Human Biomonitoring For Environmental Chemicals

Biomonitoring—a method for measuring amounts of toxic chemicals in human tissues—is a valuable tool for studying potentially harmful environmental chemicals. Biomonitoring data have been used to confirm exposures to chemicals and validate public health policies. For example, population biomonitoring data showing high blood lead concentrations resulted in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) regulatory reduction of lead in gasoline; biomonitoring data confirmed a resultant drop in blood lead concentrations. Despite recent advances, the science needed to understand the implications of the biomonitoring data for human health is still in its nascent stages. Use of the data also raises communication and ethical challenges. In response to a congressional request, EPA asked the National Research Council to address those challenges in an independent study. Human Biomonitoring for Environmental Chemicals provides a framework for improving the use of biomonitoring data including developing and using biomarkers (measures of exposure), research to improve the interpretation of data, ways to communicate findings to the public, and a review of ethical issues.

Book & DVD. This book provides an ongoing assessment of the exposure of the U.S. population to environmental chemicals by the use of biomonitoring.

Biomonitoring is the assessment of human exposure to chemicals by measuring the chemicals of their metabolites in such human specimens as blood and urine. Most chemicals or their metabolites were measured in blood, serum and urine samples from random subsamples of about 2500 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). This book explores the ongoing assessment of the exposure of the U.S. population to environmental chemicals by the use of biomonitoring. It provides unique exposure information to scientists, physicians, and health officials to help prevent exposure to some environmental chemicals. (Imprint: Nova)

Human biomonitoring has developed from a research tool in occupational and environmental health to identify and quantify exposures to harmful substances in urine and blood. The analytical methods for detection of substances in biological media have considerably improved with smaller detection limits and more precise and specific measurements. Human biomonitoring is a valuable tool in exposure estimation of selected populations and currently used in surveillance programs all over the world. This two volume set provides an overview of current available biomarkers and human biomonitoring programs in environmental health, which is timely given the present debate on adverse health effects from environmental exposures. The books decribe both previous and ongoing studies as well as the newer biomarkers of exposure and effects. Volume one describes current human biomonitoring programs in Germany, Romania, France, Canada, India and Belgium, providing convincing evidence of a global decline in human exposures to lead and increasing concern from exposure to endocrine disruptors and the genotoxic compound. Biomarkers of specific exposures to a wide range of widely used everyday compounds such as phthalates, PFCs, bisphenol A, brominated flame retardants, PAHs, dioxins, mercury and arsenic are also discussed. Volume two decribes human biomonitoing of exposures to environmental tobacco smoke, mycotoxins, physiological stress, hormone activity, oxidative stress and ionizing radiation, as well as effect biomarkers of hemoglobin adducts, germ cells, micronuclei and individual susceptability. The books will be essential reading for toxicologists, environmental scientists and all those working in the safety and risk assessment of chemicals.

The National Human Monitoring Program (NHMP) identifies concentrations of specific chemicals in human tissues, including toxicologic testing and risk assessment determinations. This volume evaluates the current activities of the NHMP; identifies important scientific, technical, and programmatic issues; and makes recommendations regarding the design of the program and use of its products.

The Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, 2009 (the Report) provides an ongoing assessment of the exposure of the U.S. population to environmental chemicals by the use of biomonitoring. The Report is cumulative (containing all the results from previous Reports) and provides new data for years 2003- 2004. Data for 75 new environmental chemicals are included for the survey period 2003-2004. In each survey period, most chemicals or their metabolites were measured in blood, serum, and urine samples from random subsamples of about 2500 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) National Center for Health Statistics. NHANES is a series of surveys designed to collect data related to the health and nutritional status of the U.S. population. The blood, serum, and urine exposure measurements presented in the Report were made by CDC's Environmental Health Laboratory (Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health) using mass spectrometry methods. The term environmental chemical refers to a chemical compound or chemical element present in air, water, food, soil, dust, or other environmental media (e.g., consumer products). Biomonitoring is the assessment of human exposure to chemicals by measuring the chemicals or their metabolites in such human specimens as blood or urine. A metabolite is a chemical alteration of the original compound produced by body tissues. Blood, serum, and urine levels reflect the amount of a chemical that actually gets into the body by all routes of exposure, including ingestion, inhalation, and dermal absorption. The measurement of an environmental chemical in a person's blood or urine is an indication of exposure; it does not by itself mean that the chemical causes disease or an adverse effect. Research studies, separate from these data, are required to determine which blood or urine levels are safe and which are associated with disease or an adverse effect. For blood, serum, and urine levels, the Report provides geometric means and percentiles of environmental chemicals by age group, gender and race/ethnicity. More in-depth statistical analysis, including multivariate analysis incorporating health endpoints and other predictive variables, is beyond the scope of this document. The overall purpose of the Report is to provide unique exposure information to scientists, physicians, and health officials to help prevent exposure to some environmental chemicals. Specific public health uses of the exposure information in the Report are: To determine which chemicals get into Americans and at what concentrations; For chemicals with a known toxicity level, to determine the prevalence of people with levels above those toxicity levels; To establish reference values that can be used by physicians and scientists to determine whether a person or group has an unusually high exposure. This information is especially helpful to identify population groups that merit further assessment of exposure sources or health effects; To assess the effectiveness of public health efforts to reduce exposure of Americans to specific chemicals; To determine whether exposure levels are higher among such potentially vulnerable groups as minorities and children; To track, over time, trends in levels of exposure of the population; To set priorities for research on human health effects.