PROCESSES AND CHALLENGES FOR BIOMONITORING
A biomonitoring project typically entails involvement of a community in study planning, questionnaire assessment, and biological sampling (collection of human tissues). Often, environmental sampling such as measurement of contaminants in air or soil can happen concurrently with biological sampling. Human samples need to be stored properly before laboratory analysis. The contaminant needs to be present in the environment at high enough levels to be able to be detected in human tissues. Laboratory methods need to be developed or made available for each compound to be measured. Results of biomonitoring need to be communicated back to participants in meaningful ways. If there are no statewide or national averages of contaminant levels to compare an individual result to, it is difficult to know if an exposure is high or low. If an exposure is deemed to be high, it is often difficult to know what actions an individual should take beyond reducing one’s exposure (unless the level reflects an acute exposure in which medical attention is warranted immediately).