Human biomonitoring is a method of population surveillance used
primarily in the field of environmental and occupational risks. It relies
on biomarkers—that is, biological indicators that reveal environmental exposure
, diseases, disorders, or genetic predisposition. These
biomarkers are measured in bodily fluids or tissues (blood, urine, hair, saliva, breast milk, etc.).

At the European level, biomonitoring is now a strategic tool for defining and
guiding regulatory policies governing the use of potentially hazardous chemicals
. The European Commission has in fact published a
legislative framework titled “One Substance, One Assessment,” which specifically calls for the implementation of a European biomonitoring
study by 2030. The implementation of this study may
benefit from Commission-funded programs dedicated to biomonitoring, such as
Human Biomonitoring for the European Union (HBM4EU) and, more recently, the Partnership for
the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC), in which Santé publique France is
heavily involved and which pursues broader objectives than those of human biomonitoring
alone.

Established by Law No. 2009-967 of August 3, 2009, the National Biomonitoring Program
(PNBS) has been led by Santé publique France since 2010. It drew on the Elfe
cohort (2011), which helped define the perinatal component of the PNBS, and the Esteban cross-sectional survey conducted among the general population (2014–2016). This work made it possible to achieve the following objectives
:

• describe exposure levels to approximately 100 substances and establish exposure reference values
  ;
• compare exposure levels to these substances with the results of previous studies
  conducted in France (such as the 2006–2007
  National Nutrition and Health Survey) and abroad;
• analyze the determinants of population exposure levels for certain
  measured substances;
• establish exposure reference values for the populations studied:
  pregnant women, children, and adults, and potentially by age group and sex.

New procedures for the national biomonitoring program have been defined, and the Albane survey
—which includes a biomonitoring component—was launched in collaboration with ANSES. This
cyclical survey is expected to provide more frequent data on the general population
.

At the same time, Santé publique France is conducting biomonitoring studies to
address specific issues, such as the PestiRiv study, which aimed to assess
pesticide exposure among people living in wine-growing regions, or the Kannari 1
and Kannari 2 studies, which aimed to measure exposure to chlordecone and other pollutants in
the French West Indies.

Responsibilities of the Scientific Council

The Scientific Council is the primary advisory body for all scientific issues
raised by the national biomonitoring program and the surveys that
comprise it.

In particular, it will be consulted on:

• the scientific direction of the national biomonitoring program;
• the methodology to be followed for the surveys, particularly in the development
  of protocols (sampling, biological and environmental analyses) and survey questionnaires
  for the target population;
• the implementation of protocols and surveys: data analysis, interpretation
  , methods for communicating results at the individual and
  collective levels, and the scientific dissemination of results.

This call for applications is intended to solicit candidates at the national and international
(French-speaking) levels to renew the membership of the Scientific Advisory Board, which was established in 2011.