Human biomonitoring can help improve (occupational) risk assessment, provided that a clear relationship exists between a biomarker and a biologically relevant (adverse) effect. Implementing biomonitoring in the workplace will also need to consider privacy aspects.

Biomonitoring of nanomaterials in the workplace

Studies on biomarkers in workers exposed to micro- and nano-sized titanium dioxide nanomaterials have been published. Two of these studies measured biomarkers linked to early reversible effects such as DNA damage, lung inflammation and respiratory symptoms, using non-invasive sampling from cheek cells, saliva and exhaled breath biomarkers.

A recent review on human biomarkers of exposure and effect for human biomonitoring of metal-based nanomaterials concluded that the combination of exposure and effect biomarkers improves the knowledge of current or past human exposure to these nanomaterials. It can therefore play an important role in primary prevention of adverse health effects.

RIVM reflection

Occupational biomonitoring can help protect workers exposed to nanomaterials by identifying early effects of exposure to nanomaterials before an irreversible health outcome develops. The early indicators of exposure such as DNA damage, lung inflammation, and respiratory symptoms, as well as the non-invasive sampling methods, are potentially promising tools.

However, we are still several steps away from successfully implementing biomonitoring in the workplace. For many biomarkers, the link with exposure or with an adverse health effect still needs to be confirmed. A suitable effect biomarker would be one that shows a direct link between a measured characteristic in the body and a biologically relevant (adverse) human health effect, e.g., hypertension and cardiovascular disease. In addition, as outlined by the Dutch Social and Economic Council [in Dutch], a legal structure that would allow analysis of these data without compromising workers’ privacy would need to be in place. This is because human biomarker data is a special category of health data under the EU European Union (European Union)’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Recently, the Health Council of the Netherlands recommended that the government develops a human biomonitoring program to measure selected chemicals in voluntary participants. This will improve the tracking of citizens’ exposure to different sources of chemicals and help the government in chemical risk-related policy making. In addition, two EU-funded projects, HBM4EU and its follow-up project, PARC, focus on detecting chemicals in human tissue through biomonitoring. Validated tools and techniques developed within these projects may also help implement biomonitoring of worker exposure to nanomaterials. Moreover, the Health Council of the Netherlands is developing a scientific assessment framework for biological exposure limits in the workplace.