Human Biomonitoring

Abstract

Nowadays humans are exposed to a myriad of man-made chemical pollutants that can impact human health and the environment. Human biomonitoring (HBM)—that is, the measurement of chemicals and/or their biotransformation metabolites and reaction products in human specimens (body fluids such as blood or urine and tissues)—is an important tool for evaluating risks to human health due to their exposure. This is because HBM is used to provide a better estimate of the internal exposure to chemicals and/or their metabolites considering multiple sources and routes, which in turn will provide a more real picture of their internal concentration, or body burden. HBM has had important outcomes in human and environmental health protection, including the prohibition of use of highly hazardous chemicals such as metals (e.g. lead) and organic compounds (polychlorinated and polybrominated biphenyls). Moreover, HBM also has other important applications, including for the estimation of exposure trends to different substances (e.g. emerging pollutants) and to develop robust public health policies and recommendations, including the assessment of their efficacy. This chapter provides a description of HBM and the instruments and strategies that this tool uses to obtain HBM values, including how to perform an appropriate HBM study and how to interpret the data gained. This chapter concludes by describing future challenges to enhance HBM, which includes the development of harmonised, consistent and rational approach to HBM, which will be critical for a better identification of emerging risks and for developing more robust and applicable public health interventions and policies.