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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

Current test strategies to identify thyroid hormone (TH) system disruptors are inadequate for conducting robust chemical risk assessment required for regulation. The tests rely heavily on histopathological changes in rodent thyroid glands or measuring changes in systemic TH levels, but they lack sp...

Human biomonitoring (HBM) data measured in specific contexts or populations provide information for comparing population exposures. There are numerous health-based biomonitoring guidance values, but to locate these values, interested parties need to seek them out individually from publications, gov...

Background: New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) comprise in silico and in vitro methods applied as alternative to animal testing. Even though NAMs are already fully implemented as research tools, their use in regulatory risk assessments (RA) is limited currently. To promote the regulatory uptake/acce...

Many legacy and emerging flame retardants (FRs) have adverse human and environmental health effects. This study reports legacy and emerging FRs in children from nine European countries from the HBM4EU aligned studies. Studies from Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, France, Greece, Slovenia,...

The European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) ran from 2017 to 2022 with the aim of advancing and harmonizing human biomonitoring in Europe. More than 40,000 analyses were performed on human samples in different human biomonitoring studies in HBM4EU, addressing the chemical exposure of the g...

Phthalates are mainly used as plasticizers for polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Exposure to several phthalates is associated with different adverse effects most prominently on the development of reproductive functions. The HBM4EU Aligned Studies (2014-2021) have investigated current European exposure to t...

Current approaches for the assessment of environmental and human health risks due to exposure to chemical substances have served their purpose reasonably well. Nevertheless, the systems in place for different uses of chemicals are faced with various challenges, ranging from a growing number of chem...

Internal exposure of the human body to potentially harmful chemical substances can be assessed by Human Biomonitoring (HBM). HBM can be used to generate conclusive data that may provide an overview of exposure levels in entire or specific population groups. This knowledge can promote the understand...

Human exposure to mercury can have serious health effects, especially in vulnerable groups such as children and fetuses. The use of dried blood spot (DBS) samples to collect capillary blood greatly facilitates sample collection and fieldwork, being a less invasive alternative to blood collection by...

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...

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 ...

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...