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Biomonitoring

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Cancer

  • 207 Accesses

Synonyms

Biological monitoring

Definition

Biological monitoring (i.e., biomonitoring) has conventionally been defined as “the periodic measurement of xenobiotic(s) or their metabolite(s) in accessible biological media for the comparison with an appropriate reference.” At present, a broader definition could be used that included effect biomarkers and biologically relevant dose, as well as biomarkers of susceptibility.

Characteristics

Biomonitoring is mainly aimed at:

  • Defining the existence of an occupational or environmental exposure

  • Quantifying the internal dose

  • Verifying that exposure limits are respected

The most commonly used matrices for biomonitoring are blood (and its components, e.g., serum and plasma) and urine.

Biological monitoring is complementary to the two other monitoring programs that are carried out to evaluate the health risk associated with exposure to pollutants, i.e., ambient monitoring and health surveillance. The basis of these monitoring programs is defined by...

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References

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See Also

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  • (2012) Cytogenetics. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, pp 1050–1051. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_1470

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  • (2012) Toxicology. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 3734. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_5873

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland

    Ari Hirvonen

Authors
  1. Ari Hirvonen
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Correspondence to Ari Hirvonen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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Hirvonen, A. (2014). Biomonitoring. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_643-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_643-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

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