Harmonization of Human Biomonitoring Studies in Europe: Characteristics of the HBM4EU-Aligned Studies Participants

Liese Gilles, Eva Govarts, Laura Rodriguez Martin, Anna-Maria Andersson, Brice M. R. Appenzeller, Fabio Barbone, Argelia Castaño, Dries Coertjens, Elly Den Hond, Vazha Dzhedzheia, Ivan Eržen, Marta Esteban López, Lucia Fábelová, Clémence Fillol, Carmen Franken, Hanne Frederiksen, Catherine Gabriel, Line Småstuen Haug, Milena Horvat, Thórhallur Ingi Halldórsson, Beata Janasik, Nataša Janev Holcer, Réka Kakucs, Spyros Karakitsios, Andromachi Katsonouri, Jana Klánová, Tina Kold-Jensen, Marike Kolossa-Gehring, Corina Konstantinou, Jani Koponen, Sanna Lignell, Anna Karin Lindroos, Konstantinos C. Makris, Darja Mazej, Bert Morrens, Ľubica Palkovičová Murínová, Sónia Namorado, Susana Pedraza-Diaz, Jasmin Peisker, Nicole Probst-Hensch, Loïc Rambaud, Valentina Rosolen, Enrico Rucic, Maria Rüther, Dimosthenis Sarigiannis, Janja Snoj Tratnik, Arnout Standaert, Lorraine Stewart, Tamás Szigeti, Cathrine Thomsen, Hanna Tolonen, Ása Eiríksdóttir, An Van Nieuwenhuyse, Veerle J. Verheyen, Jelle Vlaanderen, Nina Vogel, Wojciech Wasowicz, Till Weber, Jan-Paul Zock, Ovnair Sepai and Greet Schoeters
Additional contact information
Liese Gilles: VITO Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), 2400 Mol, Belgium
Eva Govarts: VITO Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), 2400 Mol, Belgium
Laura Rodriguez Martin: VITO Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), 2400 Mol, Belgium
Anna-Maria Andersson: Department of Growth and Reproduction, Copenhagen University Hospital-Rigshospitalet, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Brice M. R. Appenzeller: Department of Precision Health, Luxembourg Institute of Health, 1445 Strassen, Luxembourg
Fabio Barbone: Department of Medicine—DAME, University of Udine, Via Colugna 50, 33100 Udine, Italy
Argelia Castaño: Centro Nacional de Sanidad Ambiental (CNSA), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
Dries Coertjens: Department of Sociology, University of Antwerp, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
Elly Den Hond: Provincial Institute for Hygiene, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Vazha Dzhedzheia: Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Ivan Eržen: National Institute of Public Health, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Marta Esteban López: Centro Nacional de Sanidad Ambiental (CNSA), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
Lucia Fábelová: Faculty of Public Health, Slovak Medical University, 833 03 Bratislava, Slovakia
Clémence Fillol: Santé Publique France, Environmental and Occupational Health Division, 94415 Saint-Maurice, France
Carmen Franken: Provincial Institute for Hygiene, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Hanne Frederiksen: Department of Growth and Reproduction, Copenhagen University Hospital-Rigshospitalet, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Catherine Gabriel: Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Line Småstuen Haug: Division for Climate and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, 0213 Oslo, Norway
Milena Horvat: Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Thórhallur Ingi Halldórsson: Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Iceland, 102 Reykjavik, Iceland
Beata Janasik: Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine (NIOM), 91-348 Lodz, Poland
Nataša Janev Holcer: Croatian Institute of Public Health, Division for Environmental Health, 1000 Zagreb, Croatia
Réka Kakucs: National Public Health Center, 1097 Budapest, Hungary
Spyros Karakitsios: Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Andromachi Katsonouri: Cyprus State General Laboratory, Ministry of Health , P.O. Box 28648, 2081 Nicosia, Cyprus
Jana Klánová: Masaryk University Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), 625 00 Bohunice, Czech Republic
Tina Kold-Jensen: Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Pharmacy and Environmental Medicine, University of Southern Denmark, 5000 Odense, Denmark
Marike Kolossa-Gehring: German Environment Agency (UBA), 14195 Berlin, Germany
Corina Konstantinou: Cyprus International Institute for Environmental and Public Health, Cyprus University of Technology, 3603 Limassol, Cyprus
Jani Koponen: Department of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), P.O. Box 30, 00271 Helsinki, Finland
Sanna Lignell: Swedish Food Agency, 751 26 Uppsala, Sweden
Anna Karin Lindroos: Swedish Food Agency, 751 26 Uppsala, Sweden
Konstantinos C. Makris: Cyprus International Institute for Environmental and Public Health, Cyprus University of Technology, 3603 Limassol, Cyprus
Darja Mazej: Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Bert Morrens: Department of Sociology, University of Antwerp, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
Ľubica Palkovičová Murínová: Faculty of Public Health, Slovak Medical University, 833 03 Bratislava, Slovakia
Sónia Namorado: National Institute of Health, 1649-016 Lisbon, Portugal
Susana Pedraza-Diaz: Centro Nacional de Sanidad Ambiental (CNSA), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
Jasmin Peisker: German Environment Agency (UBA), 14195 Berlin, Germany
Nicole Probst-Hensch: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
Loïc Rambaud: Santé Publique France, Environmental and Occupational Health Division, 94415 Saint-Maurice, France
Valentina Rosolen: Institute for Maternal and Child Health—IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, 34137 Trieste, Italy
Enrico Rucic: German Environment Agency (UBA), 14195 Berlin, Germany
Maria Rüther: German Environment Agency (UBA), 14195 Berlin, Germany
Dimosthenis Sarigiannis: Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Janja Snoj Tratnik: Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Arnout Standaert: VITO Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), 2400 Mol, Belgium
Lorraine Stewart: UK Health Security Agency, London SE1 8UG, UK
Tamás Szigeti: National Public Health Center, 1097 Budapest, Hungary
Cathrine Thomsen: Division for Climate and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, 0213 Oslo, Norway
Hanna Tolonen: Department of Health Security, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), P.O. Box 95, 70701 Kuopio, Finland
Ása Eiríksdóttir: Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Iceland, 102 Reykjavik, Iceland
An Van Nieuwenhuyse: Department Health Protection, Laboratoire National de Santé, 3555 Dudelange, Luxembourg
Veerle J. Verheyen: VITO Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), 2400 Mol, Belgium
Jelle Vlaanderen: Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands
Nina Vogel: German Environment Agency (UBA), 14195 Berlin, Germany
Wojciech Wasowicz: Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine (NIOM), 91-348 Lodz, Poland
Till Weber: German Environment Agency (UBA), 14195 Berlin, Germany
Jan-Paul Zock: National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), 3721 MA Bilthoven, The Netherlands
Ovnair Sepai: UK Health Security Agency, London SE1 8UG, UK
Greet Schoeters: VITO Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), 2400 Mol, Belgium

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 11, 1-23

Abstract: Human biomonitoring has become a pivotal tool for supporting chemicals’ policies. It provides information on real-life human exposures and is increasingly used to prioritize chemicals of health concern and to evaluate the success of chemical policies. Europe has launched the ambitious REACH program in 2007 to improve the protection of human health and the environment. In October 2020 the EU commission published its new chemicals strategy for sustainability towards a toxic-free environment. The European Parliament called upon the commission to collect human biomonitoring data to support chemical’s risk assessment and risk management. This manuscript describes the organization of the first HBM4EU-aligned studies that obtain comparable human biomonitoring (HBM) data of European citizens to monitor their internal exposure to environmental chemicals. The HBM4EU-aligned studies build on existing HBM capacity in Europe by aligning national or regional HBM studies. The HBM4EU-aligned studies focus on three age groups: children, teenagers, and adults. The participants are recruited between 2014 and 2021 in 11 to 12 primary sampling units that are geographically distributed across Europe. Urine samples are collected in all age groups, and blood samples are collected in children and teenagers. Auxiliary information on socio-demographics, lifestyle, health status, environment, and diet is collected using questionnaires. In total, biological samples from 3137 children aged 6–12 years are collected for the analysis of biomarkers for phthalates, HEXAMOLL ® DINCH, and flame retardants. Samples from 2950 teenagers aged 12–18 years are collected for the analysis of biomarkers for phthalates, Hexamoll ® DINCH, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), and samples from 3522 adults aged 20–39 years are collected for the analysis of cadmium, bisphenols, and metabolites of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The children’s group consists of 50.4% boys and 49.5% girls, of which 44.1% live in cities, 29.0% live in towns/suburbs, and 26.8% live in rural areas. The teenagers’ group includes 50.6% girls and 49.4% boys, with 37.7% of residents in cities, 31.2% in towns/suburbs, and 30.2% in rural areas. The adult group consists of 52.6% women and 47.4% men, 71.9% live in cities, 14.2% in towns/suburbs, and only 13.4% live in rural areas. The study population approaches the characteristics of the general European population based on age-matched EUROSTAT EU-28, 2017 data; however, individuals who obtained no to lower educational level (ISCED 0–2) are underrepresented. The data on internal human exposure to priority chemicals from this unique cohort will provide a baseline for Europe’s strategy towards a non-toxic environment and challenges and recommendations to improve the sampling frame for future EU-wide HBM surveys are discussed.

Keywords: human biomonitoring; joint HBM4EU survey; children; teenagers; adults (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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