Publicaties

Background: In 2007, the second cycle of the Flemish human biomonitoring survey started, with a main focus on
14-15 year-old adolescents.
Objectives: The main objectives were generating reference values for exposure markers, determining the pollution
pressure in industrial hotspots and establishing dose-effect relationships between exposure to pollutants
and hormone levels, sexual development, asthma and allergy, genotoxic ...

Human biomonitoring, which is the direct measurement of biomarkers of exposure and effect in biological fluids, is considered an efficient way to assess human exposure to mycotoxins. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) has become a powerful tool for both quantitative and qualitative analysis of multiple mycotoxins in various matrices, but there is a need for high-throughput, selective ...

Oceans and seas are often perceived as the last wilderness on the planet. However, anthropogenic actions are already impacting these ecosystems, ranging from the coasts and the sea surface to the open ocean and the deep sea floor. Marine ecosystems are currently affected by multiple human activities, such as eutrophication, overfishing, the introduction of non-indigenous species, the contamination by hazardous chemicals and (micro)plastics, ...

The ubiquitous use of organophosphate flame retardants and plasticizers (PFRs) in a variety of consumer products has led to widespread human exposure. Since certain PFRs are developmental and carcinogenic toxicants, detailed exposure assessments are essential to investigate the risk associated with environmental exposure levels. However, such data are still lacking for European countries. In this study, concentrations of thirteen PFR metabolites ...

Because of their dirt-, water- and oil-repelling properties, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are frequently used in a broad variety of consumer products. They have been detected in human samples worldwide. In Flanders, Belgium, the Flemish Environment and Health Studies (FLEHS) measured the levels of five PFAS biomarkers in four different age groups of the Flemish population and identified determinants of variability in exposure. ...

In this review, five strategies to estimate mycotoxin exposure of a (sub-) population via food, including data collection, are discussed with the aim to identify the added values and limitations of each strategy for risk assessment of these chemicals. The well-established point estimate, observed individual mean, probabilistic and duplicate diet strategies are addressed, as well as the emerging human biomonitoring strategy. All five exposure ...

Prenatal chemical exposure has been frequently associated with reduced fetal growth by single pollutant regression models although inconsistent results have been obtained. Our study estimated the effects of exposure to single pollutants and mixtures on birth weight in 248 mother-child pairs. Arsenic, copper, lead, manganese and thallium were measured in cord blood, cadmium in maternal blood, methylmercury in maternal hair, and five ...

Due to possible health risks, quantification of mercury accumulation in humans was included in the Flemish biomonitoring programmes FLEHS I (2002-2006) and FLEHS II (2007-2011). The general objective of FLEHS I was to assess regional exposure levels in order to link possible differences in these internal exposure levels to different types of local environmental pressure. Therefore, Hg and MMHg (methylmercury) were only measured in pooled blood ...