The German Environmental Specimen Bank: Further Insight into Inter-individual Variation in Human Biomonitoring Data

Abstract

Introduction In addition to environmental pollutant concentrations, human biomonitoring (HBM) results<BR>are influenced by behaviors, e.g. smoking, and anatomical/physiological factors, e.g. sex and urine volume.Assessing environmental sources of pollutant levels in human samples must therefore also consider these otherinfluencing factors. Methods The German Environmental Specimen bank (ESB) regularly collects humansamples which are analyzed for a set of substances before being cryo-archived and - retrospectively -foremerging pollutants. Physiological parameters, e.g. urinary creatinine, are also quantified. Each year samplesfrom 480 adults (20-29 years) from four cities are collected. Participants report on their behaviors andanthropometrics. Results and discussion 1) Bivariate analysis yielded significant correlations between levels ofperfluorinated compounds (PFAS) and protein in plasma. No association resulted for PFAS and body-massindex.PFAS are higher in males. 2) Multivariate evaluation of Hg in urine resulted in significant associationswith dental amalgam and fish consumption, explaining more than 50% of variation. 3) Mainly due to reducedemissions, lead in blood (PbB) decreased on average from 77.5 in 1985 to 11.7 ìg/L in 2013. Smokers tend tohave higher PbB levels. PbB is also constantly higher in males. 4) Mean Cu in blood differs substantially by sex:(2013: females: 1.4 vs. males: 0.9 mg/L), with oral contraceptives as one possible reason. For urinary Cu nosuch differences are observed. Conclusions and outlook ESB data allows for analyzing associations between129<BR>HBM data, environmental levels, physiological/anatomical parameters, and behaviors. They support furtherimprovement of HBM study designs and comparability of HBM results. Further augmenting HBM trend analysisby multivariate evaluation is warranted. Acknowledgements The ESB is funded by the Federal Ministry for theEnvironment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety.<BR>In: 25th Annual Meeting: Exposures in an Evolving Environment: October 18 - 22, 2015 - Henderson, Nevada: final Abstract Book. International Societyof Exposure Science. Henderson,S.129-130