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In this paper, based on the Flemish biomonitoring programs, we describe the associations between internal exposure to organochlorine pollutants and to cadmium (measured in 2004-2005 for adults aged 50-65 years) and self-reported health status obtained through a questionnaire in November 2011. Dioxin-like activity in serum showed a significant positive association with risk of cancer for women. After adjustment for confounders and covariates, the odds ratio for an exposure equal to the 90th percentile was 2.4 times higher than for an exposure equal to the 10th percentile. For both men and women dioxin-like activity and serum hexachlorobenzene (HCB) showed a significant positive association with risk of diabetes and of hypertension. Detailed analysis suggested that an increase in BMI might be part of the mechanism through which HCB contributes to diabetes and hypertension. Serum dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE) concentration showed a significant positive association with diabetes and hypertension in men, but not in women. Serum polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) 118 showed a significant positive association with diabetes in both men and women, and after adjustment for correlated exposures, also with hypertension in men. Urinary cadmium concentrations showed a significant positive association with hypertension. Urinary cadmium concentrations were (in 2004-2005) significantly higher in persons who felt in less than good health (in 2011) than in persons who felt in very good health. After adjustment for correlated exposures (to HCB, p,p'-DDE and PCB118) marker PCBs showed a significant negative association with diabetes and hypertension. Serum p,p'-DDE showed in men a significant negative association with risk of diseases based on atheromata. Our findings suggest that exposure to pollutants can lead to an important increase in the risk of diseases such as cancer, diabetes and hypertension. Some pollutants may possibly also decrease the risk of some health problems, although this requires confirmation by other approaches., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

An excessive metal exposure is harmful to the brain. However, many aspects of metal neurotoxicity remain unclear including the magnitude of the low-level exposure effects and the level of exposure that can be assumed safe. The aim of our study was to investigate the association between a low-level metal exposure and three neurobehavioral domains (sustained attention, short-term memory, and manual motor speed). We measured Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, and Tl in blood, Cd, Ni, and toxicologically relevant As in urine and methyl Hg in hair in 606 adolescents between 13.6 and 17 years of age. A two-fold increase in blood Cu was associated with a 0.37 standard deviations decrease in sustained attention (95% CI: -0.67 to -0.07, p=0.02) and 0.39 standard deviations decrease in short-term memory (95% CI: -0.70 to -0.07, p=0.02), accounting for gender, age, smoking, passive smoking, household income per capita, occupation of the parents, and education level of the mother. None of the other metals was significantly associated with the neurobehavioral domains that were measured. The observed associations between blood Cu and neurobehavioral performance are in line with recent studies in elderly. However, the relevance of our results for public health remains to be elucidated., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

COPHES/DEMOCOPHES has its origins in the European Environment and Health Action Plan of 2004 to "develop a coherent approach on human biomonitoring (HBM) in Europe". Within this twin-project it was targeted to collect specimens from 120 mother-child-pairs in each of the 17 participating European countries. These specimens were investigated for six biomarkers (mercury in hair; creatinine, cotinine, cadmium, phthalate metabolites and bisphenol A in urine). The results for mercury in hair are described in a separate paper. Each participating member state was requested to contract laboratories, for capacity building reasons ideally within its borders, carrying out the chemical analyses. To ensure comparability of analytical data a Quality Assurance Unit (QAU) was established which provided the participating laboratories with standard operating procedures (SOP) and with control material. This material was specially prepared from native, non-spiked, pooled urine samples and was tested for homogeneity and stability. Four external quality assessment exercises were carried out. Highly esteemed laboratories from all over the world served as reference laboratories. Web conferences after each external quality assessment exercise functioned as a new and effective tool to improve analytical performance, to build capacity and to educate less experienced laboratories. Of the 38 laboratories participating in the quality assurance exercises 14 laboratories qualified for cadmium, 14 for creatinine, 9 for cotinine, 7 for phthalate metabolites and 5 for bisphenol A in urine. In the last of the four external quality assessment exercises the laboratories that qualified for DEMOCOPHES performed the determinations in urine with relative standard deviations (low/high concentration) of 18.0/2.1% for cotinine, 14.8/5.1% for cadmium, 4.7/3.4% for creatinine. Relative standard deviations for the newly emerging biomarkers were higher, with values between 13.5 and 20.5% for bisphenol A and between 18.9 and 45.3% for the phthalate metabolites. Plausibility control of the HBM results of all participating countries disclosed analytical shortcomings in the determination of Cd when using certain ICP/MS methods. Results were corrected by reanalyzes. The COPHES/DEMOCOPHES project for the first time succeeded in performing a harmonized pan-European HBM project. All data raised have to be regarded as utmost reliable according to the highest international state of the art, since highly renowned laboratories functioned as reference laboratories. The procedure described here, that has shown its success, can be used as a blueprint for future transnational, multicentre HBM projects., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

There are emerging concerns about potential effects on child health and development of early-life exposure to substances such as brominated flame retardants (BFRs), perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), phthalates and phenols (including bisphenol A (BPA)); pregnancy and birth cohort studies are ideally designed to study such concerns prospectively. As part of the ENRIECO project, we evaluated existing human biomonitoring data for these substances in European birth cohorts and develop recommendations for more harmonized methods that will enable combination and comparison of cohort data in the future. The ENRIECO inventory shows that 20 European birth cohorts have measured or are measuring BFRs (N=10), PFCs (N=11), phthalates (N=16) or phenols (N=8). Generally, samples were collected prenatally or at birth and measurements involved few subjects in each cohort (a few hundred maximum). Biological matrices, timing, and analytical methods of the measurements varied between cohorts. Few cohorts have measured at multiple time points or in children. In European cohorts, levels of BFRs were very low and at least 10-fold lower than in US; levels of PFCs and phthalates have decreased over the last decade since the phasing out of certain of these compounds; concentrations of phenols are comparable to those in the US. Although there is little published data in the cohorts now, many measurements are ongoing and we recommend that cohorts start working towards combined and comparison studies. Specific recommendations for use of existing data include the development of conversion models for the different media used for measurement of persistent chemicals, and inter-laboratory comparisons and calibrations. Recommendations for further data collection include more evaluation of exposure to these chemicals in children; repeated measurements of non-persistent chemicals; validation and harmonisation of questionnaires; and the development of mechanisms for fast European birth cohort response for the detection and prioritisation of new chemicals of concern., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Background: Environmental justice research suggests that inequalities in the distribution of environmental exposure to chemical pollution systematically disadvantage the lower social strata of society. The effects of these inequalities on the human exposure to pollution are however to a large extend unknown. The purpose of this study is to assess social gradients in human biomonitoring results of a representative sample of Flemish adolescents., Methods: We investigate the associations between individual socioeconomic status (SES), measured by parental educational attainments, and internal body concentration of seven chemical compounds in biological samples of 1642 adolescents aged 14-15 in Flanders (Belgium): PCBs, HCB, DDE, lead, cadmium, benzene and PAHs. Social gradients in average and high exposure to these biomarkers were examined with geometric means and odds ratios (with 95% confidence intervals), using multiple regression models, controlling for covariates and confounders., Results: Depending on the (type of) pollutant, adolescents with a lower SES either have higher or lower internal concentrations. Chlorinated compounds (PCBs and pesticides HCB and DDE) are positively associated with SES (higher exposures for higher SES), while heavy metals (lead and cadmium) are negatively associated (higher exposures for lower SES). For metabolites of organic compounds (benzene and PAHs) we find no association with SES. Socially constructed factors, such as dietary and lifestyle habits, play an important role in these relations., Conclusions: Our study suggests that the association between individual SES and the internal body concentration of exposure to environmental pollutants in Flemish adolescents is more complex than can be assumed on the basis of the environmental justice hypothesis., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)