title: Pollution gets personal! A first population-based human biomonitoring study in Austria.
abstract: Humans are exposed to a broad variety of man-made chemicals. Human biomonitoring (HBM) data reveal the individual body burden irrespective of sources and routes of uptake. A first population-based study was started in Austria in 2008 and was finished at the end of May 2011. This cross sectional study aims at documenting the extent, the distribution and the determinants of human exposure to industrial chemicals as well as proving the feasibility of a representative HBM study. Overall, 150 volunteers (50 families) were selected by stratified random sampling. Exposure to phthalates, trisphosphates, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), bisphenol A (along with nonyl- and octyl phenol) and methyl mercury was assessed. Sixteen of 18 PBDE determined were detected above the limit of quantification (LOQ) in blood samples with #153 and #197 the most abundant species. Bisphenol A in urine was measured in a subsample of 25 with only 4 samples found above the LOQ. In 3 of 100 urine samples at least one of 8 trisphosphate compounds assessed was above the LOQ. These first analytical results of the human biomonitoring data show that the body burden of the Austrian population with respect to the assessed compounds is comparable to or even lower than in other European countries. Overall, the study revealed that in order to develop a feasible protocol for representative human biomonitoring studies procedures have to be optimized to allow for non-invasive sampling of body tissues in accordance with the main metabolic pathways. Procedures of participants' recruitment were, however, labor intensive and have to be improved.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Agency Austria (Umweltbundesamt), Spittelauer Lände 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria. philipp.hohenblum@umweltbundesamt.at
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hohenblum
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Steinbichl
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Raffesberg
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Moche
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vallant
authors.forename: Sigrid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scharf
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Haluza
authors.forename: Hanns
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moshammer
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kundi
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Piegler
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wallner
authors.forename: Hans-Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Hutter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001317:Austria; D001559:Benzhydryl Compounds; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine*; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000097:blood; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D010636:Phenols / Q000652:urine; D010710:Phosphates / Q000097:blood; D010795:Phthalic Acids / Q000097:blood; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000098826:Bisphenol A Compounds
chemical_list: D001559:Benzhydryl Compounds; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; D015386:Hazardous Substances; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D010636:Phenols; D010710:Phosphates; D010795:Phthalic Acids; C032279:phthalic acid; C006780:bisphenol A; D000098826:Bisphenol A Compounds