Austrian Human Biomonitoring Report to the National Council mentions BBMRI.at

Human Biomonitoring in Austria 

Human biomonitoring (HBM) enables the detection of pollutants and chemicals, including their degradation products, in the human body. This provides an important basis for assessing the actual environmental exposure of population groups. Understanding exposure level is crucial for taking measures that ensure the sustainable protection of public health and contribute to the European environmental goals.

Human Biomonitoring Platform Austria

The Human Biomonitoring Platform Austria brings together national activities and experts, promotes methodological development, and ensures links to European initiatives. It is coordinated by the Federal Environment Agency and serves as an advisory body of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management (BMLUK).

The platform aims to promote human biomonitoring in Austria as a tool for health and environmental protection, improve risk assessment of chemicals, support national prevention strategies, and strengthen national competence in human biomonitoring.

Members include experts from administration, science, and health institutions – among them the Environment Agency Austria, the BMLUK, the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), the General Accident Insurance Institution (AUVA), several federal ministries, the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, BioNanoNet, Gesundheit Österreich GmbH, the BBMRI.at coordinator Medical Universities of Graz, Innsbruck, and Vienna, the Styrian Hospital Association (KAGes), UMIT TIROL, and the University of Vienna, as well as associated partners such as the Austrian Medical Association and the Provincial Health Directorate of Salzburg.

The immediate goals of the platform are to promote communication and cooperation at federal and provincial level.

2024 Report on Austrian Human Biomonitoring

Every two years, the Human Biomonitoring Platform Austria reports to the National Council and publishes the Austrian Human Biomonitoring Report, which presents progress, findings and activities in health-related environmental monitoring. As in the previous years, BBMRI.at’s contribution is also highlighted in the 2024 report, published in 2025.

The report supports the implementation of national, European and international agreements and strategies, such as the Austrian Health Targets or the Microplastic Action Plan.

It presents the activities of HBM Platform partners, many of which are carried out in the context of the European Partnership for Chemical Risk Assessment (PARC). PARC is a collaboration of public institutions working to protect human health and the environment by developing improved methods for chemical risk assessment and promoting research and innovation for societal benefit.

Examples of outcomes from Austria include, among others:

1. the exposome in premature babies,
2. effects of nanoplastic particles on the blood–brain barrier,
3. per- and polyfluorinated substances in human liver,
4. microplastics in human stool samples,
5. the use of toenails in human biomonitoring,
6. long-term monitoring of breast milk,
7. the PARC children’s survey,
8. development of high-throughput analytical methods,
9. exposome studies in breast cancer patients,
10. and activities within Exposome Austria, as well as findings from the HBM4EU project.

Contribution from BBMRI.at

The Human Biomonitoring Report 2024 also highlights contributions from BBMRI.at, which provides key expertise in biobanking quality and data management, pre-analytical sample standards, and ethical and legal frameworks.

In particular, the report features the Austrian Cohort Initiative (ATCI), initiated and co-coordinated by BBMRI.at, which connects Austrian cohort studies and biobanks to strengthen quality, harmonization, and accessibility of samples and data. Together, these efforts form an strong foundation for future research on the interactions between environmental and health in Austria and beyond.