HBM4EU – European Initiative in Human Biomonitoring

The HBM4EU initiative was a European Joint Program (EJP ) aimed at coordinating and promoting the advancement of human biomonitoring in Europe (2017-2022). The consortium was formed by the European Environment Agency, 42 beneficiary institutions from 30 European countries (24 of which are Member States), and more than 70 associated entities designated as Linked Third Parties (LTP). The program benefited from co-financing by the European Commission of up to 70% of the total eligible costs.

FCT carried out its activities in HBM4EU as the Contact Point for the Portuguese National Hub for Human Biomonitoring, established under the HBM4EU program. As National Hub Contact Point (NHCP), FCT coordinated responses to requests from HBM4EU work package leaders, contributing to related activities. Together with other national institutions in the National Hub, FCT has co-organized workshops on Human Biomonitoring in Portugal.

Program objectives

The general objectives of the program were:

• assess human exposure to chemical agents in Europe, with a view to better understanding their impact on health and improving chemical risk assessment;
• developing skills to establish a European Human Biomonitoring Platform, which will aim to harmonize human biomonitoring activities in the countries involved, with a view to obtaining comparable data at European level on human exposure to chemical agents;
• establish a dialogue with policy makers to ensure that the results can be used to support policy development, evaluate the effectiveness of existing policies, and develop measures to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals.

Portuguese participation in HBM4EU

Portugal's participation in this program was ensured by the following entities:

• Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. (FCT, I.P.), Program Owner/Manager, signatory;
• National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, I.P. (INSA), Program Manager, signatory;
• Portuguese Environment Agency, I.P. (APA), Program Owner, non-signatory;
• Directorate-General for Health (DGS), Program Owner, non-signatory, Linked Third Party;
• Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon (FMUL), Linked Third Party;
• Lisbon School of Health Technology (ESTeSL), Linked Third Party;

NATIONAL HUB – PORTUGAL

Each country involved had to create the conditions for the development of a National Hub for Human Biomonitoring, which responded to the requests of the leaders of the HBM4EU initiative's work packages. In Portugal, within the scope of HBM4EU, the National Hub was formed by the entities mentioned above, with the purpose of monitoring and managing Portuguese participation in the HBM4EU initiative and leading to the creation and development of the foundations for a national human biomonitoring platform.

National Hub contact point – Portugal (at HBM4EU):
Rita Cavaleiro (FCT)