Environment International (Aug 2025)
Guidance on minimum information requirements (MIR) from designing to reporting human biomonitoring (HBM)
- Maryam Zare Jeddi,
- Karen S. Galea,
- Jillian Ashley-Martin,
- Julianne Nassif,
- Tyler Pollock,
- Devika Poddalgoda,
- Konstantinos M. Kasiotis,
- Kyriaki Machera,
- Holger M. Koch,
- Marta Esteban López,
- Ming Kei Chung,
- Jihyon Kil,
- Kate Jones,
- Adrian Covaci,
- Yu Ait Bamai,
- Mariana F. Fernandez,
- Robert Pasanen Kase,
- Henriqueta Louro,
- Maria J. Silva,
- Tiina Santonen,
- Andromachi Katsonouri,
- Argelia Castaño,
- Lesliam Quirós-Alcalá,
- Elizabeth Ziying Lin,
- Krystal Pollitt,
- Ana Virgolino,
- Paul T.J. Scheepers,
- Lisa Jo Melnyk,
- Vicente Mustieles,
- Ana Isabel Cañas Portilla,
- Susana Viegas,
- Natalie von Goetz,
- Ovnair Sepai,
- Emily Bird,
- Thomas Göen,
- Silvia Fustinoni,
- Manosij Ghosh,
- Hubert Dirven,
- Jung-Hwan Kwon,
- Courtney Carignan,
- Yuki Mizuno,
- Yuki Ito,
- Yankai Xia,
- Shoji F. Nakayama,
- Konstantinos C. Makris,
- Patrick J. Parsons,
- Melissa Gonzales,
- Michael Bader,
- Maria Dusinska,
- Aziza Menouni,
- Radu Corneliu Duca,
- Kaoutar Chbihi,
- Samir El Jaafari,
- Lode Godderis,
- An van Nieuwenhuyse,
- Asif Qureshi,
- Imran Ali,
- Carla Costa Trindade,
- Joao Paulo Teixeira,
- Alena Bartonova,
- Giovanna Tranfo,
- Karine Audouze,
- Steven Verpaele,
- Judy LaKind,
- Hans Mol,
- Jos Bessems,
- Barbara Magagna,
- Maisarah Nasution Waras,
- Alison Connolly,
- Marc Nascarella,
- Wonho Yang,
- Po-Chin Huang,
- Jueun Lee,
- Henri Heussen,
- Ozlem Goksel,
- Masud Yunesian,
- Leo W.Y. Yeung,
- Gustavo Souza,
- Ana Maria Vekic,
- Erin N. Haynes,
- Nancy B. Hopf
Affiliations
- Maryam Zare Jeddi
- Shell Global Solutions Internationals BV, the Netherlands; Life Science Intelligence Consulting, the Netherlands; Corresponding author at: Shell Global Solutions Internationals BV, The Netherlands.
- Karen S. Galea
- Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM), Edinburgh, UK
- Jillian Ashley-Martin
- Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Health Canada, 269 Laurier Ave W, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada
- Julianne Nassif
- Association of Public Health Laboratories, Bethesda, MD, the United States of America
- Tyler Pollock
- Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Health Canada, 269 Laurier Ave W, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada
- Devika Poddalgoda
- Existing Substances Risk Assessment Bureau, Health Canada, 269 Laurier Ave W, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada
- Konstantinos M. Kasiotis
- Benaki Phytopathological Institute, Laboratory of Pesticides’ Toxicology, 8, Stephanou Delta Street, 14561 Kifissia, Athens, Greece
- Kyriaki Machera
- Benaki Phytopathological Institute, Laboratory of Pesticides’ Toxicology, 8, Stephanou Delta Street, 14561 Kifissia, Athens, Greece
- Holger M. Koch
- Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the German Social Accident Insurance, Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum (IPA), Germany
- Marta Esteban López
- National Center for Environmental Health, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28220 Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain
- Ming Kei Chung
- JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China; Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China; Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, PR China
- Jihyon Kil
- Environmental Health Research Division, National Institute of Environmental Research, Ministry of Environment, Incheon 22689, Republic of Korea
- Kate Jones
- Health and Safety Executive, Buxton SK17 9JN, UK
- Adrian Covaci
- Toxicological Center, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
- Yu Ait Bamai
- Center for Environmental and Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita 12, Nishi 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Japan
- Mariana F. Fernandez
- University of Granada, Spain, Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria (ibs.GRANADA), Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Spain
- Robert Pasanen Kase
- State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO, CH, Switzerland
- Henriqueta Louro
- National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Department of Human Genetics, Lisbon and ToxOmics - Centre for Toxicogenomics and Human Health, NOVA Medical School, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
- Maria J. Silva
- National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Department of Human Genetics, Lisbon and ToxOmics - Centre for Toxicogenomics and Human Health, NOVA Medical School, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
- Tiina Santonen
- Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland
- Andromachi Katsonouri
- State General Laboratory, Ministry of Health, PO Box 28648 Nicosia, Cyprus
- Argelia Castaño
- National Center for Environmental Health, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28220 Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain; Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), NOVA Medical School, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Portugal
- Lesliam Quirós-Alcalá
- Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, the United States of America
- Elizabeth Ziying Lin
- Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06510, the United States of America
- Krystal Pollitt
- Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06510, the United States of America
- Ana Virgolino
- EnviHeB Lab, Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
- Paul T.J. Scheepers
- Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Lisa Jo Melnyk
- US EPA Office of Research and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Cincinnati, the United States of America
- Vicente Mustieles
- University of Granada, Spain, Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria (ibs.GRANADA), Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Spain
- Ana Isabel Cañas Portilla
- National Center for Environmental Health, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28220 Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain
- Susana Viegas
- NOVA National School of Public Health, Public Health Research Centre, Comprehensive Health Research Center, CHRC, REAL, CCAL, NOVA University Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
- Natalie von Goetz
- Federal Office of Public Health, Berne, Switzerland
- Ovnair Sepai
- General Toxicology and Biomonitoring, Radiation Chemical Climate and Environment Division, UK Health Security Agency, UK
- Emily Bird
- General Toxicology and Biomonitoring, Radiation Chemical Climate and Environment Division, UK Health Security Agency, UK
- Thomas Göen
- Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Institute and Outpatient Clinic of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Erlangen, Germany
- Silvia Fustinoni
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Manosij Ghosh
- Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Environment and Health Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Hubert Dirven
- Dept of Chemical Toxicology, Division of Climate and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
- Jung-Hwan Kwon
- Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Republic of Korea
- Courtney Carignan
- Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, US, the United States of America
- Yuki Mizuno
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, the United States of America
- Yuki Ito
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Science, Nagoya, Japan
- Yankai Xia
- Key Laboratory of Modern Toxicology of Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, PR China
- Shoji F. Nakayama
- Exposure Dynamics Research Section, Health and Environmental Risk Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan
- Konstantinos C. Makris
- Cyprus International Institute for Environmental and Public Health, School of Health Sciences, Cyprus University of Technology, Irinis 95, 3041 Limassol, Cyprus
- Patrick J. Parsons
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY, the United States of America; Department of Environmental Health Sciences, College of Integrated Health Sciences, University at Albany, Albany, NY, the United States of America
- Melissa Gonzales
- Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine - Environmental Health Sciences, Tidewater Building, 1440 Canal Street, #8360, New Orleans, LA 70112, the United States of America
- Michael Bader
- BASF SE, Corporate Health Management, Ludwigshafen, Germany
- Maria Dusinska
- The Health Effects Laboratory, Department of Environmental Chemistry and Health Effects, Climate and Environmental Research Institute NILU, Kjeller, Norway
- Aziza Menouni
- Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Environment and Health Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Radu Corneliu Duca
- Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Environment and Health Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Health Protection, Laboratoire National de Santé, 1, Rue Louis Rech, L-3555 Dudelange, Luxembourg
- Kaoutar Chbihi
- Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Environment and Health Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Human Epidemiology and Environmental Health Research Team, Faculty of Sciences, Moulay Ismail University of Meknes, Meknes 50000, Morocco
- Samir El Jaafari
- Human Epidemiology and Environmental Health Research Team, Faculty of Sciences, Moulay Ismail University of Meknes, Meknes 50000, Morocco
- Lode Godderis
- Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Environment and Health Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- An van Nieuwenhuyse
- Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Environment and Health Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Health Protection, Laboratoire National de Santé, 1, Rue Louis Rech, L-3555 Dudelange, Luxembourg
- Asif Qureshi
- Department of Climate Change & Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Hyderabad, Sangareddy 502285, India
- Imran Ali
- Swedish Chemicals Agency, Health Assessment/Authorisation, Stockholm, Sweden
- Carla Costa Trindade
- Department of Environmental Health, National Institute of Health, Porto, Portugal and EPIUnit—Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- Joao Paulo Teixeira
- Department of Environmental Health, National Institute of Health, Porto, Portugal and EPIUnit—Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- Alena Bartonova
- Department of Urban Environment and Industry, Climate and Environmental Research Institute NILU, Kjeller, Norway
- Giovanna Tranfo
- Italian Institute Against Accidents at Work (INAIL) Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology and Hygiene, Italy
- Karine Audouze
- Université Paris Cité. Inserm U1124, Paris, France
- Steven Verpaele
- NiPERA Inc., 2525 Meridian Parkway, Suite 240, Durham, NC 27713, the United States of America; Belgian Center for Occupational Hygiene (BeCOH), Leuven, Belgium
- Judy LaKind
- LaKind Associates, LLC, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, the United States of America
- Hans Mol
- Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR), Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands
- Jos Bessems
- VITO Environmental Intelligence, Flemish Institute for Technologcal Research (VITO), Mol, Belgium
- Barbara Magagna
- GO FAIR Foundation, Leiden, NL, the Netherlands
- Maisarah Nasution Waras
- Department of Toxicology, Advanced Medical and Dental Institute, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 13200 Kepala Batas, P. Pinang, Malaysia
- Alison Connolly
- UCD Centre for Safety & Health at Work, School of Public Health, Physiotherapy, and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- Marc Nascarella
- Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences University, Boston, MA, the United States of America
- Wonho Yang
- Department of Health & Safety, Daegu Catholic University, South Korea
- Po-Chin Huang
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli 35053, Taiwan
- Jueun Lee
- Environmental Health Research Division, National Institute of Environmental Research, Ministry of Environment, Incheon 22689, Republic of Korea
- Henri Heussen
- Stoffenmanager®, Van Heuven Goedhartlaan 121, 1181 KK Amstelveen, the Netherlands
- Ozlem Goksel
- Ege University, Faculty of Medicine. Laboratory of Occupational/Environmental Respiratory Diseases and Asthma. EgeSAM (Ege University Translational Pulmonary Research Center), 35100 Izmir, Turkiye
- Masud Yunesian
- Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
- Leo W.Y. Yeung
- Man-Technology-Environment (MTM) Research Centre, School of Science and Technology, Örebro University, 701 82 Örebro, Sweden
- Gustavo Souza
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Surveillance, Secretariat of Health and Environment Surveillance, Ministry of Health, Brazil
- Ana Maria Vekic
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Surveillance, Secretariat of Health and Environment Surveillance, Ministry of Health, Brazil
- Erin N. Haynes
- Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, College of Public Health, University of Kentucky, the United States of America
- Nancy B. Hopf
- Unisanté, University Center for Primary Care and Public Health & University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Corresponding author at: Unisanté, University Center for Primary Care and Public Health & University of Lausanne, Route de la Corniche 2, 1066 Epalinges-Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Journal volume & issue
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Vol. 202
p. 109601
Abstract
Human biomonitoring (HBM) provides an integrated chemical exposures assessment considering all routes and sources of exposure. The accurate interpretation and comparability of biomarkers of exposure and effect depend on harmonized, quality-assured sampling, processing, and analysis. Currently, the lack of broadly accepted guidance on minimum information required for collecting and reporting HBM data, hinders comparability between studies. Furthermore, it prevents HBM from reaching its full potential as a reliable approach for assessing and managing the risks of human exposure to chemicals.The European Chapter of the International Society of Exposure Science HBM Working Group (ISES Europe HBM working group) has established a global human biomonitoring community network (HBM Global Network) to develop a guidance to define the minimum information to be collected and reported in HBM, called the “Minimum Information Requirements for Human Biomonitoring (MIR-HBM)”. This work builds on previous efforts to harmonize HBM worldwide.The MIR-HBM guidance covers all phases of HBM from the design phase to the effective communication of results. By carefully defining MIR for all phases, researchers and health professionals can make their HBM studies and programs are robust, reproducible, and meaningful. Acceptance and implementation of MIR-HBM Guidelines in both the general population and occupational fields would improve the interpretability and regulatory utility of HBM data. While implementation challenges remain—such as varying local capacities, and ethical and legal differences at the national levels, this initiative represents an important step toward harmonizing HBM practice and supports an ongoing dialogue among policymakers, legal experts, and scientists to effectively address these challenges. Leveraging the data and insights from HBM, policymakers can develop more effective strategies to protect public health and ensure safer working environments.
