{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,4]],"date-time":"2026-10-04T21:02:47Z","timestamp":1791147767374,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":63,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,1]],"date-time":"2022-06-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1654041600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Horizon 2020","award":["733032"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["733032"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Human biomonitoring has become a pivotal tool for supporting chemicals\u2019 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\u2019s 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 socio-demographics, lifestyle, health status, environment, and diet is collected using questionnaires. In total, biological samples from 3137 children aged 6\u201312 years are collected for the analysis of biomarkers for phthalates, HEXAMOLL\u00ae DINCH, and flame retardants. Samples from 2950 teenagers aged 12\u201318 years are collected for the analysis of biomarkers for phthalates, Hexamoll\u00ae DINCH, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), and samples from 3522 adults aged 20\u201339 years are collected for the analysis of cadmium, bisphenols, and metabolites of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The children\u2019s 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\u2019 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\u20132) are underrepresented. The data on internal human exposure to priority chemicals from this unique cohort will provide a baseline for Europe\u2019s strategy towards a non-toxic environment and challenges and recommendations to improve the sampling frame for future EU-wide HBM surveys are discussed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph19116787","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,1]],"date-time":"2022-06-01T12:48:31Z","timestamp":1654087711000},"page":"6787","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":68,"title":["Harmonization of Human Biomonitoring Studies in Europe: Characteristics of the HBM4EU-Aligned Studies Participants"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3016-9750","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Liese","family":"Gilles","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"VITO Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), 2400 Mol, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6075-4862","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eva","family":"Govarts","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"VITO Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), 2400 Mol, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6630-411X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura","family":"Rodriguez Martin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"VITO Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), 2400 Mol, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anna-Maria","family":"Andersson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Growth and Reproduction, Copenhagen University Hospital-Rigshospitalet, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Brice M. R.","family":"Appenzeller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Precision Health, Luxembourg Institute of Health, 1445 Strassen, Luxembourg"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fabio","family":"Barbone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine\u2014DAME, University of Udine, Via Colugna 50, 33100 Udine, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4152-7119","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Argelia","family":"Casta\u00f1o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro Nacional de Sanidad Ambiental (CNSA), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0009-0723","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dries","family":"Coertjens","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sociology, University of Antwerp, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elly","family":"Den Hond","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Provincial Institute for Hygiene, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vazha","family":"Dzhedzheia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece"},{"name":"HERACLES Research Center on the Exposome and Health, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation, Balkan Center, Bldg. 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Box 95, 70701 Kuopio, Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"\u00c1sa","family":"Eir\u00edksd\u00f3ttir","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Iceland, 102 Reykjavik, Iceland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"An","family":"Van Nieuwenhuyse","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department Health Protection, Laboratoire National de Sant\u00e9, 3555 Dudelange, Luxembourg"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5262-5665","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Veerle J.","family":"Verheyen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"VITO Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), 2400 Mol, Belgium"},{"name":"Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jelle","family":"Vlaanderen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0295-9277","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nina","family":"Vogel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"German Environment Agency (UBA), 14195 Berlin, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2991-9040","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wojciech","family":"Wasowicz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine (NIOM), 91-348 Lodz, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2889-8214","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Till","family":"Weber","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"German Environment Agency (UBA), 14195 Berlin, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2941-6259","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jan-Paul","family":"Zock","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), 3721 MA Bilthoven, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ovnair","family":"Sepai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"UK Health Security Agency, London SE1 8UG, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6556-4814","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Greet","family":"Schoeters","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"VITO Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), 2400 Mol, Belgium"},{"name":"Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"EEA (2020). 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