PARC includes a variety of activities that support chemical risk assessment in Europe, including human biomonitoring. However, there are considerable spatial differences in the implementation of human biomonitoring studies across Europe: some countries have ongoing national programmes, while human biomonitoring data is scarce in others. Human biomonitoring data supports the implementation of the EU’s Chemicals Strategy ↗; thus, PARC has set among its goals to support the development of national capacities.

The first cycle of the National Human Biomonitoring Programme in Hungary started in 2024

The establishment of a regular National Human Biomonitoring Programme was one of the priorities set in the strategy called “Defining and Restructuring Public Health Activities - 2023” in Hungary. This action paved the way to move from project-based human biomonitoring studies to a more sustainable approach.

The first environmental human biomonitoring studies in Hungary date back to the 1980s. Initially, blood lead levels were investigated before and after the phasing out of lead from gasoline. Subsequent human biomonitoring studies were conducted within the framework of international projects (e.g. DEMOCOPHES, HBM4EU ↗) and national initiatives (e.g. red sludge disaster). Among these, the past HBM4EU project and the recent PARC initiative strongly supported the development of the national programme by generating new internal exposure data, answering research questions and building capacities.

The first cycle of the National Human Biomonitoring Programme, HBM-HU I., is part of the PARC Aligned Studies and investigates children's and adults’ exposure to various chemicals. Besides the list of chemicals to be measured in the Aligned Studies of PARC, other substances such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and iodine will be investigated in the programme.

“The establishment of the National Human Biomonitoring Programme is an important step to ensure the regular monitoring of citizens’ exposure to priority substances and to support national policies,” said Tamás Szigeti, principal investigator of the HBM-HU I. from the National Center for Public Health and Pharmacy ↗, Hungary.

First steps for the development of the National Human Biomonitoring Program in Latvia: HBM4LV

The HBM4EU project ↗ was the first step that initiated the further development of human biomonitoring in Latvia. This large-scale European collaboration provided initial national data on citizen’s exposure to selected chemicals in the framework of the E-waste and SPECIMEn studies and enhanced the skills and knowledge of experts on how to organize human biomonitoring studies and a national programme.

The Rīga Stradiņš University ↗ received a grant of 500,000 euros for a 2-year project titled “Development of Human Biomonitoring Program for Latvia - HBM4LV ↗” in the framework of the State Research Programme ↗, initiated by the Ministry of Health. This project aims to create knowledge for the evidence-based establishment of the national human biomonitoring programme, benefiting from international experience and adapting it to the national context. The main tasks include establishing a representative cohort, identifying priority chemicals to be included in the programme, sampling and creating a biobank, followed by the measurements and data analysis.

From a national perspective, it is expected that the main output of the project will be an established system and recommendations for the further development and implementation of the national HBM4LV programme. From a European perspective, there will be one additional biobank of samples gathered from citizens in a Northern European country.

“As the main success factor, we would like to stress the role of the National Hub Contact Points in the active and timely communication of the results and outcomes of the HBM4EU project to the National Human Biomonitoring Council as well as the possibility of exchanging experience with other countries on their national HBM programs.” – highlighted Inese Mārtiņsone and Lāsma Akūlova, the National Hub Contact Points for PARC from the Rīga Stradiņš University, Latvia.