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...

[ES] El presente artículo pretende ofrecer una visión global referente al cambio climático en relación a aspectos tales como su relación con los gases de efecto invernadero, efectos sobre el medioambiente, ser humano, economía, así como las posibles consecuencias futuras y la importancia en la toma...

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are habitually found in both outdoor and indoor environments, may represent a significant health risk. In this context, pregnancy is a critical period since foetuses are more vulnerable than adults to exposure to toxic compounds. The objective of this study ...

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) characteristics in a population at risk of developing type 2 diabetes in Barranquilla and Bogotá, Colombia. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 1135 participants older than 30 years-of-age recruited in B...

A quality assurance/quality control program was implemented in the framework of the EU project HBM4EU to assess and improve the comparability of biomarker analysis and to build a network of competent laboratories. Four rounds of proficiency tests were organized for 15 phthalate and two DINCH urinar...

The Human Biomonitoring for Europe initiative (HBM4EU) aims to study the exposure of citizens to chemicals and potentially associated health effects. One objective of this project has been to build a network of laboratories able to answer to the requirements of European human biomonitoring studies....

Human biomonitoring is a powerful approach in assessing exposure to environmental pollutants. Flame retardants (FRs) are of particular concern due to their wide distribution in the environment and adverse health effects. This article reviews studies published in 2009-2020 on the chemical analysis o...

Using low-cost portable air quality (AQ) monitoring devices is a growing trend in personal exposure studies, enabling a higher spatio-temporal resolution and identifying acute exposure to high concentrations. Comprehension of the results by participants is not guaranteed in exposure studies. Howeve...

The European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) is coordinating and advancing human biomonitoring (HBM). For this purpose, a network of laboratories delivering reliable analytical data on human exposure is fundamental. The analytical comparability and accuracy of laboratories analysing flame r...

Use of a multi-sensor approach can provide citizens with holistic insights into the air quality of their immediate surroundings and their personal exposure to urban stressors. Our work, as part of the ICARUS H2020 project, which included over 600 participants from seven European cities, discusses t...

Polar regions, symbols of wilderness, have been identified as potential sinks of mercury coming from natural and anthropogenic sources at lower latitudes. Changes in ice coverage currently occurring in some areas such as the Antarctic Peninsula could enhance these phenomena and their impacts on loc...

Exposure to hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] may occur in several occupational activities, e.g., welding, Cr(VI) electroplating and other surface treatment processes. The aim of this study was to provide EU relevant data on occupational Cr(VI) exposure to support the regulatory risk assessment and deci...

As part of the Human Biomonitoring for Europe (HBM4EU) initiative a human biomonitoring (HBM) survey is conducted in 21 countries. This survey builds on existing HBM capacity in Europe by aligning national or regional HBM studies. The survey targets 3 age groups (i) children aged 6-11 years, (ii) t...

A communication strategy was developed by The Consortium to Perform Human Biomonitoring on a European Scale (COPHES), as part of its objectives to develop a framework and protocols to enable the collection of comparable human biomonitoring data throughout Europe. The framework and protocols were te...

The metal cadmium (Cd) is a widespread environmental pollutant with documented adverse effects on the kidneys and bones from long-term environmental exposure, but with insufficiently elucidated public health consequences such as risk of cardiovascular disease, hormone-related cancer in adults and d...

Derivatives of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as nitrated- and oxygenated-PAHs (NPAHs and OPAHs) could be even more toxic and harmful for the environment and humans than PAHs. We assessed the spatial and seasonal variations of NPAHs and OPAHs atmospheric levels, their cancer risks and...

Background: Monitoring of human exposure to mercury is important due to its adverse health effects. This study aimed to determine the extent of mercury exposure among mothers and their children in Ireland, and to identify factors associated with elevated levels. It formed part of the Demonstration ...

Human biomonitoring (HBM) is an effective tool to assess human exposure to environmental pollutants, but comparable HBM data in Europe are lacking. In order to expedite harmonization of HBM studies on a European scale, the twin projects COPHES (Consortium to Perform Human Biomonitoring on a Europea...

The EU human biomonitoring initiative, HBM4EU, aims to co-ordinate and advance human biomonitoring (HBM) across Europe. Within its remit, the project is gathering new, policy relevant, EU-wide data on occupational exposure to relevant priority chemicals and developing new approaches for occupationa...

This study addresses the concentration of particulate matter and their size using a statistical analysis of data obtained inside seven schools located in the towns of Castellón (S1, S2, and S3), Alcora (S4, S5, and S6) and Lucena (S7) in northeast Spain. Samples were taken for five to eight hours, ...