Harmonisation of biological monitoring practices
Certain chemical agents including metals, pesticides, organic solvents and others have been found potentially harmful and even carcinogenic to humans when exposed to them. Most of these agents may be abundantly found within industrial or occupational environments as well as in nature at large. Biological monitoring of these agents constitutes an important activity and it is currently undertaken in many laboratories throughout the EU. Thereby, specification of levels of the toxic agent or metabolite in an appropriate specimen such as blood or urine allows measurement of their exposure and their absorption Occupational safety programmes and specialised investigations related to epidemiological studies and clinical problems, make the analysis of the above specimen and important activity. Such procedures need to be carefully validated in order to deliver accurate results. Unbiased validation of these practices may come from adoption of independent assessments of performance such as EQA. Such EQA initiative involves undertaking properly organised and managed surveillance programmes that offer high quality performance standards. In this way, underestimation and/or overestimation of exposure and consequently of risk may be avoided at large. In an effort to promote improvements in analytical performance for biological monitoring, this Thematic Network focused on harmonisation of different approaches. Within this context, common standards for laboratory performance have been set such as those developed for the measurement of lead in blood and aluminium in serum to meet national and EU requirements. Moreover, information on best practices and current status temporal changes needs has been collected whose exchange may facilitate collaboration between labs. This information coupled with organisation of meetings as well as specialised education and training programmes will provide useful support to European laboratories involved in occupational and/or environmental medicine.
