Biomonitoring study needs careful interpretation, chemistry industry says

08-18-2010: The Chemistry Industry Association of Canada supports the results of Health Canada's Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. Biomonitoring studies such as this are useful tools for obtaining exposure information, which can be combined with other scientific approaches to advance public health. That being said, the association urges caution when interpreting biomonitoring studies.

Thanks to advances in analytical chemistry, researchers are able to measure extraordinarily low levels of natural and man-made substances in human fluids and tissues - often as little as one part per billion (a single drop in an Olympic-sized swimming pool). Of course, health researchers know that the simple presence of an environmental chemical in a person's body does not mean that it will cause health effects or disease.

Biomonitoring provides a "snapshot" of the substances present in the body at a single point in time, but it cannot explain where a detected substance came from, when the exposure occurred, or whether there will be any health effects. For those reasons, the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada believes there must be a risk-based process for interpreting biomonitoring results, and for using such data for regulatory purposes or other decision-making.