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5617623 
Book/Book Chapter 
Environmental Specimen Bank for Human Tissues 
Wiesmüller, GA; Gies, A 
2011 
Elsevier 
Burlington 
Encyclopedia of Environmental Health 
507-527 
English 
has other version or edition 7978774 Environmental specimen bank for human tissues
The Environmental Specimen Bank for Human Tissues (ESB-Human) is part of the German Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB). It focuses on documenting and assessing trends of human exposures via real-time monitoring (RTM) of body burden and long-term storage of samples under stable deep-freezing conditions for retrospective monitoring (RM). Every year RTM is performed in blood and urine of German students. Medical history, personal metadata, individual behavior, and potential exposures are asked via a standardized self-reported questionnaire. RTM currently covers 64 inorganic and 5 organochlorine compounds. It indicates that concentrations of several substances remain unchanged over time, for example, arsenic, cadmium, and selenium, whereas concentrations of other substances significantly decrease, for example, lead and pentachlorophenol (PCP). Stored samples allow rapid RM of pollutants whenever needed. Need for time-related exposure information and availability of analytical methods are main criteria to conduct RM. Recent analyses include phthalates and brominated and perfluorinated compounds (PFC). ESB-Human data confirms success of regulatory efforts to reduce human exposures, for example, to dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), and PFC. In contrast, the data indicate time-dependent increase in, for example, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) and di-iso-nonyl phthalate (DiNP) concentrations in human tissues and the potential need for risk reduction strategies. Current research investigates the feasibility of sampling human tissues from highly vulnerable groups. 
24h-urine; Environmental Specimen Bank; Environmental Specimen Bank for Human Tissues; Human biomonitoring; Human blood; Inorganic; Organic; Perinatal archive; Real-time monitoring; Retrospective monitoring; Trend monitoring 
Nriagu, J. O.