Mercury analysis in hair: Comparability and quality assessment within the transnational COPHES/DEMOCOPHES project

Marta Esteban; Birgit K Schindler; José A Jiménez-Guerrero; Holger M Koch; Jürgen Angerer; Teresa C Rivas; Montserrat Rosado; Silvia Gómez; Ludwine Casteleyn; Marike Kolossa-Gehring; Kerstin Becker; Louis Bloemen; Greet Schoeters; Elly Den Hond; Ovnair Sepai; Karen Exley; Milena Horvat; Lisbeth E. Knudsen; Anke Joas; Reinhard Joas; Dominique Aerts; Pierre Biot; Daniela Borošová; Fred Davidson; Irina Dumitrascu; Marc E Fisher; Margaretha Grander; Beata Janasik; Kate Jones; Lucie Kašparová; Thorjørn Larssen; Miklos Naray; Flemming Nielsen; Philipp Hohenblum; Rui Pinto; Catherine Pirard; Gregory Plateel; Janja Tratnik; Jürgen Wittsiepe; Argelia Castaño; null Equas Reference Laboratories

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2014.11.014

Mercury analysis in hair: Comparability and quality assessment within the transnational COPHES/DEMOCOPHES project

Marta Esteban, Birgit K Schindler, José A Jiménez-Guerrero, Holger M Koch, Jürgen Angerer, Teresa C Rivas, Montserrat Rosado, Silvia Gómez, Ludwine Casteleyn, Marike Kolossa-Gehring, Kerstin Becker, Louis Bloemen, Greet Schoeters, Elly Den Hond, Ovnair Sepai, Karen Exley, Milena Horvat, Lisbeth E. Knudsen, Anke Joas, Reinhard JoasDominique Aerts, Pierre Biot, Daniela Borošová, Fred Davidson, Irina Dumitrascu, Marc E Fisher, Margaretha Grander, Beata Janasik, Kate Jones, Lucie Kašparová, Thorjørn Larssen, Miklos Naray, Flemming Nielsen, Philipp Hohenblum, Rui Pinto, Catherine Pirard, Gregory Plateel, Janja Tratnik, Jürgen Wittsiepe, Argelia Castaño, Equas Reference Laboratories

Department of Public Health

30 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Human biomonitoring (HBM) is an effective tool for assessing actual exposure to chemicals that takes into account all routes of intake. Although hair analysis is considered to be an optimal biomarker for assessing mercury exposure, the lack of harmonization as regards sampling and analytical procedures has often limited the comparison of data at national and international level. The European-funded projects COPHES and DEMOCOPHES developed and tested a harmonized European approach to Human Biomonitoring in response to the European Environment and Health Action Plan.

Herein we describe the quality assurance program (QAP) for assessing mercury levels in hair samples from more than 1800 mother-child pairs recruited in 17 European countries. To ensure the comparability of the results, standard operating procedures (SOPs) for sampling and for mercury analysis were drafted and distributed to participating laboratories. Training sessions were organized for field workers and four external quality-assessment exercises (ICI/EQUAS), followed by the corresponding web conferences, were organized between March 2011 and February 2012. ICI/EQUAS used native hair samples at two mercury concentration ranges (0.20-0.71 and 0.80-1.63) per exercise. The results revealed relative standard deviations of 7.87-13.55% and 4.04-11.31% for the low and high mercury concentration ranges, respectively. A total of 16 out of 18 participating laboratories the QAP requirements and were allowed to analyze samples from the DEMOCOPHES pilot study. Web conferences after each ICI/EQUAS revealed this to be a new and effective tool for improving analytical performance and increasing capacity building. The procedure developed and tested in COPHES/DEMOCOPHES would be optimal for application on a global scale as regards implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

Original language	English
Journal	Environmental Research
Volume	141
Pages (from-to)	24–30
Number of pages	7
ISSN	0013-9351
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2014.11.014
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2015

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Esteban, M., Schindler, B. K., Jiménez-Guerrero, J. A., Koch, H. M., Angerer, J., Rivas, T. C., Rosado, M., Gómez, S., Casteleyn, L., Kolossa-Gehring, M., Becker, K., Bloemen, L., Schoeters, G., Hond, E. D., Sepai, O., Exley, K., Horvat, M., Knudsen, L. E., Joas, A., ... Equas Reference Laboratories (2015). Mercury analysis in hair: Comparability and quality assessment within the transnational COPHES/DEMOCOPHES project. Environmental Research, 141, 24–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2014.11.014

Esteban, M, Schindler, BK, Jiménez-Guerrero, JA, Koch, HM, Angerer, J, Rivas, TC, Rosado, M, Gómez, S, Casteleyn, L, Kolossa-Gehring, M, Becker, K, Bloemen, L, Schoeters, G, Hond, ED, Sepai, O, Exley, K, Horvat, M, Knudsen, LE, Joas, A, Joas, R, Aerts, D, Biot, P, Borošová, D, Davidson, F, Dumitrascu, I, Fisher, ME, Grander, M, Janasik, B, Jones, K, Kašparová, L, Larssen, T, Naray, M, Nielsen, F, Hohenblum, P, Pinto, R, Pirard, C, Plateel, G, Tratnik, J, Wittsiepe, J, Castaño, A & Equas Reference Laboratories 2015, 'Mercury analysis in hair: Comparability and quality assessment within the transnational COPHES/DEMOCOPHES project', Environmental Research, vol. 141, pp. 24–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2014.11.014

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title = "Mercury analysis in hair: Comparability and quality assessment within the transnational COPHES/DEMOCOPHES project",

abstract = "Human biomonitoring (HBM) is an effective tool for assessing actual exposure to chemicals that takes into account all routes of intake. Although hair analysis is considered to be an optimal biomarker for assessing mercury exposure, the lack of harmonization as regards sampling and analytical procedures has often limited the comparison of data at national and international level. The European-funded projects COPHES and DEMOCOPHES developed and tested a harmonized European approach to Human Biomonitoring in response to the European Environment and Health Action Plan. Herein we describe the quality assurance program (QAP) for assessing mercury levels in hair samples from more than 1800 mother-child pairs recruited in 17 European countries. To ensure the comparability of the results, standard operating procedures (SOPs) for sampling and for mercury analysis were drafted and distributed to participating laboratories. Training sessions were organized for field workers and four external quality-assessment exercises (ICI/EQUAS), followed by the corresponding web conferences, were organized between March 2011 and February 2012. ICI/EQUAS used native hair samples at two mercury concentration ranges (0.20-0.71 and 0.80-1.63) per exercise. The results revealed relative standard deviations of 7.87-13.55% and 4.04-11.31% for the low and high mercury concentration ranges, respectively. A total of 16 out of 18 participating laboratories the QAP requirements and were allowed to analyze samples from the DEMOCOPHES pilot study. Web conferences after each ICI/EQUAS revealed this to be a new and effective tool for improving analytical performance and increasing capacity building. The procedure developed and tested in COPHES/DEMOCOPHES would be optimal for application on a global scale as regards implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.",

author = "Marta Esteban and Schindler, {Birgit K} and Jim{\'e}nez-Guerrero, {Jos{\'e} A} and Koch, {Holger M} and J{\"u}rgen Angerer and Rivas, {Teresa C} and Montserrat Rosado and Silvia G{\'o}mez and Ludwine Casteleyn and Marike Kolossa-Gehring and Kerstin Becker and Louis Bloemen and Greet Schoeters and Hond, {Elly Den} and Ovnair Sepai and Karen Exley and Milena Horvat and Knudsen, {Lisbeth E.} and Anke Joas and Reinhard Joas and Dominique Aerts and Pierre Biot and Daniela Boro{\v s}ov{\'a} and Fred Davidson and Irina Dumitrascu and Fisher, {Marc E} and Margaretha Grander and Beata Janasik and Kate Jones and Lucie Ka{\v s}parov{\'a} and Thorj{\o}rn Larssen and Miklos Naray and Flemming Nielsen and Philipp Hohenblum and Rui Pinto and Catherine Pirard and Gregory Plateel and Janja Tratnik and J{\"u}rgen Wittsiepe and Argelia Casta{\~n}o and {Equas Reference Laboratories}",

year = "2015",

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doi = "10.1016/j.envres.2014.11.014",

language = "English",

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journal = "Environmental Research",

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T1 - Mercury analysis in hair

T2 - Comparability and quality assessment within the transnational COPHES/DEMOCOPHES project

AU - Esteban, Marta

AU - Schindler, Birgit K

AU - Jiménez-Guerrero, José A

AU - Koch, Holger M

AU - Angerer, Jürgen

AU - Rivas, Teresa C

AU - Rosado, Montserrat

AU - Gómez, Silvia

AU - Casteleyn, Ludwine

AU - Kolossa-Gehring, Marike

AU - Becker, Kerstin

AU - Bloemen, Louis

AU - Schoeters, Greet

AU - Hond, Elly Den

AU - Sepai, Ovnair

AU - Exley, Karen

AU - Horvat, Milena

AU - Knudsen, Lisbeth E.

AU - Joas, Anke

AU - Joas, Reinhard

AU - Aerts, Dominique

AU - Biot, Pierre

AU - Borošová, Daniela

AU - Davidson, Fred

AU - Dumitrascu, Irina

AU - Fisher, Marc E

AU - Grander, Margaretha

AU - Janasik, Beata

AU - Jones, Kate

AU - Kašparová, Lucie

AU - Larssen, Thorjørn

AU - Naray, Miklos

AU - Nielsen, Flemming

AU - Hohenblum, Philipp

AU - Pinto, Rui

AU - Pirard, Catherine

AU - Plateel, Gregory

AU - Tratnik, Janja

AU - Wittsiepe, Jürgen

AU - Castaño, Argelia

AU - Equas Reference Laboratories, null

PY - 2015/8/1

Y1 - 2015/8/1

N2 - Human biomonitoring (HBM) is an effective tool for assessing actual exposure to chemicals that takes into account all routes of intake. Although hair analysis is considered to be an optimal biomarker for assessing mercury exposure, the lack of harmonization as regards sampling and analytical procedures has often limited the comparison of data at national and international level. The European-funded projects COPHES and DEMOCOPHES developed and tested a harmonized European approach to Human Biomonitoring in response to the European Environment and Health Action Plan. Herein we describe the quality assurance program (QAP) for assessing mercury levels in hair samples from more than 1800 mother-child pairs recruited in 17 European countries. To ensure the comparability of the results, standard operating procedures (SOPs) for sampling and for mercury analysis were drafted and distributed to participating laboratories. Training sessions were organized for field workers and four external quality-assessment exercises (ICI/EQUAS), followed by the corresponding web conferences, were organized between March 2011 and February 2012. ICI/EQUAS used native hair samples at two mercury concentration ranges (0.20-0.71 and 0.80-1.63) per exercise. The results revealed relative standard deviations of 7.87-13.55% and 4.04-11.31% for the low and high mercury concentration ranges, respectively. A total of 16 out of 18 participating laboratories the QAP requirements and were allowed to analyze samples from the DEMOCOPHES pilot study. Web conferences after each ICI/EQUAS revealed this to be a new and effective tool for improving analytical performance and increasing capacity building. The procedure developed and tested in COPHES/DEMOCOPHES would be optimal for application on a global scale as regards implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

AB - Human biomonitoring (HBM) is an effective tool for assessing actual exposure to chemicals that takes into account all routes of intake. Although hair analysis is considered to be an optimal biomarker for assessing mercury exposure, the lack of harmonization as regards sampling and analytical procedures has often limited the comparison of data at national and international level. The European-funded projects COPHES and DEMOCOPHES developed and tested a harmonized European approach to Human Biomonitoring in response to the European Environment and Health Action Plan. Herein we describe the quality assurance program (QAP) for assessing mercury levels in hair samples from more than 1800 mother-child pairs recruited in 17 European countries. To ensure the comparability of the results, standard operating procedures (SOPs) for sampling and for mercury analysis were drafted and distributed to participating laboratories. Training sessions were organized for field workers and four external quality-assessment exercises (ICI/EQUAS), followed by the corresponding web conferences, were organized between March 2011 and February 2012. ICI/EQUAS used native hair samples at two mercury concentration ranges (0.20-0.71 and 0.80-1.63) per exercise. The results revealed relative standard deviations of 7.87-13.55% and 4.04-11.31% for the low and high mercury concentration ranges, respectively. A total of 16 out of 18 participating laboratories the QAP requirements and were allowed to analyze samples from the DEMOCOPHES pilot study. Web conferences after each ICI/EQUAS revealed this to be a new and effective tool for improving analytical performance and increasing capacity building. The procedure developed and tested in COPHES/DEMOCOPHES would be optimal for application on a global scale as regards implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2014.11.014

DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2014.11.014

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 25483984

SN - 0013-9351

VL - 141

SP - 24

EP - 30

JO - Environmental Research

JF - Environmental Research

ER -

Mercury analysis in hair: Comparability and quality assessment within the transnational COPHES/DEMOCOPHES project

Abstract

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