title: Lessons learnt on recruitment and fieldwork from a pilot European human biomonitoring survey.
abstract: Within the European Environment and Health Action Plan an initiative to establish a coherent human biomonitoring approach in Europe was started. The project COPHES (COnsortium to Perform Human biomonitoring on a European Scale ) developed recommendations for a harmonized conduct of a human biomonitoring (HBM) survey which came into action as the pilot study DEMOCOPHES (DEMOnstration of a study to COordinate and Perform Human biomonitoring on a European Scale). Seventeen European countries conducted a survey with harmonized instruments for, inter alia, recruitment, fieldwork and sampling, in autumn/winter 2011/2012. Based on the countries' experiences of conducting the pilot study, following lessons learnt were compiled: the harmonized fieldwork instruments (basic questionnaire, urine and hair sampling) turned out to be very valuable for future HBM surveys on the European scale. A school approach was favoured by most of the countries to recruit school-aged children according to the established guidelines and country specific experiences. To avoid a low participation rate, intensive communication with the involved institutions and possible participants proved to be necessary. The communication material should also include information on exclusion criteria and offered incentives. Telephone contact to the participants the day before fieldwork during the survey can prevent the forgetting of appointments and first morning urine samples. To achieve comparable results on the European scale, training of interviewers in all issues of recruitment, fieldwork and sampling through information material and training sessions is crucial. A survey involving many European countries needs time for preparation and conduct. Materials for quality control prepared for all steps of recruitment, fieldwork and sampling proved to be important to warrant reliable results.
authors.affiliation: Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: ulrike.fiddicke@uba.de.
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Fiddicke
authors.affiliation: Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.affiliation: Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Gerda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schwedler
authors.affiliation: Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Margarete
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seiwert
authors.affiliation: BiPRO GmbH, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Joas
authors.affiliation: BiPRO GmbH, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Joas
authors.affiliation: Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Biot
authors.affiliation: Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aerts
authors.affiliation: University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ludwine
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Casteleyn
authors.affiliation: University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dumez
authors.affiliation: Environmental Toxicology, Centro Nacional de Sanidad Ambiental (CNSA), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Argelia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Castaño
authors.affiliation: Environmental Toxicology, Centro Nacional de Sanidad Ambiental (CNSA), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Esteban
authors.affiliation: Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance-Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (IPA), Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Angerer
authors.affiliation: Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance-Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (IPA), Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Holger M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.affiliation: University of Antwerp, Belgium and Southern Denmark University, Denmark and Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Mol, Belgium.
authors.forename: Greet
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schoeters
authors.affiliation: Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Mol, Belgium.
authors.forename: Elly
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Den Hond
authors.affiliation: Public Health England, Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Ovnair
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sepai
authors.affiliation: Public Health England, Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Exley
authors.affiliation: University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Lisbeth E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Knudsen
authors.affiliation: Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Horvat
authors.affiliation: Environmental Health Science International, Hulst, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bloemen
authors.affiliation: State General Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Nicosia, Cyprus.
authors.forename: Andromachi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Katsonouri
authors.affiliation: Larnaca General Hospital, Ministry of Health, Larnaca, Cyprus.
authors.forename: Adamos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hadjipanayis
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Prague, Czech Republic and Charles University, Third Faculty of Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cerna
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krsková
authors.affiliation: University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Janne Fangel
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.affiliation: University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jeanette K S
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Environmental Health (NIEH), Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rudnai
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Environmental Health (NIEH), Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Szilvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Közepésy
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche Public-Gabriel Lippmann (CRP-GL), Belvaux, Luxembourg.
authors.forename: Arno C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Gutleb
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire National de Santé, Dudelange, Luxembourg.
authors.forename: Marc E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine (NIOM), Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Danuta
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ligocka
authors.affiliation: Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine (NIOM), Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kamińska
authors.affiliation: Institute of Preventive Medicine, Lisbon Faculty of Medicine (IMP/FML), Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: M Fátima
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.affiliation: Institute of Preventive Medicine, Lisbon Faculty of Medicine (IMP/FML), Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sónia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Namorado
authors.affiliation: Environmental Health Centre (EHC), Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Ioana-Rodica
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Lupsa
authors.affiliation: Environmental Health Centre (EHC), Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Anca E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Gurzau
authors.affiliation: Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic (UVZ SR), Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Katarína
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Halzlová
authors.affiliation: Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Darja
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mazej
authors.affiliation: Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Janja Snoj
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Tratnik
authors.affiliation: Environmental Toxicology, Centro Nacional de Sanidad Ambiental (CNSA), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Teresa C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Rivas
authors.affiliation: Environmental Toxicology, Centro Nacional de Sanidad Ambiental (CNSA), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Marika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berglund
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Larsson
authors.affiliation: Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lehmann
authors.affiliation: Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Crettaz
authors.affiliation: Hainaut Vigilance Sanitaire (HVS) and Hygiene Publique in Hainaut (HPH), Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: Marie-Christine
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Dewolf
authors.affiliation: National Environmental Health Office, Health Service Executive, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.affiliation: Health Service Executive, Environmental Health Department, Leitrim, Ireland.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kellegher
authors.affiliation: Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Marike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kolossa-Gehring
mesh_terms: D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D004782:Environmental Health / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D005060:Europe; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D007391:International Cooperation; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016730:Program Development; D011786:Quality Control; D012107:Research Design / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*; D012494:Sampling Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards
keywords: DEMO/COPHES; Fieldwork; Human biomonitoring; Lessons learned; Recruitment