• Lygia T Budnik and Xaver Baur.
• Ordinariat für Arbeitsmedizin des Universitätsklinikums Hamburg-Eppendorf, Zentralinstitut für Arbeitsmedizin und Maritime Medizin, Hamburg, Germany.
• Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2009 Feb 1; 106 (6): 919791-7.

BackgroundModern biomonitoring has expanded beyond its origins in occupational medicine to cover a wide variety of diagnostic procedures and assessments of environmental pollution, ranging from exposure to heavy metals and chemicals to the effects of pesticides and environmental tobacco smoke. In biomonitoring, the overall pollutant load and hazardous exposure of an organism is quantitatively determined, by monitoring the pollutants themselves, their metabolic products and/or conjugates with protein or DNA, in either serum, urine or other body fluids, as well as tissue samples in exceptional circumstances.MethodsA selective survey of the current literature is exemplified by our recent scientific and clinical experience.ResultsBiomonitoring is an excellent way to monitor potentially hazardous substances, especially for the assessment of systemic uptake from chronic exposure and the evaluation of subsequent health risks. Investigative biomonitoring can highlight incidental/accidental intoxication in individuals and provide new categories of problematic pollutants relevant to the general population.ConclusionsIn combination with diagnostic procedures, biomonitoring provides an important contribution to the rational assessment of currently recorded pollutants and resulting health risks. It is as an evaluation tool available in daily practice as well as in health and environmental research applications. Legislation is already implemented that incorporates biomonitoring within the remit of specified occupational health screening.

15 keywords...

hide…