Mycotoxins under the human biomonitoring initiative (HBM4EU): challenges in the near future

The European Human Biomonitoring Initiative HBM4EU (https://www.hbm4eu.eu/the project/) is a joint effort of 28 countries and the European Environment Agency under the Horizon 2020 funding programme of the European Commission. Since 2017, and with a project duration of 5 years, HBM4EU is generating evidence of the current exposure of European citizens to chemicals and the possible health effects in order to assess the associated risks and provide policy makers with scientifically founded advice on chemical safety and human health protection. Following a systematic prioritization exercise, which brought together national and EU level policy needs for knowledge on chemical exposure and health outcomes, mycotoxins (Deoxynivalenol and Fumonisin B1) were in the 2nd prioritisation round considered as priority substances around which the HBM4EU research programme will be developed. Within the three pillars of the HBM4EU, namely, 1. Science to Policy, 2. European HBM Platform and 3. Exposure and Health, answers to several policy questions identified related to mycotoxins exposure and effects will be debated, including the current levels of human exposure and time trends in Europe, geographical differences and highly exposed subgroups (including workers), the availability of toxicokinetics data, methods for analyzing mycotoxins and their metabolites in human samples, the potential for using effect biomarkers, the use of biomonitoring data under a risk assessment framework, derivation of HBM guidance values, exposure to mixtures of mycotoxins and potential interactive effects. During this presentation, challenges related to those questions and human biomonitoring of mycotoxins will be presented and discussed in the light of the available data.

Keywords

Human Biomonitoring European Initiative HBM4EU Chemical Exposure Mycotoxins Risk Assessment Toxicologia Avaliação de Risco Saúde Humana Segurança Alimentar Genotoxicidade Ambiental