Analytical methods for biological monitoring of exposure to pesticides: a review

Synthetic pesticides have been used since in the early to mid twentieth century. In the US alone, over 800 pesticide active ingredients are formulated in about 21 000 different commercial products. Although many public health benefits have been realized by the use of pesticides, their potential impact on the environment and public health is substantial. For risk assessment studies, exposure assessment is an integral component, which has unfortunately, often been weak or missing. In the past several decades, researchers have proposed to fill these missing data gaps using biological monitoring of specific markers related to exposures. In this paper, we present a review of existing analytical methodology for the biological monitoring of exposure to pesticides. We also present a critical assessment of the existing methodology and explore areas in which more research is needed.