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Browsing by Author "Coertjens, Dries"

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  • Harmonization of Human Biomonitoring Studies in Europe: Characteristics of the HBM4EU-Aligned Studies Participants
    Publication . Gilles, Liese; Govarts, Eva; Rodriguez Martin, Laura; Andersson, Anna-Maria; Appenzeller, Brice M.R.; Barbone, Fabio; Castano, Argelia; Coertjens, Dries; Den Hond, Elly; Dzhedzheia, Vazha; Eržen, Ivan; Esteban, Marta; Fábelová, Lucia; Fillol, Clémence; Franken, Carmen; Frederiksen, Hanne; Gabriel, Catherine; Haug, Line Småstuen; Horvat, Milena; Halldórsson, Thórhallur Ingi; Janasik, Beata; Holcer, Nataša Janev; Kakucs, Réka; Karakitsios, Spyros; Katsonouri, Andromachi; Klánová, Jana; Kold-Jensen, Tina; Kolossa-Gehring, Marike; Konstantinou, Corina; Koponen, Jani; Lignell, Sanna; Lindroos, Anna Karin; Makris, Konstantinos C.; Mazej, Darja; Morrens, Bert; Murínová, Ľubica Palkovičová; Namorado, Sónia; Pedraza-Diaz, Susana; Peisker, Jasmin; Probst-Hensch, Nicole; Rambaud, Loïc; Rosolen, Valentina; Rucic, Enrico; Rüther, Maria; Sarigiannis, Dimosthenis; Tratnik, Janja Snoj; Standaert, Arnout; Stewart, Lorraine; Szigeti, Tamás; Thomsen, Cathrine; Tolonen, Hanna; Eiríksdóttir, Ása; Van Nieuwenhuyse, An; Verheyen, Veerle J.; Vlaanderen, Jelle; Vogel, Nina; Wasowicz, Wojciech; Weber, Till; Zock, Jan-Paul; Sepai, Ovnair; Schoeters, Greet
    Human biomonitoring has become a pivotal tool for supporting chemicals’ policies. It provides information on real-life human exposures and is increasingly used to prioritize chemicals of health concern and to evaluate the success of chemical policies. Europe has launched the ambitious REACH program in 2007 to improve the protection of human health and the environment. In October 2020 the EU commission published its new chemicals strategy for sustainability towards a toxic-free environment. The European Parliament called upon the commission to collect human biomonitoring data to support chemical’s risk assessment and risk management. This manuscript describes the organization of the first HBM4EU-aligned studies that obtain comparable human biomonitoring (HBM) data of European citizens to monitor their internal exposure to environmental chemicals. The HBM4EU-aligned studies build on existing HBM capacity in Europe by aligning national or regional HBM studies. The HBM4EU-aligned studies focus on three age groups: children, teenagers, and adults. The participants are recruited between 2014 and 2021 in 11 to 12 primary sampling units that are geographically distributed across Europe. Urine samples are collected in all age groups, and blood samples are collected in children and teenagers. Auxiliary information on sociodemographics, lifestyle, health status, environment, and diet is collected using questionnaires. In total, biological samples from 3137 children aged 6–12 years are collected for the analysis of biomarkers for phthalates, HEXAMOLL® DINCH, and flame retardants. Samples from 2950 teenagers aged 12–18 years are collected for the analysis of biomarkers for phthalates, Hexamoll® DINCH, and per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), and samples from 3522 adults aged 20–39 years are collected for the analysis of cadmium, bisphenols, and metabolites of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The children’s group consists of 50.4% boys and 49.5% girls, of which 44.1% live in cities, 29.0% live in towns/suburbs, and 26.8% live in rural areas. The teenagers’ group includes 50.6% girls and 49.4% boys, with 37.7% of residents in cities, 31.2% in towns/suburbs, and 30.2% in rural areas. The adult group consists of 52.6% women and 47.4% men, 71.9% live in cities, 14.2% in towns/suburbs, and only 13.4% live in rural areas. The study population approaches the characteristics of the general European population based on age-matched EUROSTAT EU-28, 2017 data; however, individuals who obtained no to lower educational level (ISCED 0–2) are under represented. The data on internal human exposure to priority chemicals from this unique cohort will provide a baseline for Europe’s strategy towards a non-toxic environment and challenges and recommendations to improve the sampling frame for future EU-wide HBM surveys are discussed.
    2022-06-01Journal article Open access Show more
  • HBM4EU - Deliverable Report D 6.2. Revised set of key indicators
    Publication . Reynders, Hans; Van Campenhout, Karen; Mampaey, Maja; Gilles, Liese; Colles, Ann; Baken, Kirsten; Bessems, Jos; Schoeters, Greet; Ay, Derya; Lobo Vicente, Joana; Ganzleben, Catherine; Isidro, Glória; Louro, Henriqueta; Silva, Maria João; Uhl, Maria; Ubong, Dorothy; Sepai, Ovnair; Tarroja, Elena; Persoz, Charles; Barouki, Robert; Kobosil, Nicole; David, Madlen; Appel, Petra; Kolossa, Marike; Coertjens, Dries; Crabbé, Ann; Loots, Ilse; Covaci, Adrian; Antignac, Jean-Philippe; Debrauwer, Laurent; Fernandez, Mariana; Berglund, Marika; Blaha, Ludek; Esteban López, Marta; Scheepers, Paul; Tolonen, Hanna; Nørager., Sofie
    The current deliverable describes the process of revision of the first list of indicators (published in June 2017 as D6.1.) and presents the indicator leaflets ((see attachment 1) that link key results of HBM4EU to the objectives of the project as laid down in the description of action. These indicator leaflets already contain a lot of results on the revised list of indicators, and give very valuable information on the progress of HBM4EU in relation to the specific goals of the project. Combining the information from these leaflets in the frame of expected impacts will allow us to put forward conclusions towards impact and sustainability of HBM4EU. As such, this restructured list answers to the main comments on the first list of indicators from the task 6.5 partners, the Management Board, the Governing Board and the EU Policy Board, in concretu to: • Drastically reduce the number of indicators from 48 indicators (including 9 internal indicators) on the first list to 28 indicators on the revised list without losing essential information. Moreover by bundling related indicators we now have 22 indicator leaflets (and 1 overview leaflet); • Make the relationship between the indicators and the goals of HBM4EU more clear by structuring the list of indicators according to the overarching objectives and specific goals; • Use the indicators to say something about the impact of the HBM4EU project: the indicator leaflets were used to give input for the impact section of the periodic technical reporting 2018 to describe the progress made for the 5 expected impacts of HBM4EU. This exercise will be continued and ameliorated in the 2019 periodic technical reporting as more indicator leaflets will be available compared to 2018; • Link the indicators with the work on sustainability of HBM in Europe: the indicators were presented at the sustainability workshop in Paris. Participants indicated that they think the leaflets will be useful for institutional discussions, national hub meetings, meetings with policy makers and other meetings and that they would like to use them as soon as they are available. The added value of having indicators of success, is to monitor the implementation and achieved impact of HBM4EU. This will allow for a more efficient tracking of achieved goals. This deliverable will help to further optimize and revise the first set of indicators to monitor the implementation of the HBM4EU and the achieved impact. The indicators of success are written in a clear language, they are concise and capture the main achievements in the list of indicators that has been agreed amongst the partners. Therefore, they can be easily used by all partners across the consortium, the EU Policy Board and our HBM4EU ambassador Thomas Jackl.
    2019-07-20Report Open access Show more