title: [The biomonitoring of toxic substances in biological samples of general population].
abstract: Many of the world's most developed countries have adopted biomonitoring of toxic substances in order to ascertain their levels in biological samples. These substances get into the body through different environmental exposures. Monitoring toxic substances in biological samples should allow us to ascertain their levels in vulnerable groups, assess their evolution over time, make comparisons with levels observed in other countries, identify groups at risk or with high toxic levels and promote research. The main objective of biomonitoring is to act as a policy design tool to facilitate the implementation of particular measures in various sectors: health, environmental, agricultural and livestock or food industry sectors. In Spain, information on levels of toxic substances of environmental origin is provided by specific studies on health effects from environmental sources, such as the INMA project (INfancia y Medio Ambiente [childhood and environment]). In addition, biomonitoring projects have been implemented in Catalonia and the Canary Islands, together with a national biomonitoring programme in the adult working population. However, further progress is needed to develop a system that covers the general population as well as subgroups at risk, which relies on the collaboration of the involved authorities and the participation of professionals from different sectors and citizen organisations interested in the relationship between health and the environment.
authors.affiliation: Subdirección de Salud Pública de Gipuzkoa, Departamento de Salud del Gobierno Vasco, San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, España; BIODONOSTIA, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria, San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, España; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), España. Electronic address: mambien3-san@euskadi.eus.
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ibarluzea
authors.affiliation: Subdirección de Salud Pública de Gipuzkoa, Departamento de Salud del Gobierno Vasco, San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, España; BIODONOSTIA, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria, San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, España.
authors.forename: Juan José
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Aurrekoetxea
authors.affiliation: CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), España; Instituto Hospital del Mar de Investigaciones Médicas (IMIM), Barcelona, España; Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: Miquel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Porta
authors.affiliation: CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), España; Centro de Investigación en Epidemiología Ambiental (CREAL), Barcelona, España; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sunyer
authors.affiliation: CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), España; Departamento de Enfermería, Universitat de València, Valencia, España; Unidad Mixta de Investigación FISABIO-UJI-Universitat de València, Valencia, España.
authors.forename: Ferran
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ballester
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D011159:Population Surveillance; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D015386:Hazardous Substances
keywords: Biomonitoring; Biomonitorización; Sustancias tóxicas; Toxic substances; Xenobiotics; Xenobióticos