Chemicals monitoring initiative launched

An initiative to harmonise and improve European monitoring of the effects of chemicals on human health has been launched with Horizon 2020 funding.

The European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) brings together EU agencies including the European Environment Agency, the European Commission and representatives of 22 EU member states plus Norway, Iceland, Israel and Switzerland. Over 100 different organisations are participating, under the coordination of the German Environment Agency.

The initiative, which has received funding from the Horizon 2020 health Societal Challenge, will carry out research on how factors such as behaviour, lifestyle and socio-economic status influence exposure to chemicals, with the aim of the findings feeding directly into policymaking. It also intends to harmonise exposure monitoring procedures across the 26 participating countries.