HBM4EU - European Initiative in Human Biomonitoring

The HBM4EU initiative was a European Joint Programme(EJP) with the aim of 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 called Linked Third Parties (LTP). The program benefited from co-financing by the European Commission of up to 70% of the total eligible costs.

FCT developed its activities in HBM4EU as the Contact Point for the Portuguese National Hub in Human Biomonitoring, established under the HBM4EU program. As National Hub Contact Point (NHCP), FCT coordinated responses to requests from the leaders of the HBM4EU work packages, contributing to their activities. Together with the other national institutions of the National Hub, FCT has co-organized the 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;
• develop 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 policymakers 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:

• Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (FCT, I.P.), Program Owner/Manager, signatory;
• Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, I.P. (INSA), Program Manager, signatory;
• Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente, I.P. (APA), Programme Owner, non-signatory;
• Direção-Geral da Saúde (DGS), Programme 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 in Human Biomonitoring, which responded to the requests of the leaders of the work packages of the HBM4EU initiative. In Portugal, within the scope of HBM4EU, the National Hub was set up by the above-mentioned entities, with the purpose of monitoring and managing Portuguese participation in the HBM4EU initiative and leading to the creation and development of the foundations of a national human biomonitoring platform.

National Hub contact point - Portugal (on HBM4EU):
Rita Cavaleiro (FCT)