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Briefing on Biomonitoring Points to Opportunities and Limitations of Exposure
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Dr. Michael Holsapple opens the March 20th Congressional Briefing on Biomonitoring. |
On March 20, approximately 90 participants from various Congressional offices, the private sector, and not-for-profit organizations gathered to hear a panel of speakers talk about biomonitoring, its implications for policymaking, the limitations of this tool and the potential opportunities of biomonitoring.
The Congressional briefing was sponsored by SOT and the American Chemical Society. Dr. Michael Holsapple, Vice-President Elect of SOT, set the stage for the panel by querying about exposure levels and what they tell people about harmful substances and the elimination of these substances from the environment. He noted that, "In order to better understand the health implications, we need to combine biomonitoring information on exposures with other information, such as knowledge about the circumstances of the exposure and an understanding of how specific chemicals affect the human body."
The March 20 panel included the moderator, Dr. Dana Barr of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who presented an overview of biomonitoring and then talked about CDC's biomonitoring program. Panelists also included Dr. Carol Henry of George Washington University School of Public Health, who talked about recent studies that used biomonitoring to measure exposure. Dr. Gina Solomon of the Natural Resources Defense Council, talked about what biomonitoring has told scientists about exposures in the population and cited certain studies to point out the pros and cons of the tool. Finally, Dr. Linda Sheldon, National Exposure Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, highlighted the uncertainties of biomonitoring and offered guidance on further research directions.
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