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Biomonitoring as an Underused Exposure Assessment Tool in Occupational Safety and Health Context-Challenges and Way Forward.

  • Viegas S NOVA National School of Public Health, Public Health Research Centre, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1600-560 Lisbon, Portugal.
  • Zare Jeddi M Unit of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Cardio-Thoraco-Vascular Sciences and Public Health, 35100 Padova, Italy.
  • B Hopf N Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, 1000 Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • Bessems J VITO-Flemish Institute for Technological Research, BE-2400 Mol, Belgium.
  • Palmen N RIVM-National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, 3721 MA Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
  • S Galea K Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM), Edinburgh EH14 4AP, UK.
  • Jones K Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Harpur Hill, Buxton SK17 9JN, UK.
  • Kujath P BAuA-Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, D-10317 Berlin, Germany.
  • Duca RC Unit Environmental Hygiene and Human Biological Monitoring, Department of Health Protection, National Health Laboratory, Dudelange, 3555 Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
  • Verhagen H European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), 43126 Parma, Italy.
  • Santonen T FIOH-Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, P.O. Box 40, FI-00032 Työterveyslaitos, Finland.
  • Pasanen-Kase R State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Labour Directorate Section Chemicals and Work (ABCH), 3003 Berne, Switzerland.
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  • 2020-08-23
Published in:
  • International journal of environmental research and public health. - 2020
biological guidance value
biological limit value
biological monitoring
exposure assessment
occupational health
risk assessment
English Recent advances in analytical chemistry have allowed a greater possibility of using quantitative approaches for measuring human exposure to chemicals. One of these approaches is biomonitoring (BM), which provides unequivocal evidence that both exposure and uptake of a chemical have taken place. BM has been a longstanding practice in occupational health for several reasons. BM integrates exposure from all routes. It can help identify unintentional and unexpected exposures and assess the effectiveness of existing risk-management measures. BM also provides relevant information to support policy development by delivering better evidence of workers' exposure to chemical substances, even within the framework of the present regulations. Thus, BM can allow for both the evaluation of the impact of regulation and identification of further needs for new or improved regulation. However, despite all these well-recognized advantages, BM is currently an underused exposure assessment tool. This paper provides an overview of the key aspects to be considered when using BM in the context of occupational health interventions. Additionally, this paper describes the potential of BM as an exposure assessment tool, distinguishing the role of BM in exposure assessment and health surveillance and clarifies ethical and communication aspects to guarantee that general data protection regulations are followed. In addition, actions and research needs are identified (particularly with reference to the European situation), which aim to encourage the increased use of BM as an exposure assessment tool.
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  • English
Open access status
gold
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https://sonar.ch/global/documents/803
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