BEST-COST newsletter. We are now in the final year of the project, and it is exciting to see results coming through as well as to have ongoing collaborative discussions with other researchers and policymakers on the project outcomes.

In February, BEST-COST hosted its ideathon: an online hackathon, but for researchers. The ideathon created discussions on how the BEST-COST research methods for air and noise pollution can be transferred to other environmental stressors, such as heat, chemicals, and green spaces.

As part of our work to bring the BEST-COST methods to more researchers, our healthiar R package now has its own website, complete with guiding documents to make full use of its tools.

As we look towards the conclusion of the project, we are happy to share with you that the BEST-COST final conference will take place on 25 November in Brussels, and is co-organised with the METEOR cluster and UBDPolicy project. Together, we will explore how the projects’ results can feed into decision-making to create more sustainable and health-protecting environments enjoyed by all.

To not miss out on any of the news, you can visit the BEST-COST website and follow us on LinkedIn.

Brecht Devleesschauwer,
BEST-COST Project Coordinator and Head of Health information at Sciensano

News from BEST-COST

Article published: Exposure-response relationship between transportation noise and cardiovascular disease outcomes

Researchers from BEST-COST reviewed epidemiological evidence that links long-term exposure to road traffic, railway, and aircraft noise with different cardiovascular health outcomes, to derive exposure-response functions. This study shows that substantial new evidence on transportation noise sources and health outcomes has emerged since the last WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines, revealing the significant link between long-term exposure and increased risk of stroke and heart attacks.

Read the article

Article published: Burden of disease attributable to PM2.5 at low exposure levels: impact of methodological choices

Exposure to fine particles has been associated with adverse health outcomes, even at low exposure levels. Burden of disease assessments can quantify these associations, however, there are comparison limits between different assessment studies. BEST-COST partners aimed to quantify the impact of methodological choices on disease burden attributable to low levels of ambient PM2.5, using Norway as a case study.

Read the article

healthiar website now live

The BEST-COST R package healthiar now has its own website, complete with guiding documents to help researchers make the most of the tool for calculating the burden of disease linked to different environmental exposures (including air and noise pollution). Since its launch on CRAN (the official R repository), healthiar has been downloaded more than 1,700 times.

BEST-COST ideathon on using research methods for other environmental stressors

BEST-COST invited scientific researchers working on various environmental health topics to take part in its ideathon. This online workshop explored how the BEST-COST environmental burden of disease methodology and tools can be transferred to other environmental stressors beyond air and noise pollution, and to health-promoting factors such as green spaces. Discussions from the ideathon will feed into BEST-COST policy recommendations aiming to guide policymakers in implementing effective environmental policies that consider health impacts.

BEST-COST presented at the Egas Moniz Center for Interdisciplinary Research

On 13 March 2026, the Egas Moniz School of Health & Science hosted a dedicated research meeting to offer a comprehensive overview of the institution’s research activities, organised by the Egas Moniz Center for Interdisciplinary Research (CiiEM). Representing BEST-COST, Mariana Corda of Egaz Moniz School addressed the complex challenges of modern public health and the impact of the environment on health. By sharing BEST-COST's current progress and future milestones, Mariana demonstrated how the evidence generated throughout the project will support the implementation of evidence-based policies to ultimately improve population health.

Video on environmental burden of disease

BEST-COST is using the environmental burden of disease methodology to evaluate the impact of health interventions and enable more informed policy and research. Watch our explainer video to learn more about the environmental burden of disease and BEST-COST’s research.

Watch the video

Save the date: BEST-COST final conference - 25 November 2025

BEST-COST is organising its final conference, ‘Health, environment, climate: an EU agenda to reduce the burden of disease and inequalities’, with the METEOR cluster and UBDPolicy on 25 November 2026 in Brussels. Connecting researchers, high-level policymakers and civil society, the discussions will bring together conclusions from the different research projects with an eye on how to transform the results into policy action. More information will be provided in the next months.

What we're reading

‘The 2026 Europe report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: narrowing window for decisive health action’, Lancet Countdown Europe: The third Lancet Countdown report on health and climate change in Europe tracks the health effects of climate change adaptation and mitigation action, and the current state of play of various health risks. Europe is progressing on the shift from fossil fuels that harm air quality, however other influences and noise pollution sources remain a threat.
‘Air quality status in Europe 2026’, European Environment Agency: The latest report on air quality in Europe from the EEA finds that air quality continues to improve due to dedicated policy legislation, however pollutant levels remain high above WHO standards in many areas of Europe.
‘Pollution and mental health: current scientific evidence’, European Environment Agency: A new EEA briefing finds that long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is associated with depression and depressive symptoms. Road traffic and aircraft noise can also raise the risk of depression and anxiety — particularly for those most vulnerable.
'Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health: Call to Action', WHO Europe: The Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health published its recommendations for governments to treat climate change as a growing threat to health and wellbeing.

Coming up

14-18 June 2026: BEST-COST will be represented at the Indoor Air 2026 conference by Le Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment (CSTB), who will present their abstract on ‘Estimation of air exchange rates, infiltration factors and indoor generated concentrations of NO2 in French dwellings using the HealthVent approach’.
14-17 July 2026: Researchers from the University of Porto will present their work on health monetisation as part of BEST-COST at the EuHEA Conference on ‘Bridging health economics excellence in research & practice’.
30 August-2 September: The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute will present the BEST-COST R package healthiar at the ISEE 2026 conference which will be centred around ‘Environmental Epidemiology in a Changing World’.
25 November: The BEST-COST final conference will take place in Brussels, jointly with the METEOR Cluster and UBDPolicy project, to present key findings from each project and facilitate conversations between research and policy.

BEST-COST is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under Grant Agreement No.101095408.

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