The One Health Perspective in Trace Elements Biomonitoring.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Toxicology
• One Health

Background:

• Chronic exposure to trace elements (TE) can cause toxic or antinutritional effects in humans and animals.
• Imbalances in essential TE can lead to secondary nutritional deficiencies.
• Biomonitoring uses biomarkers to assess exposure, bioavailability, and effects, crucial for understanding health risks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the advantages and critical aspects of designing and conducting integrated biomonitoring activities for humans and animals.
• To focus on biomarkers of exposure, effect, susceptibility, and bioavailability for toxic and essential TE.
• To explore the transfer of knowledge from human biomonitoring to animal surveillance within a One Health framework.

Main Methods:

• Critical review of existing literature on biomarkers for trace element exposure, effect, susceptibility, and bioavailability.
• Analysis of TE metabolism, bioaccessibility, and interactions.
• Evaluation of noninvasive matrices in farm or free-ranging animals for health risk assessment.

Main Results:

• Biomarkers of exposure, including bioavailability, are established for human biomonitoring and applicable to animal surveillance.
• Biomarkers of effect, susceptibility, and bioavailability are necessary to determine current or future health concerns.
• Animal biomonitoring, under a One Health perspective, provides vital information on human-animal-environment interfaces for risk management.

Conclusions:

• Integrated biomonitoring in humans and animals is critical for a comprehensive risk assessment framework, from farm to humans.
• Transferring knowledge from human biomonitoring to animal health enhances the understanding and management of TE-related health risks.
• Farm and free-ranging animals offer noninvasive matrices for assessing welfare, environmental stressors, food safety, and potential human health risks, aligning with One Health principles.