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Scoping Study of Current and Planned Human Biomonitoring Projects in the UK

Reviewed on 14 March 2006

The Health Protection Agency and the Department of Health are undertaking a scoping study of Current and Planned Human Biomonitoring Projects in the UK.

The information will feed in to the inventory of Biomonitoring activities being gathered across the EU as part of Action 3 of the European Environment & Health Action Plan 2004 - 2010, " To develop a coherent approach to Human Biomonitoring in Europe". This study will enable the UK to monitor its Human Biomonitoring projects and develop a more co-ordinated approach.

You can download an electronic copy of the questionnaire in either Excel or PDF format (right-click on the link and choose Save Target As)

We request that you send a copy to anyone responsible for research that involves Human Biomonitoring: that is collecting samples from a group of humans, to investigate the exposure to or effect of environmental hazards (chemical, physical and radiological but not including biological hazards).

Please fill in a questionnaire for every completed (with the last 5 years), current or planned project and return by email to the HPA, biomonitoring@hpa.org.uk.

For more information on the UK Study or Questionnaire contact: biomonitoring@hpa.org.uk

For more information on the EU Human Biomonitoring Study: http://www.eu-humanbiomonitoring.org/

We would appreciate responses as soon as possible. This will enable us to complete the first edition of the UK database by the end of March 2006. The database will be updated on a regular basis.

We appreciate your assistance and hope that you will find the database useful.

Background Information

The Chemical Hazards and Poisons Division of the HPA has identified three related research goals for its research programme in the area of toxicology (the study of the harmful or toxic effects of chemicals on health). These aim to identify the key gaps in knowledge about the assessment and management of health risks from exposure to hazardous chemicals and poisons.

See the Research and Development Priorities web page for more information.

The European Environment and Health Strategy adopted by the European Commission in 2003 presented a new vision on how to address environment and health in an integrated way and puts health in the centre of environmental policy. Based upon the Strategy, the Commission adopted in 2004 a Communication on the Environment and Health Action Plan 2004 - 2010. In Action 3 of this Action Plan the European Commission announced the development of a coherent approach to Human Biomonitoring in Europe in close cooperation with the Member States. One of the key instruments in developing an EU wide Biomonitoring Programme is to have a clear understanding of the current and planned biomonitoring projects across the EU.

In order for the UK to have representation in this EU initiative a scoping study has been proposed. This study will also enable the UK to monitor its Human Biomonitoring projects and develop a more co-ordinated approach.

 

What do we mean by Human Biomonitoring for Potential Environmental Exposure?

Human Biomonitoring (HBM) is of increasing importance to health professionals, government departments and agencies as well as industry. Throughout our lives we are exposed to naturally occurring substances and man-made environmental pollutants. The measurement of these exposures in biological samples either directly (the chemical or agent itself) or indirectly (a metabolite or other biochemical change) may allow us to gauge human exposure.

In this study we are only concerned with biomonitoring of environmental chemical or radiological exposure. Biomarkers of exposure or effect are defined as: A chemical, biochemical, or functional indicator of exposure to (or the effect of exposure to) an environmental exposure.

 

Why is this Scoping study needed?

At present there is no combined record of the biomonitoring studies taking place within the UK or in other European countries. Over the last two or three decades, HBM has become increasingly accepted as a good way to characterise environmental exposure and improve the assessment of health effects. However, the lack of information about and consistency between biomonitoring studies makes drawing overall conclusions difficult. Thus the objectives of collecting and sharing details with the aim of harmonising biomonitoring survey programmes are to:

  • improve data comparability and accessibility within and between countries, leading to generation of broader information on the content in the human body of, or the response of the human body to chemical, physical or biological environmental agents,
  • allow for better detection of spatial and - if studies are carried out repeatedly - temporal differences in exposure across the UK and of the European population,
  • provide insight into the contribution of different environmental sources to body burden
  • provide policy makers with better information on control measures to be taken.

Another advantage of a harmonised approach could be that the results of individual surveys may become more meaningful as the number of study subjects involved becomes larger through study pooling. This would strengthen any observed correlations between exposure and health effects, which ultimately may point at potential causal relationships.

What information is required?

In order to compare biomonitoring studies within the UK the following information is required:

  • General information e.g. Title, Aim, Research Institute, Principal Investigator, Funding Body and Contact Details
  • Information on the Population including size, age range, inclusion/exclusion criteria and sampling strategy
  • Information on Data collected including Biomarkers of Exposure, and Effect and any other data collected e.g. susceptibility markers - genetic polymorphisms.
  • Information on the Analysis and Quality Control procedures used
  • Other Information on Problems encountered, Communications used and legal issues

 

Who will be asked?

The information will be gathered by questionnaire from the following sources:

  • Research Council Databases of current projects (MRC, NERC etc )
  • Research Council Internally funded projects
  • Universities (This will of course duplicate results)
  • Department of Health funded studies
  • Other funding bodies

Communication Strategy

Data provided in the questionnaires will be entered onto a database to allow subsequent interrogation and analysis. The data will also be made available as read only on the internet with the aim of keeping it updated on a bi-annual basis. This will enable people with an interest in Biomonitoring studies to search for other studies, compare methodologies and learn from the experiences of others.


Last reviewed: 11 June 2010