Recent Submissions

Neurotoxicity and endocrine disruption caused by polystyrene nanoparticles in zebrafish embryo 

Nanoplastics (NP) are present in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Humans can be exposed to them through contaminated water, food, air, or personal care products. Mechanisms of NP toxicity are largely unknown and the Zebrafish embryo poses an ideal model to investigate them due to its high homolo...

PFAS levels and determinants of variability in exposure in European teenagers - Results from the HBM4EU aligned studies (2014-2021) 

Background: Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are man-made fluorinated chemicals, widely used in various types of consumer products, resulting in their omnipresence in human populations. The aim of this study was to describe current PFAS levels in European teenagers and to investigate the determinan...

From science to policy: How European HBM indicators help to answer policy questions related to phthalates and DINCH exposure 

Within the European Human Biomonitoring (HBM) Initiative HBM4EU we derived HBM indicators that were designed to help answering key policy questions and support chemical policies. The result indicators convey information on chemicals exposure of different age groups, sexes, geographical regions and ...

Cross-sectional associations between exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and body mass index among European teenagers in the HBM4EU aligned studies 

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widespread pollutants that may impact youth adiposity patterns. We investigated cross-sectional associations between PFAS and body mass index (BMI) in teenagers/adolescents across nine European countries within the Human Biomonitoring for Europe (HBM4E...

Approaches to mixture risk assessment of PFASs in the European population based on human hazard and biomonitoring data 

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a highly persistent, mobile, and bioaccumulative class of chemicals, of which emissions into the environment result in long-lasting contamination with high probability for causing adverse effects to human health and the environment. Within the Europea...

Identification of Real-Life Mixtures Using Human Biomonitoring Data: A Proof of Concept Study 

Human health risk assessment of chemical mixtures is complex due to the almost infinite number of possible combinations of chemicals to which people are exposed to on a daily basis. Human biomonitoring (HBM) approaches can provide inter alia information on the chemicals that are in our body at one ...

Human urinary arsenic species, associated exposure determinants and potential health risks assessed in the HBM4EU Aligned Studies 

The European Joint Programme HBM4EU coordinated and advanced human biomonitoring (HBM) in Europe in order to provide science-based evidence for chemical policy development and improve chemical management. Arsenic (As) was selected as a priority substance under the HBM4EU initiative for which open, ...

Assessment of exposure to pesticide mixtures in five European countries by a harmonized urinary suspect screening approach 

Humans are exposed to a mixture of pesticides through diet as well as through the environment. We conducted a suspect-screening based study to describe the probability of (concomitant) exposure to a set of pesticide profiles in five European countries (Latvia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Spain and the...

Neurotoxicity and endocrine disruption caused by polystyrene nanoparticles in zebrafish embryo 

Nanoplastics (NP) are present in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Humans can be exposed to them through contaminated water, food, air, or personal care products. Mechanisms of NP toxicity are largely unknown and the Zebrafish embryo poses an ideal model to investigate them due to its high homolo...

Literature review and evaluation of biomarkers, matrices and analytical methods for chemicals selected in the research program Human Biomonitoring for the European Union (HBM4EU) 

Humans are potentially exposed to a large amount of chemicals present in the environment and in the workplace. In the European Human Biomonitoring initiative (Human Biomonitoring for the European Union = HBM4EU), acrylamide, mycotoxins (aflatoxin B1, deoxynivalenol, fumonisin B1), diisocyanates (4,...

Exposición a contaminantes atmosféricos durante el embarazo y desarrollo prenatal y neonatal: protocolo de investigación en el proyecto INMA (Infancia y Medio Ambiente) 

[ES] Introducción: El proyecto INMA (Infancia y Medio Ambiente) es una red de investigación cooperativa que tiene como objetivos estudiar los efectos del medio ambiente y la dieta en el desarrollo fetal e infantil. El objetivo de este artículo es presentar el protocolo de exposición a contaminantes...

Cumulative risk assessment of five phthalates in European children and adolescents 

The European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) assessed human biomonitoring data on phthalates in children and adolescents, that were sampled between 2014 and 2021, in a harmonised way. These so-called “HBM4EU Aligned Studies” revealed that almost all children and adolescents were exposed to ...

A Review of Atmospheric Aerosols in Antarctica: From Characterization to Data Processing 

One of the major problems of the present era is air pollution, not only for its impact on climate change but also for the diseases provoked by this scourge. Among the most concerning air pollutants is particulate matter, since it can travel long distances and affect the entire globe. Antarctica is ...

Personal care product use and lifestyle affect phthalate and DINCH metabolite levels in teenagers and young adults 

Humans are widely exposed to phthalates and their novel substitutes, and considering the negative health effects associated with some phthalates, it is crucial to understand population levels and exposure determinants. This study is focused on 300 urine samples from teenagers (aged 12-17) and 300 f...

Cadmium exposure in adults across Europe: Results from the HBM4EU Aligned Studies survey 2014-2020 

The objectives of the study were to estimate the current exposure to cadmium (Cd) in Europe, potential differences between the countries and geographic regions, determinants of exposure and to derive European exposure levels. The basis for this work was provided by the European Human Biomonitoring ...

Improving the Risk Assessment of Pesticides through the Integration of Human Biomonitoring and Food Monitoring Data: A Case Study for Chlorpyrifos 

The risk assessment of pesticide residues in food is a key priority in the area of food safety. Most jurisdictions have implemented pre-marketing authorization processes, which are supported by prospective risk assessments. These prospective assessments estimate the expected residue levels in food ...

Concurrent Assessment of Phthalates/HEXAMOLL® DINCH Exposure and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Performance in Three European Cohorts of the HBM4EU Aligned Studies 

Information about the effects of phthalates and non-phthalate substitute cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid diisononyl ester (HEXAMOLL® DINCH) on children's neurodevelopment is limited. The aim of the present research is to evaluate the association between phthalate/HEXAMOLL® DINCH exposure and chil...

Methylmercury Risk Assessment Based on European Human Biomonitoring Data 

A risk assessment (RA) was conducted to estimate the risk associated with methylmercury (MeHg) exposure of vulnerable European populations, using Human Biomonitoring (HBM) data. This RA was performed integrating published data from European HBM surveys and earlier EFSA approaches (EFSA 2012). Child...

Glyphosate and AMPA in Human Urine of HBM4EU Aligned Studies: Part A Children. 

Few data are available on the exposure of children to glyphosate (Gly) in Europe. Within HBM4EU, new HBM exposure data were collected from aligned studies at five sampling sites distributed over Europe (studies: SLO CRP (SI); ORGANIKO (CY); GerES V-sub (DE); 3XG (BE); ESTEBAN (FR)). Median Gly conc...

A Tiered Approach for Assessing Individual and Combined Risk of Pyrethroids Using Human Biomonitoring Data 

Pyrethroids are a major insecticide class, suitable for biomonitoring in humans. Due to similarities in structure and metabolic pathways, urinary metabolites are common to various active substances. A tiered approach is proposed for risk assessment. Tier I was a conservative screening for overall p...