Analytical Quality Requirements in Human Biomonitoring Programs: Trace Elements in Human Blood

Janja Snoj Tratnik, Darja Mazej and Milena Horvat
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Janja Snoj Tratnik: ‘Jožef Stefan’ Institute, Department of Environmental Sciences, Jamova cesta 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Darja Mazej: ‘Jožef Stefan’ Institute, Department of Environmental Sciences, Jamova cesta 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Milena Horvat: ‘Jožef Stefan’ Institute, Department of Environmental Sciences, Jamova cesta 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 13, 1-16

Abstract: Human biomonitoring (HBM) programs consist of several interrelated and equally important steps. Of these steps, the study design must answer a specific question: How many individuals must be recruited in order to define the spatial or temporal trends of exposure to environmental pollutants in a given HBM study? Two components must be considered at this stage: the population variability of the expected exposure and the performance characteristics of the analytical methods used. The objective of the present study was to quantify the contribution to the required sample size arising from (i) measurement uncertainty and (ii) inter-laboratory measurement variability. For this purpose, the sample size was calculated using the measurement uncertainty of one laboratory, inter-laboratory comparison exercise data, and population variability for commonly studied metals (mercury, cadmium, and lead) in blood. Measurement uncertainty within one laboratory proved to have little influence on the sample size requirements, while the inter-laboratory variability of the three metals increased the requirements considerably, particularly in cases of low population variability. The multiple laboratories approach requires that laboratory variability be considered as early as the planning stage; a single-laboratory approach is thus a cost-effective compromise in HBM to reduce variability due to the participation of different laboratories.

Keywords: human biomonitoring; inter-laboratory comparison; measurement uncertainty; quality control; sample size; trace elements (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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