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At a Glance - Biomonitoring and the Canadian Health Measures Survey
What is biomonitoring?
Human biomonitoring of environmental chemicals is the measurement of a chemical or its components in blood, urine and other tissues, and indicates how much of a chemical is present in a person. It is an important part of the Government of Canada's actions on chemicals under the Chemicals Management Plan.
Health Canada's Report on Human Biomonitoring of Environmental Chemicals in Canada presents the first-ever comprehensive set of biomonitoring data on the Canadian population's exposure to environmental chemicals, collected as part of Statistics Canada's Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS).
How will the biomonitoring data be used?
The national data will be used as a starting point for future monitoring and research. It will improve our understanding of chemical exposure in people and help with the development of policies to protect the health of Canadians. Biomonitoring data enables scientists, health professionals, and policy makers to:
- establish current levels of chemicals and examine trends in the Canadian population
- compare exposure to environmental chemicals among different populations
- identify priority chemicals that require further action
- assess the effectiveness of regulatory and environmental risk management actions
- guide where future research on potential links between exposure to chemicals and health effects is needed
- contribute to international monitoring programs
What does the data mean?
The presence of a chemical in a person's body does not necessarily mean that it will affect a person's health. A variety of factors, such as the chemical's toxicity and the amount to which a person is exposed, must be considered to determine health risk. For chemicals such as lead or mercury, scientific studies have provided a good understanding of the health risks associated with elevated levels in blood. However, for many chemicals, further research is needed to understand what health effects, if any, are related to different levels of these chemicals in blood or urine.
Biomonitoring data from future cycles of the CHMS and other monitoring initiatives will provide valuable information for the Government's assessment and management of environmental chemicals, with the ultimate goal of improving the health of Canadians.
