A State-of-the-Science Review on Metal Biomarkers

Overview

This Current Environmental Health Reports state-of-the-science review by Martinez-Morata, Sobel, Tellez-Plaza, Navas-Acien, Howe, and Sanchez (Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Centro Nacional de Epidemiología Madrid, and collaborators) covers the current consensus on biomarkers of human metal exposure across blood, urine, hair, and nails for the regulated and emerging-concern toxic metals (Pb, Cd, As, Hg, Ni, Mn, Mo, U). The review is the most comprehensive recent synthesis of metal biomarker validity, kinetics, and interpretation across exposure assessment, epidemiology, and clinical applications. It is the canonical reference for choosing the right biomarker for a given metal-exposure question.

Key conclusions

The review documents biomarker validity per metal: blood Pb is the gold-standard recent-exposure biomarker; urinary As (with speciation) is the standard recent-exposure As biomarker for inorganic As; urinary Cd is the long-term cumulative-exposure biomarker; total Hg in blood/hair captures fish-MeHg exposure with caveats; nail Mn captures medium-term cumulative Mn. Per-biomarker kinetic models, half-lives, and inter-individual variability ranges are reported. The review also covers emerging biomarker frontiers including metallomics, biomonitoring panels, and population-stratified reference values.

Implications

• Certification: Comprehensive biomarker reference for any HMTc claim that depends on biomarker-validated exposure assessment. Useful as a citing reference for the biomarker-versus-dietary-intake argument that underlies vulnerable-population-targeted thresholds.
• Courses: Standard recent reference for biomarker methodology.

Wiki pages updated on ingest

• Lead
• Cadmium
• Arsenic
• Mercury
• Nickel
• Uranium

Update history

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