Search results for "Human biomonitoring"
showing 8 items of 18 documents
Human Biomonitoring of food contaminants in Spanish children: Design, sampling and lessons learned
2017
Abstract Human Biomonitoring (HBM) studies are highly useful for evaluating population exposure to environmental contaminants and are being carried out in increasing numbers all over the world. The use of HBM in the field of food safety, in a risk assessment context, presents a growing interest as more health-based guidance values (HBGV) in biological matrices are derived, and can be used in a complementary way to the external exposure approaches such as total diet studies or surveillance programmes. The aims of the present work are: i) to describe the methodological framework of the BIOVAL study, a cross-sectional HBM program carried out by the Health Department of the Regional Government …
Can we consider a natural environment always of high quality and adequate to protect population from potential risks of health threats?
2013
The question posed in the title arise because the current knowledge suggests that there are important, both beneficial and adverse, relationships between natural environment and human health. The human body obtains metals and metalloids from diet, some of which are derived from local foodstuffs and municipal water supplies, and it is therefore plausible that areas characterized by various types of bedrock and superficial materials, upon which food is grown and water drained, provide different availabilities of trace elements. The present study aimed at elucidating whether the degree of human exposure to trace elements is subject to changes in local environmental factors. This hypothesis was…
Influence of industrial activity on metal and metalloid contents in scalp hair of adolescents
2015
Petrochemical industries represent a controversial although important economical resource. They offer a great deal of job opportunities producing also a development of several areas. However, such kind of industrial plants are responsible for the change of the environmental background through the emission of toxic pollutants such as metalsmetalloids and organic compounds. People living in cities close to such industrial plants are particularly exposed to a severe environmental decline, which implies the deterioration of the quality of air, soil, water and food with the consequent human health concerns. The municipalities of Gela (GL) and Pace del Mela (PM), located respectively along the Me…
Lead isotopic fingerprint in human scalp hair: The case study of Iglesias mining district (Sardinia, Italy)
2017
The Sulcis-Iglesiente district (SW Sardinia, Italy) has been, until recently, one of the most important Italian polymetallic mining areas for the extraction of lead. Epidemiological studies conducted over several decades have indicated this site at high risk of environmental crisis with possible adverse effects on the public health. In the present paper we discuss Pb isotope signatures in human scalp hair and road dust collected from the Sulcis-Iglesiente area in order to trace the exposure of populations to potential Pb sources. A total of 23 determinations (20 on hair samples and 3 on road dust samples) of lead isotope ratios (206Pb/207Pb and 208Pb/206Pb) were carried out. The obtained re…
Exposure assessment of mycotoxins in food and biological samples through high resolution mass spectrometry-based strategies
2022
Las micotoxinas son metabolitos secundarios tóxicos producidos por varios géneros de hongos y que se encuentran frecuentemente en productos alimenticios. La ingestión de micotoxinas puede provocar la aparición de un amplio abanico de efectos perjudiciales para la salud. Con el objetivo de reducir el impacto sanitario debido a la ingesta de productos contaminados por micotoxinas, la Comisión Europea estableció la Regulación No 1881/2006, donde se fijan límites máximos para ciertas micotoxinas en varias tipologías de productos alimenticios. Como herramienta complementaria, el Panel de Contaminantes en la Cadena Alimentaria (CONTAM Panel) han propuesto valores de ingesta diaria tolerable, que …
Risk assessment of exposure to organic chemicals in children and mothers using human biomonitoring
2022
Today, global chemical manufacturing is increasing each year, making environmental pollution and exposure to chemicals a serious public health problem linked to the development of many non-genetic diseases. Approximately, 70 % of chemicals consumed in Europe in 2019 were hazardous for human health. These harmful substances can enter to the food chain and remain in the environment, making humans exposed to them mainly by ingestion, inhalation or dermal exposure. Consequently, exposure to chemicals should be continuously monitored for assuring health protection of citizens by two ways: i) studying their presence in environmental compartments, such as water, food, soil or air, by environmental…
Lifestyle influence on trace element contents in human scalp hair of young residents in different urban contexts. Preliminary results.
2010
A causal relationship between earth material and human health, although not always proven, is highly plausible because many chemical elements in rocks and soils are directly inhaled by respiration or transmitted, via air, water and vegetation, into food chain and then to human body. It is well known that metals and metalloids may result essential to biochemical and physiological functions, but it is also well known that health problems may derive from either dietary deficiencies or excesses. Among the techniques employed to assess the exposure of living organisms to metals and metalloids present in the environment, the human biomonitoring has attracted the attention of investigators over th…
Lead isotopes in biological matrices to identify potential sources of contamination: the case study of Sulcis-Iglesiente district (SW Sardinia, Italy)
2017
The Sulcis-Iglesiente district has been, until recently, one of the most important Italian polymetallic mining areas for the extraction of lead. Located close to the town of Iglesias, the San Giorgio area constitutes a dramatic example of an area affected by intense mine pollution. Epidemiological studies regarding the mining areas of Sardinia have indicated the Sulcis-Iglesiente as a typical example of how dispersion of metal can affect human health. We have chosen this peculiar area to evaluate whether a supposed prolonged and continuous exposure to high lead concentration can be detected by means of a bio-monitoring procedure that uses the analysis of human scalp hair and the measurement…