Auflistung nach Autor:in "Gerofke, Antje"

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Cumulative risk assessment of five phthalates in European children and adolescents
(2022) Kolossa-Gehring, Marike; Lange, Rosa; Gerofke, Antje; Schmidt, Philipp; Vogel, Nina
The European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) assessed human biomonitoring data on phthalates in children and adolescents, that were sampled between 2014 and 2021, in a harmonised way. These so-called "HBM4EU Aligned Studies" revealed that almost all children and adolescents were exposed to multiple phthalates concurrently. Some phthalates have been shown to act in a dose-additive manner, thus, a mixture risk assessment is warranted. In our study, we determine the risk from combined exposure to five anti-androgenic phthalates, namely DEHP, DiBP, DnBP, BBzP and DiNP by making use of the hazard index (HI) approach. Toxicologically-based human biomonitoring guidance values (HBM-GVs) derived within the framework of HBM4EU served as basis. Our results show that exposures of 17% of children and adolescents from twelve European countries resulted in hazard indices (HI)>1 with an HI of 1.77 at the 95th percentile (geometric mean, GM=0.44). Main drivers for the mixture risk are DnBP and DiBP. Generalized Linear Model (GLM) analysis including four major exposure determinants (age, sex, European region, sampling year) simultaneously reveal differences for the European regions and between sampling years. Children and adolescents living in the Eastern region of Europe have on average, higher HIs (GM=0.58) than in the Southern region (GM=0.36) and Western region (GM=0.42). Moreover, participants from which urine samples were taken in the earlier years (2014-2016) seem to have higher average HI levels than participants from studies with later sampling periods. Strikingly, the majority (63%) of participants with HIs>1 would have gone unnoticed in single substance risk assessments as individual phthalates levels were below corresponding HBM-GVs. Thus, our results underline the importance of mixture risk assessment approaches to adequately address risks from concurrent chemical exposure. © 2022 Published by Elsevier GmbH.
Current exposure to phthalates and DINCH in European children and adolescents - results from the HBM4EU Aligned Studies 2014 to 2021
(2023) Kolossa-Gehring, Marike; Lange, Rosa; Gerofke, Antje; Murawski, Aline; Schmidt, Phillipp; Vogel, Nina
Phthalates are mainly used as plasticizers for polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Exposure to several phthalates is associated with different adverse effects most prominently on the development of reproductive functions. The HBM4EU Aligned Studies (2014-2021) have investigated current European exposure to ten phthalates (DEP, BBzP, DiBP, DnBP, DCHP, DnPeP, DEHP, DiNP, DiDP, DnOP) and the substitute DINCH to answer the open policy relevant questions which were defined by HBM4EU partner countries and EU institutions as the starting point of the programme. The exposure dataset includes ~5,600 children (6-11 years) and adolescents (12-18 years) from up to 12 countries per age group and covering the North, East, South and West European regions. Study data from participating studies were harmonised with respect to sample size and selection of participants, selection of biomarkers, and quality and comparability of analytical results to provide a comparable perspective of European exposure. Phthalate and DINCH exposure were deduced from urinary excretions of metabolites, where concentrations were expressed as their key descriptor geometric mean (GM) and 95th percentile (P95). This study aims at reporting current exposure levels and differences in these between European studies and regions, as well as comparisons to human biomonitoring guidance values (HBM-GVs). GMs for children were highest for total-DEHP metabolites (33.6 mikrog/L), MiBP (26.6 mikrog/L), and MEP (24.4 mikrog/L) and lowest for total-DiDP metabolites (1.91 mikrog/L) and total-DINCH metabolites (3.57 mikrog/L). In adolescents highest GMs were found for MEP (43.3 mikrog/L), total-DEHP metabolites (28.8 mikrog/L), and MiBP (25.6 mikrog/L) and lowest for total-DiDP metabolites (= 2.02 mikrog/L) and total-DINCH metabolites (2.51 mikrog/L). In addition, GMs and P95 stratified by European region, sex, household education level, and degree of urbanization are presented. Differences in average biomarker concentrations between sampling sites (data collections) ranged from factor 2 to 9. Compared to the European average, children in the sampling sites OCC (Denmark), InAirQ (Hungary), and SPECIMEn (The Netherlands) had the lowest concentrations across all metabolites and ESTEBAN (France), NAC II (Italy), and CROME (Greece) the highest. For adolescents, comparably higher metabolite concentrations were found in NEB II (Norway), PCB cohort (Slovakia), and ESTEBAN (France), and lower concentrations in POLAES (Poland), FLEHS IV (Belgium), and GerES V-sub (Germany). Multivariate analyses (Survey Generalized Linear Models) indicate compound-specific differences in average metabolite concentrations between the four European regions. Comparison of individual levels with HBM-GVs revealed highest rates of exceedances for DnBP and DiBP, with up to 3 and 5%, respectively, in children and adolescents. No exceedances were observed for DEP and DINCH. With our results we provide current, detailed, and comparable data on exposure to phthalates in children and - for the first time - in adolescents, and - for the first time - on DINCH in children and adolescents of all four regions of Europe which are particularly suited to inform exposure and risk assessment and answer open policy relevant questions. © 2023 The Authors.
Deutsche Umweltstudie zur Gesundheit von Kindern und Jugendlichen 2014-2017 (GerES V)
(Umweltbundesamt, 2023) Hahn, Domenica; Kolossa-Gehring, Marike; Lange, Rosa; Lemke, Nora; Murawski, Aline; Peisker, Jasmin; Debiak, Malgorzata; Rucic, Enrico; Zimmermann, Philipp; David, Madlen; Gerofke, Antje; Weber, Till; Pack, Kim Laura
In der Deutschen Umweltstudie zur Gesundheit (GerES) wird die Schadstoff-Belastung der Bevölkerung repräsentativ für die Menschen in Deutschland erhoben. In der fünften Erhebung, GerESV (2014-2017), wurden 2.294 Kinder und Jugendliche im Alter von 3 bis 17 Jahren aus 167 Orten in ganz Deutschland untersucht. GerES V ist eine bevölkerungsrepräsentative Querschnittstudie und wurde in enger Kooperation mit der "Studie zur Gesundheit von Kindern und Jugendlichen in Deutschland" (KiGGS Welle 2) des Robert-Koch-Instituts durchgeführt. Im Human-Biomonitoring (HBM) von GerESV wurden 107 verschiedene Substanzen im Blut bzw. Urin der Teilnehmenden gemessen. Der vorliegende Bericht fasst die HBM-Ergebnisse von GerESV zusammen. Bei Vorliegen entsprechender Beurteilungswerte wird eine gesundheitliche Bewertung vorgenommen. Der Bericht gibt einen Überblick über die Abläufe der Datenerhebung und die chemisch-analytischen und statistischen Methoden. Die wichtigsten Ergebnisse zu Belastungsquellen und -pfaden sowie besonders belasteten Bevölkerungsgruppen sind zusammengefasst und in aggregierter Form tabellarisch präsentiert. Für jede untersuchte Substanz werden außerdem die Quellen, die toxikologischen Eigenschaften und aktuellen Regulationen aufgeführt. Die bisherige Nutzung der Daten aus GerES V für Politik- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit sowie in internationalen Kooperationen ist ebenfalls dargelegt. Quelle: Forschungsbericht
Exposure to phthalates in European children, adolescents and adults since 2005: a harmonized approach based on existing HBM data in the HBM4EU Initiative
(2023) Kolossa-Gehring, Marike; Lange, Rosa; Murawski, Aline; Rüther, Maria; Gerofke, Antje; Schmidt, Phillipp; Springer, Andrea; Vogel, Nina; Weber, Till
Phthalates are mainly used as plasticizers and are associated inter alia with adverse effects on reproductive functions. While more and more national programs in Europe have started monitoring internal exposure to phthalates and its substitute 1,2-Cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid (DINCH), the comparability of results from such existing human biomonitoring (HBM) studies across Europe is challenging. They differ widely in time periods, study samples, degree of geographical coverage, design, analytical methodology, biomarker selection, and analytical quality assurance level. The HBM4EU initiative has gathered existing HBM data of 29 studies from participating countries, covering all European regions and Israel. The data were prepared and aggregated by a harmonized procedure with the aim to describe - as comparably as possible - the EU-wide general population's internal exposure to phthalates from the years 2005 to 2019. Most data were available from Northern (up to 6 studies and up to 13 time points), Western (11; 19), and Eastern Europe (9; 12), e.g., allowing for the investigation of time patterns. While the bandwidth of exposure was generally similar, we still observed regional differences for Butyl benzyl phthalate (BBzP), Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), Di-isononyl phthalate (DiNP), and Di-isobutyl phthalate (DiBP) with pronounced decreases over time in Northern and Western Europe, and to a lesser degree in Eastern Europe. Differences between age groups were visible for Di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), where children (3 to 5-year olds and 6 to 11-year olds) had lower urinary concentrations than adolescents (12 to 19-year-olds), who in turn had lower urinary concentrations than adults (20 to 39-year-olds). This study is a step towards making internal exposures to phthalates comparable across countries, although standardized data were not available, targeting European data sets harmonized with respect to data formatting and calculation of aggregated data (such as developed within HBM4EU), and highlights further suggestions for improved harmonization in future studies. © 2023 by the authors
From science to policy: how European HBM indicators help to answer policy questions related to phthalates and DINCH exposure
(2022) Gerofke, Antje; David, Madlen; Kolossa-Gehring, Marike; Schmidt, Phillipp; Vogel, Nina
Within the European Human Biomonitoring (HBM) Initiative HBM4EU we derived HBM indicators that were designed to help answering key policy questions and support chemical policies. The result indicators convey information on chemicals exposure of different age groups, sexes, geographical regions and time points by comparing median exposure values. If differences are observed for one group or the other, policy measures or risk management options can be implemented. Impact indicators support health risk assessment by comparing exposure values with health-based guidance values, such as human biomonitoring guidance values (HBM-GVs). In general, the indicators should be designed to translate complex scientific information into short and clear messages and make it accessible to policy makers but also to a broader audience such as stakeholders (e.g. NGO's), other scientists and the general public. Based on harmonized data from the HBM4EU Aligned Studies (2014-2021), the usefulness of our indicators was demonstrated for the age group children (6-11 years), using two case examples: one phthalate (Diisobutyl phthalate: DiBP) and one non-phthalate substitute (Di-isononyl cyclohexane-1,2- dicarboxylate: DINCH). For the comparison of age groups, these were compared to data for teenagers (12-18 years), and time periods were compared using data from the DEMOCOPHES project (2011-2012). Our result indicators proved to be suitable for demonstrating the effectiveness of policy measures for DiBP and the need of continuous monitoring for DINCH. They showed similar exposure for boys and girls, indicating that there is no need for gender focused interventions and/or no indication of sex-specific exposure patterns. They created a basis for a targeted approach by highlighting relevant geographical differences in internal exposure. An adequate data basis is essential for revealing differences for all indicators. This was particularly evident in our studies on the indicators on age differences. The impact indicator revealed that health risks based on exposure to DiBP cannot be excluded. This is an indication or flag for risk managers and policy makers that exposure to DiBP still is a relevant health issue. HBM indicators derived within HBM4EU are a valuable and important complement to existing indicator lists in the context of environment and health. Their applicability, current shortcomings and solution strategies are outlined. © 2022 The Authors
HBM4EU results support the Chemicals' Strategy for Sustainability and the Zero-Pollution Action Plan
(2023) Vicente, Joana Lobo; David, Madlen; Ganzleben, Catherine; Gasol, Roser; Gerofke, Antje; Kolossa-Gehring, Marike
One of the major goals of the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) was to bridge the gap between science and policy by consulting both policy makers and national scientists and generating evidence of the actual exposure of residents to chemicals and whether that exposure would be suggest a potential health risk. Residents' perspectives on chemical exposure and risk were also investigated. HBM4EU's research was designed to answer specific short-term and long-term policy questions at national and European levels, and for its results to directly support regulatory action on chemicals. A strategy was established to prioritise chemicals for analysis in human matrices, with a total of 18 substances/substance groups chosen to be investigated throughout the five-and a -half-year project. HBM4EU produced new evidence of human exposure levels, developed reference values for exposure, investigated determinants of exposure and derived health-based guidance values for those substances. In addition, HBM4EU promoted the use of human biomonitoring data in chemical risk assessment and developed innovative tools and methods linking chemicals to possible health impacts, such as effect biomarkers. Furthermore, HBM4EU advanced understand of effects from combined exposures and methods to identify emerging chemicals. With the aim of supporting policy implementation, science-to-policy workshops were organised, providing opportunities for joint reflection and dialogue on research results. I, and indicators were developed to assess temporal and spatial patterns in the exposure of European population. A sustainable human biomonitoring monitoring framework, producing comparable quality assured data would allow: the evaluation of time trends; the exploration of spatial trends: the evaluation of the influence of socio-economic conditions on chemical exposure. Therefore, such a framework should be included in the European Chemicals' Strategy for Sustainability and the data would support the Zero Pollution Action Plan. © 2023 The Authors
How to use human biomonitoring in chemical risk assessment: methodological aspects, recommendations, and lessons learned from HBM4EU
(2023) Santonen, Tiina; Mahiout, Selma; Apel, Petra; Alvito, Paula; Kolossa-Gehring, Marike; Gerofke, Antje; Lange, Rosa
One of the aims of the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative, HBM4EU, was to provide examples of and good practices for the effective use of human biomonitoring (HBM) data in human health risk assessment (RA). The need for such information is pressing, as previous research has indicated that regulatory risk assessors generally lack knowledge and experience of the use of HBM data in RA. By recognising this gap in expertise, as well as the added value of incorporating HBM data into RA, this paper aims to support the integration of HBM into regulatory RA. Based on the work of the HBM4EU, we provide examples of different approaches to including HBM in RA and in estimations of the environmental burden of disease (EBoD), the benefits and pitfalls involved, information on the important methodological aspects to consider, and recommendations on how to overcome obstacles. The examples are derived from RAs or EBoD estimations made under the HBM4EU for the following HBM4EU priority substances: acrylamide, o-toluidine of the aniline family, aprotic solvents, arsenic, bisphenols, cadmium, diisocyanates, flame retardants, hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)], lead, mercury, mixture of per-/poly-fluorinated compounds, mixture of pesticides, mixture of phthalates, mycotoxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and the UV-filter benzophenone-3. Although the RA and EBoD work presented here is not intended to have direct regulatory implications, the results can be useful for raising awareness of possibly needed policy actions, as newly generated HBM data from HBM4EU on the current exposure of the EU population has been used in many RAs and EBoD estimations. © 2023 The Author(s)
Human-Biomonitoring in Europa
(2023) Akervik, Anja; Apel, Petra; Gerofke, Antje; Kolossa-Gehring, Marike; Schmidt, Phillipp; Vogel, Nina; Weber, Till; Weise, Philipp
PFAS and Phthalate/DINCH exposure in association with age at menarche in teenagers of the HBM4EU aligned studies
(2023) Cox, Bianca; Wauters, Natasha; Rodríguez-Carrillo, Andrea; Kolossa-Gehring, Marike; Gerofke, Antje
Early puberty has been found to be associated with adverse health outcomes such as metabolic and cardiovascular diseases and hormone-dependent cancers. The decrease in age at menarche observed during the past decades has been linked to an increased exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs). Evidence for the association between PFAS and phthalate exposure and menarche onset, however, is inconsistent. We studied the association between PFAS and phthalate/DINCH exposure and age at menarche using data of 514 teenagers (12 to 18 years) from four aligned studies of the Human Biomonitoring for Europe initiative (HBM4EU): Riksmaten Adolescents 2016-2017 (Sweden), PCB cohort (follow-up; Slovakia), GerES V-sub (Germany), and FLEHS IV (Belgium). PFAS concentrations were measured in blood, and phthalate/DINCH concentrations in urine. We assessed the role of each individual pollutant within the context of the others, by using different multi-pollutant approaches, adjusting for age, age- and sex-standardized body mass index z-score and household educational level. Exposure to di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), especially mono(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (5OH-MEHP), was associated with an earlier age at menarche, with estimates per interquartile fold change in 5OH-MEHP ranging from -0.34 to -0.12 years in the different models. Findings from this study indicated associations between age at menarche and some specific EDCs at concentrations detected in the general European population, but due to the study design (menarche onset preceded the chemical measurements), caution is needed in the interpretation of causality. © 2023 by the authors
Phthalate und der Ersatzstoff DINCH - die wichtigsten Ergebnisse aus HBM4EU
(2023) Gerofke, Antje; Apel, Petra; Kolossa-Gehring, Marike; Lange, Rosa; Schmidt, Philipp; Vogel, Nina; Weber, Till
Im Rahmen der europäischen HumanBiomonitoringInitiative (HBM4EU) wurden aktuelle harmonisierte Daten zur körperlichen Belastung von Kindern und Jugendlichen mit Phthalat-Weichmachern und dem alternativen Weichmacher DINCH in Europa gewonnen. Zwischen den Ländern und europäischen Regionen wurden Unterschiede in der Belastung festgestellt. Ein Vergleich der HBM-Ergebnisse mit im Projekt abgeleiteten toxikologischen Beurteilungswerten zeigt, dass die Belastung trotz bestehender Regulierungen immer noch zu hoch ist. Bei Betrachtung der gleichzeitigen Belastung mit verschiedenen Phthalaten konnte für 17 rozent der Teilnehmenden ein gesundheitliches Risiko nicht mit ausreichender Sicherheit ausgeschlossen werden. Weitere Meilensteine von HBM4EU waren der Aufbau eines Labornetzwerks zur Analytik der Stoffe, eine Zeittrendanalyse, die Identifizierung von Expositionsquellen sowie Effektbiomarkern und die Untersuchung beruflich Exponierter. Die Ergebnisse ermöglichen die Beantwortung politikberatungsrelevanter Fragen sowie eine Einschätzung der Effektivität bestehender Regulierungen. Quelle: UMID : Umwelt und Mensch - Informationsdienst ; Umwelt & Gesundheit, Umweltmedizin, Verbraucherschutz / Boden- und Lufthygiene (Berlin) Institut für Wasser- - (2023), Heft 1, Seite 25
Results of the first large-scale Pan-European Human Biomonitoring Project HBM4EU
(2023) Pack, Kim Laura; Lange, Rosa; Vogel, Nina; Apel, Petra; Gerofke, Antje; Schmidt, Phillipp; Weber, Till; Weise, Philipp; Kolossa-Gehring, Marike
The European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU): Human biomonitoring guidance values (HBM-GVs) for the aprotic solvents N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidone (NEP)
(2021) Apel, Petra; Gerofke, Antje; David, Madlen; Kolossa-Gehring, Marike; Lange, Rosa
Toxicologically and/or epidemiologically derived guidance values referring to the internal exposure of humans are a prerequisite for an easy to use health-based interpretation of human biomonitoring (HBM) results. The European Joint Programme HBM4EU derives such values, named human biomonitoring guidance values (HBM-GVs), for priority substances which could be of regulatory relevance for policy makers and have been identified by experts of the participating countries, ministries, agencies and stakeholders at EU and national level. NMP and NEP are such substances for which unresolved policy relevant issues should be clarified by targeted research. Since widespread exposure of the general population in Germany to NMP and NEP was shown for the age groups 3-17 years and 20-29 years, further investigations on exposure to NMP and NEP in other European countries are warranted. The HBM-GVs derived for both solvents focus on developmental toxicity as decisive endpoint. They amount for the sum of the two specific urinary NMP metabolites 5-HNMP and 2-HMSI and likewise of the two specific urinary NEP metabolites 5-HNEP and 2-HESI to 10 mg/L for children and 15 mg/L for adolescents/adults. The values were determined following a consultation process on the value proposals within HBM4EU. A health-based risk assessment was performed using the newly derived HBM-GVGenPop and exposure data from two recent studies from Germany. The risk assessment revealed that even when considering the combined exposure to both substances by applying the Hazard Index approach, the measured concentrations are below the HBM-GVGenPop in all cases investigated (i.e., children, adolescents and young adults). © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier GmbH.