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The Danish contribution to the European DEMOCOPHES project: A description of cadmium, cotinine and mercury levels in Danish mother-child pairs and the perspectives of supplementary sampling and measurements 

Human biomonitoring (HBM) is an important tool, increasingly used for measuring true levels of the body burdens of environmental chemicals in the general population. In Europe, a harmonized HBM program was needed to open the possibility to compare levels across borders. To explore the prospect of a...

The European COPHES/DEMOCOPHES project: towards transnational comparability and reliability of human biomonitoring results 

COPHES/DEMOCOPHES has its origins in the European Environment and Health Action Plan of 2004 to "develop a coherent approach on human biomonitoring (HBM) in Europe". Within this twin-project it was targeted to collect specimens from 120 mother-child-pairs in each of the 17 participating European co...

Mercury, lead and cadmium levels in the urine of 170 Spanish adults: a pilot human biomonitoring study 

Human biomonitoring is a well-recognized tool for estimating the exposure of human populations to environmental pollutants. However, information regarding biomarker concentrations of many environmental chemicals in the general population is limited for many countries. The Spanish Environment Minist...

Selecting the best non-invasive matrix to measure mercury exposure in human biomonitoring surveys 

Exposure to mercury, even at low doses, can affect human health, well-being and life quality at a broad scale. Human biomonitoring is the most straightforward approach to measure and quantify mercury exposure in humans. The objective of the present study is to compare and discuss the relationships ...

An Electromagnetic Study of the Impact of Brain Anatomy on Deep Brain Stimulation 

An electromagnetic simulation was performed to assess the volume of tissue activated on deep brain stimulation for two patients randomly selected. The finite element method is used to calculate the electric field distribution that predicts the volume of tissue activated. High-resolution magnetic re...

Cognitive Performance and Exposure to Organophosphate Flame Retardants in Children: Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Analysis of Two European Mother-Child Cohorts 

The knowledge of the effects of organophosphate flame retardants on children's neurodevelopment is limited. The purpose of the present research is to evaluate the association between exposure to organophosphate flame retardants and children's neurodevelopment in two European cohorts involved in the...

FTIR-ATR detection method for emerging C3-plants-derivated adulterants in honey: Beet, dates, and carob syrups 

The European Union Publications Office has recently presented a report on the European Union's coordinated action with the Joint Research Centre to determine certain fraudulent practices in the honey sector, in which it has been indicated that 74% of the samples analyzed, imported from China, and 9...

Time Patterns in Internal Human Exposure Data to Bisphenols, Phthalates, DINCH, Organophosphate Flame Retardants, Cadmium and Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons in Europe 

Human biomonitoring (HBM) data in Europe are often fragmented and collected in different EU countries and sampling periods. Exposure levels for children and adult women in Europe were evaluated over time. For the period 2000-2010, literature and aggregated data were collected in a harmonized way ac...

DNA damage and molecular level effects induced by polystyrene (PS) nanoplastics (NPs) after Chironomus riparius (Diptera) larvae 

In this work, we analyzed the early molecular effects of polystyrene (PS) nanoplastics (NPs) on an aquatic primary consumer (larvae of Chironomus riparius, Diptera) to evaluate their potential DNA damage and the transcriptional response of different genes related to cellular and oxidative stress, e...

Utilización del método de carbón activo para medidas rápidas de radón en viviendas 

[ES] La exposición a radón en interiores es la segunda causa de cáncer de pulmón después del tabaco. La determinación de la concentración de radón en viviendas de la ciudad de Madrid, mediante un método rápido y económico como son las sondas de carbón activo, permite adquirir una información al res...

Investigation of Zebrafish Embryo Membranes at Epiboly Stage through Electrorotation Technique 

A preliminary exploration of the physiology and morphology of the zebrafish embryo (ZFE) during the late-blastula and early-gastrula stages through its electrical properties was performed, applying the electrorotation (ROT) technique. This method, based on induced polarizability at the interfaces, ...

Environmental risk assessment of PPP application in European soils and potential ecosystem service losses considering impacts on non-target organisms 

The use of Plant Protection Products (PPPs) is leading to high exposure scenarios with potential risk to soil organisms, including non-target species. Assessment of the effects of PPPs on non-target organisms is one of the most important components of environmental risk assessment (ERA) since they ...

Rapid, reliable and easy-to-perform chemometric-less method for rice syrup adulterated honey detection using FTIR-ATR 

The adulteration of honey (Apis mellifera) is a global problem due to its economic, commercial and health implications. The world's leading beekeeping organisation, APIMONDIA, considers that the detection of adulteration in honey is a problem that has not yet been resolved. This evidence of the imp...

Association of exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and phthalates with thyroid hormones in adolescents from HBM4EU aligned studies 

Background: Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and phthalates are synthetic chemicals widely used in various types of consumer products. There is epidemiological and experimental evidence that PFAS and phthalates may alter thyroid hormone levels; however, studies in children and adolescents are limit...

Helping WWTP managers to address the volatile methylsiloxanes issue-Behaviour and complete mass balance in a conventional plant 

Volatile methylsiloxanes (VMSs) are a group of additives employed in different consumer products that can affect the quality of the biogas produced in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The main objective of this study is to understand the fate of different VMSs along the treatment process of a W...

HBM4EU-MOM: Prenatal methylmercury-exposure control in five countries through suitable dietary advice for pregnancy - Study design and characteristics of participants 

Background: Seafood is a major source of vital nutrients for optimal fetal growth, but at the same time is the main source of exposure to methylmercury (MeHg), an established neurodevelopmental toxicant. Pregnant women must be provided with dietary advice so as to include safely fish in their diet ...

How to use human biomonitoring in chemical risk assessment: Methodological aspects, recommendations, and lessons learned from HBM4EU 

One of the aims of the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative, HBM4EU, was to provide examples of and good practices for the effective use of human biomonitoring (HBM) data in human health risk assessment (RA). The need for such information is pressing, as previous research has indicated that regu...

HBM4EU chromates study - the measurement of hexavalent and trivalent chromium in exhaled breath condensate samples from occupationally exposed workers across Europe 

The aim of this study was to investigate the practicability of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) as a biological matrix to detect and measure hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) and trivalent chromium (Cr(III)) in workers occupationally exposed to Cr(VI). EBC samples were collected from workers in France, F...

Harmonized human biomonitoring in European children, teenagers and adults: EU-wide exposure data of 11 chemical substance groups from the HBM4EU Aligned Studies (2014-2021) 

As one of the core elements of the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) a human biomonitoring (HBM) survey was conducted in 23 countries to generate EU-wide comparable HBM data. This survey has built on existing HBM capacity in Europe by aligning national or regional HBM studies, referr...