The French human biomonitoring program: First lessons from the perinatal component and future needs

Abstract This paper presents a progress report of the French human biomonitoring (HBM) program established in 2010. This program has been designed to provide a national representative estimation of the French population’s exposure to various environmental chemicals and to study the determinants of exposure. This program currently consists in two surveys: a perinatal component related to a selection of 4145 pregnant women who have been enrolled in the Elfe cohort (the French Longitudinal Study since Childhood) in 2011, and a general population survey related to adults aged 18–74 years and children as from 6 years (Esteban). The aim of this manuscript is to present highlights of the French human biomonitoring program with particular focus on the prioritization of biomarkers to be analyzed in the program and the selection of biomarkers applied to both program components. The Delphi method was used to establish a consensual list of prioritized biomarkers in 2011. First results of the perinatal component of the French HBM program have shown that the biomarkers prioritized were relevant, as almost all pregnant women were exposed to them. However, for some biomarkers, levels’ decreases have been observed which may partly be explained by measures taken to prohibit some of these chemicals (e.g. atrazine) and by industrial processes evolutions leading to the substitution of others (e.g. bisphenol A, di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate/DEHP, dialkyl phosphates). Therefore, the list of biomarkers to be monitored in the French HBM program has been implemented to include some substitutes of biomarkers prioritized in the first instance (e.g. bisphenol S, F). Finally, this method combines rigor and flexibility and helped us to build a prioritized list that will be shared and supported by many if not all actors.