Elsevier

Environment International

Volume 35, Issue 2, February 2009, Pages 438-449
Environment International

Review article
Non-invasive matrices in human biomonitoring: A review

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2008.09.003Get rights and content

Abstract

Humans and other living organisms are exposed to a variety of chemical pollutants that are released into the environment as a consequence of anthropogenic activities. Environmental pollutants are incorporated into the organism by different routes and can then be stored and distributed in different tissues, which leads to an internal concentration that can induce different alterations, adverse effects and/or diseases. Control measures should be taken to avoid these effects and human biomonitoring is a very useful tool that can contribute to this aim. Human biomonitoring uses different matrices to measure the target chemicals depending on the chemical, the amount of matrix necessary for the analysis and the detection limit (LOD) of the analytical technique. Blood is the ideal matrix for most chemicals due to its contact with the whole organism and its equilibrium with organs and tissues where chemicals are stored. However, it has an important disadvantage of being an invasive matrix. The development of new methodology and modern analytical techniques has allowed the use of other matrices that are less or non-invasive, such as saliva, urine, meconium, nails, hair, and semen or breast milk. The presence of a chemical in these matrices reflects an exposure, but correlations between levels in non-invasive matrices and blood must be established to ensure that these levels are related to the total body burden. The development of new biomarkers that are measurable in these matrices will improve non-invasive biomonitoring. This paper reviews studies that measure Cd, Pb, Hg, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), organochlorine pesticides and phthalates in non-invasive matrices, the most used techniques for measurements and what alternative techniques are available.

Introduction

The uptake of environmental chemicals occurs by three main routes – dermal absorption, inhalation and ingestion – which lead to an internal concentration or body burden of the chemical. The body burden is determined by the physical and chemical properties of the chemical, exposure time and the physiological characteristics of the individual (individual susceptibility). The final body burden is a result of absorption, distribution (tissue binding), metabolism and excretion. An absorbed chemical can be handled in different ways. For example, it can be excreted without transformation, metabolized and excreted, stored and slowly excreted or undergo a combination of all these processes (Needham et al., 2005). The properties of the chemical and individual variability will determine the magnitude of these processes and the final fate of the chemical. Chemicals may be excreted in matrices like urine, saliva, breast milk or faeces, stored in matrices like adipose tissue or bone. It is well known that some chemicals can lead to adverse effects and different human diseases (CDC, 2005). Control measures should therefore be taken to reduce exposure as much as possible in order to avoid these adverse effects. The presence of chemicals in the environment can be determined by measurements of their concentrations in environmental matrices such as air, water, soil, food, etc. (environmental monitoring). However, chemical presence in these matrices does not necessary imply adverse effects in human health and therefore their control are not sufficient. These adverse effects are provoked by chemical concentration in the body and human biomonitoring can provide information about the body burden and therefore its potential health effects. Human biomonitoring is defined as the direct measurement of people's exposure to environmental contaminants by measuring substances or their metabolites in blood, urine, or other specimens (CDC, 2008) and is employed in different situations such as: identification and elimination of possible exposure sources (Drexler and Schaller, 1998, Duty et al., 2005); to observe time trends in chemical variations (Jin et al., 2000, Wilhelm et al., 2007a); to prove the effectiveness of bans or restrictions (Schuhmacher et al., 1996, Bates et al., 2002); to identify relationships between chemical exposure and diseases or development abnormalities (Jensen et al., 2005); to map the geographical distribution of contaminated regions (Fitzgerald et al., 1998, Campbell et al., 2003); to find relationships between chemical body burden and eating habits or workplace exposure (Paulsen et al., 1996, Schinas et al., 2000).

Biomonitoring studies can provide a wealth of information but have also some limitations. For example, some chemicals are excreted rapidly and can only be monitored for a short time after exposure. Moreover, human biomonitoring does not reveal exposure sources or routes (Pirkle et al., 1995, Needham and Wang, 2002), although there are some exceptions such as the exposure patterns of some dioxins and dioxin-like chemicals (Schecter et al., 2006). Many discussions have been focused in the correct biomonitoring study design, interpretation, and communication that imply different issues in epidemiology, analysis, ethics, etc. (Schaller et al., 2002, Bates et al., 2005, Paustenbach and Galbraith, 2006, Angerer et al., 2007). Among the numerous issues included in these discussions are the need for standardized protocols (sample collection and preparation, analysis, etc) since quality assurance is crucial to obtain comparable results. Another important question in human biomonitoring is the difficulty to interpret the results. Environmental exposure usually occurs at low levels leading to minimal internal doses and therefore difficult to connect to effects on human health. Knowledge of the toxicokinetic of the chemical and target organs is also essential when selecting the correct matrix in a human biomonitoring study.

Human biomonitoring has been used in occupational medicine since the early 1930's, with the main matrices being urine and blood (Angerer et al., 2007). Blood is an ideal matrix for most chemicals because the blood plasma is in contact with all tissues and is in equilibrium with the organs and tissues where chemicals are deposited. The main disadvantage of using blood in human biomonitoring is that it is an invasive matrix and thus can have an adverse effect on the participant response in volunteer epidemiological studies (Rockett et al., 2004). As chemicals can be stored or excreted in different tissues and organs, theoretically there are many other matrices available for human biomonitoring apart from blood. However, these matrices usually have limitations, such as the amount of matrix available or the amount of chemical deposited. The availability of new methods with much better sensitivity, simplicity and accuracy can provide new opportunities for the use of other matrices than blood.

The aim of this work is to review human biomonitoring studies that employ non-invasive matrices to analyze persistent and/or bioaccumulative chemicals, the matrices most commonly employed in human biomonitoring, and the chemicals measured in each matrix and the analytical techniques used.

Section snippets

Methods

We searched for studies that use non-invasive matrices for the determination of persistent and bioaccumulative chemicals in the Web of Knowledge (WOK) and Pubmed databases using combinations of the following words: “hair”, “nails”, “breast milk”, “saliva”, “meconium”, “urine”, “semen”, “teeth”, “sweat”, “faeces”, “placenta”, “bones”, “monitoring”, “biomonitoring”, “human monitoring”, “human biomonitoring”, “biomarker”, “heavy metals”, “Pb”, “lead”, “Cd”, “cadmium”, “Hg”, “mercury”, “MeHg”,

Results and discussion

The selected chemicals represent different levels of toxicity, ubiquities and industrial uses, although most of them have some characteristics in common, namely persistence, bioaccumulation, bioconcentration or long half-lives in humans and the environment. In addition, they are often found very far from their release source due to transport by the atmosphere, water and migratory species. Table 1 shows some uses of these compounds, their exposure routes, approximate half-lives and how they are

Conclusion

In general and although many matrices can be employed in human biomonitoring, none of them is useful in every situation and therefore there is not and unique ideal matrix. This ideal matrix should have several characteristics, for example, must be accessible in sufficient amounts for the analysis, must not pose a health risk for the donor, must contain chemical levels detectable by the techniques available and must reflect the body burden. An additional characteristic is its ease of collection

Final remarks

Human biomonitoring studies are a useful tool to assess environmental chemical exposure in population such as POPs and bioaccumulative metals, and are necessaries in order to impose measures to avoid or minimize their presence in the environment and their subsequent health effects. These studies imply the use of biological matrices and if those are non-invasive the control will be less disturbing for the donors and consequently would have a greater acceptance in volunteer studies.

There is not

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. J. P. García-Cambero for his kind assistance during the initial phases of this search. This work was financed by the Spanish Ministry of the Environment and the ISCIII projects number EG042007 and SEG 1251/07.

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