[Biological markers of exposure to toxic agents]. 1985

R Lauwerys, and A Bernard

Exposure to chemical agents may be assessed either qualitatively or semi-quantitatively with the help of a questionnaire (type of exposure and duration) or quantitatively either by the measurement of the concentration of the xenobiotics in the environment (ambient monitoring) or by the measurement of biological parameters related to the internal doses (biological monitoring of exposure). In industry, ambient monitoring usually implies the measurement of chemicals in air with static or personal samplers. The internal doses may be assessed either by measuring the chemical or its biotransformation products in biological media or by measuring some biological effects caused by the chemical. Depending on the selected biological parameter and the time of sampling, the result may reflect the amount of chemical recently absorbed, the amount stored in the organism (body burden) or the amount of active metabolites bound to the site of action. The biological parameter of exposure is more directly related to the adverse health effects that one attempts to prevent than any environmental measurement. Biological monitoring may take into consideration absorption by all the routes and from all sources (occupational and environmental), interindividual differences in toxicokinetic and in hygiene habits. The application of a biological test requires the critical evaluation of several factors, namely the sensitivity and the specificity of the test, the precision and the accuracy of the analytical method and eventually ethical aspects.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007206 Individuality Those psychological characteristics which differentiate individuals from one another. Individual Differences,Difference, Individual,Differences, Individual,Individual Difference
D007700 Kinetics The rate dynamics in chemical or physical systems.
D009787 Occupational Medicine Medical specialty concerned with the promotion and maintenance of the physical and mental health of employees in occupational settings. Industrial Medicine,Medicine, Industrial,Medicine, Occupational
D004784 Environmental Monitoring The monitoring of the level of toxins, chemical pollutants, microbial contaminants, or other harmful substances in the environment (soil, air, and water), workplace, or in the bodies of people and animals present in that environment. Monitoring, Environmental,Environmental Surveillance,Surveillance, Environmental
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001711 Biotransformation The chemical alteration of an exogenous substance by or in a biological system. The alteration may inactivate the compound or it may result in the production of an active metabolite of an inactive parent compound. The alterations may be divided into METABOLIC DETOXICATION, PHASE I and METABOLIC DETOXICATION, PHASE II.
D012306 Risk The probability that an event will occur. It encompasses a variety of measures of the probability of a generally unfavorable outcome. Relative Risk,Relative Risks,Risk, Relative,Risks,Risks, Relative
D014116 Toxicology The science concerned with the detection, chemical composition, and biological action of toxic substances or poisons and the treatment and prevention of toxic manifestations. Toxinology,Evidence Based Toxicology,Evidence-Based Toxicology,Based Toxicologies, Evidence,Based Toxicology, Evidence,Evidence Based Toxicologies,Evidence-Based Toxicologies,Toxicologies, Evidence Based,Toxicologies, Evidence-Based,Toxicology, Evidence Based,Toxicology, Evidence-Based

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