Occupational biomonitoring (biological monitoring) is a tool for the assessment of exposure to chemicals at work. EU-OSHA’s new guide aims to help occupational health professionals and managers set up and manage workplace biomonitoring programmes for chemical exposure and use the results to improve prevention.
The guide sets out common principles and explains the role and use of biological monitoring guidance values and biological limit values. The guide covers the use of biomonitoring for exposures to chemicals in the workplace for the purposes of exposure assessment and health surveillance, including in case of accidents and chemical spillage.
Ethical issues
Since biomonitoring involves measurements on biological samples collected from individuals, it is essential that the rights of the individual providing the sample are safeguarded. The guide explains how to set up an effective biomonitoring programme in the workplace context while protecting the rights of individual participants. It furthers explores ethical issues to protect workers’ privacy and rights and provides information for workers on what to expect from such monitoring.
Biological monitoring
There are different types of health surveillance procedures used to assess exposure to hazardous chemicals, including interview questions and medical examination. The guide offers workers information on what occupational biomonitoring might involve and covers key aspects such as benefits, limitations, interpretation of results, right to information, ethical issues, and consent.
About biological monitoringBiological exposure monitoring, commonly referred to as biomonitoring, is the measurement of a substance or its metabolites (breakdown products) in a biological specimen obtained from an individual. The most common sample types are serum, blood and urine, but several others have been used, mainly in research, including saliva, hair, sweat and exhaled breath. The type of specimen is primarily determined by the substance being monitored, but, where multiple options exist, their collection will present different levels of invasiveness and may reflect different time frames of exposure. Often, biomonitoring quantifies the substance of interest in a sample, but sometimes it is more appropriate to measure a product of biotransformation (metabolite or a reaction product with DNA or a protein, a so-called addition product or adduct). Ideally, a good biomarker should reflect the internal dose, be sensitive enough to detect relevant levels of exposure, and be specific to an individual substance (or a group of closely related substances). Biological effect monitoring is the measurement and assessment of early biological effects caused by absorption of chemicals before health impairment occurs in exposed workers. It normally involves measuring biochemical responses — for example, measuring plasma and erythrocyte cholinesterase activity in workers exposed to organophosphorus pesticides; or measuring increases in urinary protein following exposure to cadmium. These responses may have potential health implications for the individual and may arise from non-occupational exposure. Consequently, biological effect monitoring in an occupational context should always be carried out under the supervision of an occupational physician. Effect biomarkers are mainly used in research or clinical assessments. |
