Susana Viegas

Universidade NOVA de Lisboa | NOVA · NOVA National School of Public Health, Public Health Research Centre, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa.

One of the aims of the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative, HBM4EU, was to provide examples of and good practices for the effective use of human biomonitoring (HBM) data in human health risk assessment (RA). The need for such information is pressing, as previous research has indicated that regulatory risk assessors generally lack knowledge and...

Within the EU human biomonitoring initiative (HBM4EU), a targeted, multi-national study on occupational exposure to hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) was performed. Cr(VI) is currently regulated in EU under REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) and under occupational safety and health (OSH) legislation. It has rece...

Microbial contamination in grocery shops (GS) should be evaluated since food commodities are commonly handled by workers and customers increasing the risk of food contamination and disease transmission. The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbial contamination in Portuguese and Spanish GS with a multi-approach protocol using passive (electr...

As one of the core elements of the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) a human biomonitoring (HBM) survey was conducted in 23 countries to generate EU-wide comparable HBM data. This survey has built on existing HBM capacity in Europe by aligning national or regional HBM studies, referred to as the HBM4EU Aligned Studies. The HBM4EU Ali...

Mycotoxins are natural metabolites produced by fungi that contaminate food and feed worldwide. They can pose a threat to human and animal health, mainly causing chronic effects, e.g., immunotoxic and carcinogenic. Due to climate change, an increase in European population exposure to mycotoxins is expected to occur, raising public health concerns. T...

Despite tea beneficial health effects, there is a substantial risk of tea contamination by harmful pathogens and mycotoxins. A total of 40 tea samples (17 green (raw) tea; 13 black (fermented) tea; 10 herbal infusions or white tea) were purchased from different markets located in Lisbon district during 2020. All products were directly available to...

One Health is an approach characterized by the integration of human and animal health, plants, and ecosystems and encourages multisectoral and multidisciplinary efforts to achieve optimal levels of health and collaboration among different sectors and scientific areas to address challenging health problems. Through this approach is possible to obtai...

Biodiversity underpins all life on Earth, and refers to biological variety in all its forms, from the genetic makeup of plants and animals to cultural diversity. Human health depends upon ecosystem products and services (e.g. availability of fresh water, food and fuel sources) which are requisite for human and animal health. Biodiversity loss can h...

Particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) are one of the air pollutants more detrimental to human health, being responsible for around 400 000 premature deaths in Europe every year. The cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and air pollution are linked, with existing evidence of a causal relationship between exposure to particulate matte...

Pandemics have their origin in diverse microbes carried by animal hosts, but their emergence is entirely driven by human activities. These include deforestation, land- and sea-use change, agricultural expansion and intensification, and wildlife trade and consumption. These activities bring wildlife, livestock, and people into closer contact, allowi...

Respiratory abnormalities among workers at coffee roasting and packaging facilities have already been reported; however, little is known about microbiological contamination inside coffee production facilities. This study intends to assess the microbial contamination (fungi and bacteria) in two coffee industries from Brazil with a multi-approach pro...

Occupational exposure to hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)], a known lung carcinogen, remains a relevant concern. When performing exposure assessment for risk assessment, biomonitoring is an important tool, reflecting actual internal exposure of workers. Here, we present total urinary chromium (U-Cr) biomonitoring data from several occupational sectors,...

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107476

The occupational exposure to chemicals usually occurs in higher levels than for the general population, usually by inhalation and dermal absorption but inadvertent ingestion may also occur. Biomonitoring is a powerful tool to assess exposure at the individual level, thus providing additional and valuable information in comparison with air monitorin...

A study was conducted within the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) to characterize occupational exposure to Cr(VI). Herein we present the results of biomarkers of genotoxicity and oxidative stress, including micronucleus analysis in lymphocytes and reticulocytes, the comet assay in whole blood, and malondialdehyde and 8-oxo-2′-deoxyg...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are among the chemicals with proven impact on workers’ health. The use of human biomonitoring (HBM) to assess occupational exposure to PAHs has become more common in recent years, but the data generated need an overall view to make them more usable by regulators and policymakers. This comprehensive review, de...

Assuring a proper environment for the fulfillment of professional activities is one of the Sustainable Development Goals and is contemplated in the One Health approach assumed by the World Health Organization. This particular study is applied to an often neglected sector of our society—the conservators/restorers—despite the many health issues repor...

Background Evaluating and managing exposures to chemical, physical and biological stressors, which frequently interplay with psychological stressors as well as social and behavioural aspects, is crucial for protecting human and environmental health and transitioning towards a sustainable future. Advances in our understanding of exposure rely on inp...

Human biomonitoring (HBM) is a crucial approach for exposure assessment, as emphasised in the European Commission’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS). HBM can help to improve chemical policies in five major key areas: (1) assessing internal and aggregate exposure in different target populations; 2) assessing exposure to chemicals across l...

Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)), nickel (Ni) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are genotoxic co-occurring lung carcinogens whose occupational health risk is still understudied. This study, conducted within the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU), aimed at performing a mixtures risk assessment (MRA) based on published human biomo...

Diisocyanates have long been a leading cause of occupational asthma in Europe, and recently, they have been subjected to a restriction under the REACH regulations. As part of the European Human Biomonitoring project (HBM4EU), we present a study protocol designed to assess occupational exposure to diisocyanates in five European countries. The object...

Previous studies anticipated that microorganisms and their metabolites in waste will increase as a consequence of a decreased collection frequency and due to differences in what kind of waste is bagged before collection leading to an increased exposure of workers handling the waste. This study aim was to investigate the microbial contamination pres...

Results of meeting 132 of the IARC Monographs

Occupational exposures to hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) can occur in welding, hot working stainless steel processing, chrome plating, spray painting and coating activities. Recently, within the human biomonitoring for Europe initiative (HBM4EU), a study was performed to assess the suitability of different biomarkers to assess the exposure to Cr(VI)...

Cemeteries are potential environmental reservoirs of pathogenic microorganisms from organic matter decomposition. This study aimed to characterize the microbial contamination in three cemeteries, and more specifically in grave diggers' facilities. One active sampling method (im-pingement method) and several passive sampling methods (swabs, settled...

Introduction Vitamin D is critical for bone health and its deficiency has been linked to increased incidence and severity of multiple diseases. Even so, vitamin D inadequacy is a major public health problem worldwide. The main source of vitamin D is endogenous cutaneous synthesis through exposure to solar ultraviolet B radiation, which is influence...

Waste workers are exposed to bioaerosols when handling, lifting and dumping garbage. Bioaerosol exposure has been linked to health problems such as asthma, airway irritant symptoms, infectious, gastrointestinal and skin diseases, and cancer. Our objective was to characterize the exposure of urban collectors and drivers to inhalable bioaerosols and...

Exposure to hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) may occur in several occupational activities, placing workers in many industries at risk for potential related health outcomes. Untargeted metabolomics was applied to investigate changes in metabolic pathways in response to Cr(VI) exposure. We obtained our data from a study population of 220 male workers with...

Work-related exposures in industrial processing of chromate (chrome plating, surface treatment and welding) raise concern regarding the health risk of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)). In this study, performed under the HBM4EU project, we focused on better understanding the determinants of exposure and recognising how risk management measures (RMMs) co...

Electrostatic dust cloths (EDC) have been widely used for microbiologic contamination assessment in different indoor and occupational environments. This paper reviews sixteen studies performed in Portugal between 2018 and 2021 for evaluating the exposure to microbiological agents and focusing on fungi using EDC as a passive sampling method. The fin...

In this article, we have responded to the key statements in the article by Koivisto et al. (2022) that were incorrect and considered to be a biased critique on a subset of the exposure models used in Europe (i.e. ART and Stoffenmanager®) used for regulatory exposure assessment. We welcome scientific discussions on exposure modelling (as was done du...

The composition of airborne microflora in sawmills may vary to a great degree depending on the kind of timber being processed and the technology of production being used. Cases of allergy alveolitis and asthma have been reported in woodworkers who were exposed to wood dust largely infected with microorganisms. The aim of this review article is to i...

In some occupational environments risk characterization is challenging or impossible to achieve due to the presence of multiple pollutants and contaminants. Thus, in vitro testing using the most relevant cell lines will provide information concerning health effects due to the co-exposure to multiple stressors. The aim of this review article is to i...

One of the occupational environments that need intervention to overcome the lack of information concerning exposure to biological agents is the Firefighter Headquarters’ (FFH). This study intends to assess the microbial contamination in Portuguese FFH with a multi-approach protocol for sampling and analyses using active (air samples by impaction an...

The use of aligned exposure science terminology is crucial for ease of comparison and appropriate interpretation of exposure information, regulatory reports, and scientific publications. Sometimes the use of different terminology in different contexts and areas of exposure science results in diverging interpretations of the same descriptor. During...

Climate change (CC), considered by IPCC as unequivocal, is associated with significant changes in long-term weather characteristics and short-term weather extremes in different regions of the globe. The increasing of exposure to several risk factors within the human, animal and environmental dimensions is one of the effects of CC. Considering that...

Climate change is having a detrimental impact on the environment and on the animals and humans health. Recent research has highlighted the negative impact that climate change has on the social and environmental factors that determine human health, such as clean air, food security and safety, water quality, and much more such as the possible increas...

Aflatoxins (AFTs) are genotoxic and carcinogenic food contaminants causing hepatocellular carcinoma, the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. In 2015, WHO estimated the burden of disease associated with exposure to AFTs and concluded that this exposure corresponds to 636,869 Disability-adjusted Life Years (DALYs) at global level. Particu...

Data generated by the rapidly evolving human biomonitoring (HBM) programmes are providing invaluable opportunities to support and advance regulatory risk assessment and management of chemicals in occupational and environmental health domains. However, heterogeneity across studies, in terms of design, terminology, 2 Data value chain Data governance...

Exposure to hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] may occur in several occupational activities, e.g., welding, Cr(VI) electroplating and other surface treatment processes. The aim of this study was to provide EU relevant data on occupational Cr(VI) exposure to support the regulatory risk assessment and decision-making. In addition, the capability and validi...

Ambulance vehicles are an essential part of emergency clinical services. Bioburden control in ambulances, through cleaning and disinfection, is crucial to minimize hospital-acquired infections, cross contamination and exposure of patients and ambulances' crew. In Portugal, firefighter crews are responsible, besides fire extinction, for first aid an...

Filtering respiratory protection devices (FRPD) are mandatory for workers to wear in the Portuguese waste-sorting industry. Previous results regarding microbial contamination found on FRPD interior layer raised the question of whether microbial contamination from the exhalation valve would also have cytotoxicity effects. Since the FRPD exhalation v...

Bisphenol A (BPA) and its substitutes bisphenol S (BPS) and bisphenol F (BPF) are endocrine disrupting chemicals widely used in the production of polycarbonate plastics, epoxy resins and thermal papers. The aim of the review was to identify occupational studies using human biomonitoring (HBM) as a tool for bisphenol exposure assessment and to chara...

Since the 1940s, humans have developed new drugs and consumption has increased significantly in the last 15 years. [...]

The EU human biomonitoring initiative, HBM4EU, aims to coordinate and advance human biomonitoring (HBM) across Europe. As part of HBM4EU, we presented a protocol for a multicentre study to characterize occupational exposure to hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) in nine European countries (HBM4EU chromates study). This study intended to collect data on cu...

Tea has been consumed for thousands of years. Despite the different varieties, particular emphasis has been placed on green tea (GT), considering the associated health benefits following its regular consumption, some of which are due to its polyphenol constituents, such as epigallocate-chin-3-gallate (EGCG). Tea is not prone to the growth of microo...

Aspergillus section Fumigati is one of the sections of the Aspergillus genus most often associated with respiratory symptoms. The azole-resistant clinical isolates in this section have been widely described worldwide. More recently, the environmental origin of azole resistance has been correlated with the development of fungal diseases and therapeu...

Effect biomarkers can be used to elucidate relationships between exposure to environmental chemicals and their mixtures with associated health outcomes, but they are often underused, as underlying biological mechanisms are not understood. We aim to provide an overview of available effect biomarkers for monitoring chemical exposures in the general a...

One of the solutions for decreasing the workers' exposure to bioburden is the use of Filtering Respiratory Protective Devices (FRPD). As such it is important to determine whether these devices are fulfilling their protective role. This is the basis of the current study, aimed at characterizing bioburden retained by 120 FRPD (both in interior layers...

Human exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals, particularly at low doses, is ubiquitous, persistent and occurs in complex mixtures with associated health effects that cannot be predicted when analyzing single compounds independently. Concomitant exposure to these compounds, particularly in critical windows of exposure, may therefore result in ha...

The organic material present on waste sorting units serve as a substrate for different microorganisms , increasing workers' exposure to Aspergillus spp. This study intends to assess the Aspergillus spp. contamination on Mechanical Protection Gloves (MPG) from different workstations and understand the role of MPG in workers' exposure to these genera...

Recent advances in analytical chemistry have allowed a greater possibility of using quantitative approaches for measuring human exposure to chemicals. One of these approaches is biomonitoring (BM), which provides unequivocal evidence that both exposure and uptake of a chemical have taken place. BM has been a longstanding practice in occupational he...

Introduction Phthalates, a group of ubiquitous industrial chemicals, have been widely used in occupational settings, mainly as plasticizers in a variety of applications. Occupational exposure to different phthalates has been studied in several occupational settings using human biomonitoring (HBM). Aim To provide a comprehensive review of the avail...

In occupational settings where exposure to organic dust occurs (e.g., intensive animal production, waste management, farming and many others) workers can also be exposed to mycotoxins. However, recognizing exposure to mycotoxins in workplace environments does not happen commonly and, consequently, remains as a not identified occupational risk facto...

The use of Filtering Respiratory Protective Devices (FRPD) is mandatory in Portugal to protect workers from the waste industry of harmful exposures. Deleterious health effects of exposure to bioburden via inhalation and/or ingestion include respiratory symptoms and nephrotoxicity. Between January and February 2019, 118 FRPD samples were collected i...

This study aimed to evaluate occupational exposure to a styrene and xylene mixture through environmental exposure assessment and identify the potential genotoxic effects through biological monitoring. Secondly, we also exposed human peripheral blood cells in vitro to both xylene and styrene either alone or in mixture at concentrations found in occu...

In Portugal, mechanical protection gloves (MPG) are of mandatory use and during their use sweat is released and, consequently, the humidity of the material increases leading to conditions favorable to the growth of microorganisms. However, no studies have been conducted in MPG to assess the bioburden. This study intended to determine the bioburden...

In recent times green tea (GT) consumption has increased, due to the numerous studies that indicate a wide variety of health benefits following its regular consumption. The aim of this study was to assess the bioburden (bacteria and fungi) of bulk and bags of GT marketed in Lisbon and to obtain a more refined fungal burden characterization, includi...

The assessment and control of microbial contamination in health care facilities is presently a mandatory and vital part of strategies to prevent and control hospital-acquired infections. This study aims to assess the bioburden with two passive sampling methods (30 ventilations grids swabs and 16 electrostatic dust collectors (EDCs)) at Clinical Pat...

Mycotoxins are considered the most frequently occurring natural contaminants in the diet of humans and animals [...]

In occupational settings the ingestion route is normally not considered significant when compared with the other exposure routes, such as inhalation or dermal contact. However, work-related ingestion of hazardous substances may be a reality and hand-to-mouth contact can have an important role. The work aimed to claim attention for the relevance of...

There is scientific evidence that associates occupational exposure to fungi in the waste industry to health outcomes, being Aspergillus genera reported as the most prevalent. During Filtering Respiratory Protective Devices (FFR) use, humidity and temperature conditions provide favorable conditions for Aspergillus growth. The aim of this study was t...

Joint Control Charts applied to Enironmental Health Data

For decades, occupational exposure to flour dust has been linked to a range of respiratory diseases, including occupational asthma, thought to result from exposure to fungi present in the flour. Antifungal resistance is of increasing prevalence in clinical settings, and the role of occupational and environmental exposures, particularly for specific...

Human Biomonitoring (HBM) has been identified as a promising tool to assess the exposure to contaminants from different origins, providing information of aggregated exposures from different routes and contributing to the establishment of the total body burden of an individual. Mycotoxins are fungi metabolites produced by specific fungal genera that...

One of the solutions for decreasing the workers' exposure to bioburden is the use of Filtering Respiratory Protective Devices (FRPD). As such it is important to determine whether these devices are fulfilling their protective role. This is the basis of the current study, aimed at characterizing bioburden retained by 120 FRPD (both in interior layers...