Guidelines for the communication of Biomonitoring Equivalents: report from the Biomonitoring Equivalents Expert Workshop.

Biomonitoring Equivalents (BEs) are screening tools for interpreting biomonitoring data. However, the development of BEs brings to the public a relatively novel concept in the field of health risk assessment and presents new challenges for environmental risk communication. This paper provides guidance on methods for conveying information to the general public, the health care community, regulators and other interested parties regarding how chemical-specific BEs are derived, what they mean in terms of health, and the challenges and questions related to interpretation and communication of biomonitoring data. Key communication issues include: (i) developing a definition of the BE that accurately captures the BE concept in lay terms, (ii) how to compare population biomonitoring data to BEs, (iii) interpreting biomonitoring data that exceed BEs for a specific chemical, (iv) how to best describe the confidence in chemical-specific BEs, and (v) key requirements for effective communication with health care professionals. While the risk communication literature specific to biomonitoring is sparse, many of the concepts developed for traditional risk assessments apply, including transparency and discussions of confidence and uncertainty. Communication of BEs will require outreach, education, and development of communication materials specific to several audiences including the lay public and health care providers.

Guidelines for the derivation of Biomonitoring Equivalents: report from the Biomonitoring Equivalents Expert Workshop.

Biomonitoring Equivalents (BEs) are defined as the concentration of a chemical (or metabolite) in a biological medium (blood, urine, human milk, etc.) consistent with defined exposure guidance values or toxicity criteria including reference doses and reference concentrations (RfD and RfCs), minimal risk levels (MRLs), or tolerable daily intakes (TDIs) [Hays, S.M., Becker, R.A., Leung, H.W., Aylward, L.L., Pyatt, D.W., 2007. Biomonitoring equivalents: a screening approach for interpreting biomonitoring results from a public health risk perspective. Regul. Toxicol. Pharmacol. 47(1), 96-109]. The utility of the BE is to provide a screening tool for placing biomonitoring data into a health risk context. A Panel of experts took part in the Biomonitoring Equivalents Expert Workshop to discuss the various technical issues associated with calculating BEs and developed a set of guidelines for use in the derivation of BEs. Issues addressed included the role of the point of departure (POD) in BE derivation, the appropriate application of human and animal kinetic data and models, consideration of default uncertainty factor components in the context of internal dose-based extrapolations, and relevance of mode of action to technical choices in kinetic modeling and identification of screening values. The findings from this Expert Panel Workshop on BE derivation are presented and provide a set of guidelines and considerations for use in BE derivation.

Parasitosis intestinales identificadas mediante examen de heces en tres grupos de población del Perú / Intestinal parasitoses identified by fecal examination in 3 population groups in Peru

Se seleccionaram tres grupos de población distintos para evaluar las tasas de parasitosis intestinales mediante examen de heces. El grupo I estuvo compuesto por personas de clase socioeconómica baja que vivían en condiciones sanitarias deficientes en la cuenca del Amazonas; presentaron una tasa de infestación de 92% con parásitos probablemente patógenos. El grupo II reunió a residentes de una comunidad de viviendas de la armada peruana situada en la costa occidental; eran de clase media baja y vivían en condiciones sanitarias satisfactorias; la tasa de parasitosis fue de 22%. El grupo III lo formaron alumnos de una escuela elemental privada, de clase socioeconómica alta; la tasa de parasitosis fue de 11%. El subgrupo de niños que llevaban residiendo en el Perú dos años o menos tuvieron 5% de parasitosis, y el de los que tenían más de dos años, 14%. Las condiciones de vida y el tiempo de residencia en el país se relacionaron directamente con las tasas de parasitosis intestinal