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[EN] Pollution by trace elements and its possible effect on organisms has become a worldwide concern due to the increasing presence of trace elements in the environment and especially in the food chain. Exposure to chemicals has traditionally been measured using environmental samples, however, human biomonitoring brings a different perspective, in which all sources and exposure pathways are integrated. The objective of this paper is to discern the possible relationship between children's diet and the metals found in children urine. With this aim in mind, a total of 120 voluntaries participated in a diet survey carried out in a school-aged population (age 6-11) from the Valencian region. In addition, twenty trace elements were analysed in children urine (arsenic, antimony, barium, beryllium, caesium, cadmium, cobalt, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, platinum, selenium, thallium, thorium, uranium, vanadium and zinc). Results permitted to compare metal levels in urine with metal levels of other biomonitoring studies to conclude that values, including ours, were similar in most studies. On the other hand, children who ate more vegetables had the highest values in cadmium, copper, molybdenum, antimony, thallium, vanadium, and zinc, while those who ate more fish reached higher values in mercury. Finally, children who ate more cereals and baked products had higher values in total arsenic. (c) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[EN] Pollution by trace elements and its possible effect on organisms has become a worldwide concern due to the increasing presence of trace elements in the environment and especially in the food chain. Exposure to chemicals has traditionally been measured using environmental samples, however, human biomonitoring brings a different perspective, in which all sources and exposure pathways are integrated. The objective of this paper is to discern the possible relationship between children's diet and the metals found in children urine. With this aim in mind, a total of 120 voluntaries participated in a diet survey carried out in a school-aged population (age 6-11) from the Valencian region. In addition, twenty trace elements were analysed in children urine (arsenic, antimony, barium, beryllium, caesium, cadmium, cobalt, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, platinum, selenium, thallium, thorium, uranium, vanadium and zinc). Results permitted to compare metal levels in urine with metal levels of other biomonitoring studies to conclude that values, including ours, were similar in most studies. On the other hand, children who ate more vegetables had the highest values in cadmium, copper, molybdenum, antimony, thallium, vanadium, and zinc, while those who ate more fish reached higher values in mercury. Finally, children who ate more cereals and baked products had higher values in total arsenic. (c) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[EN] 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 of Valencia (Spain), that is linked to the food safety official control, and is focused on children from 6 to 11 years of age ii) to explain and discuss the pre-analytical results iii) to report and discuss on lessons learned from its design and implementation. The study population included 666 children from whom urine and hair were taken in order to analyse different biomarkers of exposure to food pollutants.

[EN] 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 of Valencia (Spain), that is linked to the food safety official control, and is focused on children from 6 to 11 years of age ii) to explain and discuss the pre-analytical results iii) to report and discuss on lessons learned from its design and implementation. The study population included 666 children from whom urine and hair were taken in order to analyse different biomarkers of exposure to food pollutants.