EN
The aim of this work was to develop a
comprehensive prioritization method to select the
biomarkers to be monitored in the French national
biomonitoring program. The first step consisted in
building an exhaustive list of biomarkers. The next step
involved prioritizing the initial list of biomarkers according
to specific scientific questions about human exposure
to chemicals in the environment, and meet logistical,
feasibility and budgetary constraints. The Delphi
consensus method was used to prioritize biomarkers and
was developed in three phases: i) the definition of relevant
criteria for selecting biomarkers; ii) the prioritization of the
biomarker list based on these criteria and iii) the validation
of the list by the stakeholders. Among the eight relevant
criteria for selecting biomarkers, hazard identification
and social perception were the highest-rated and lowestrated
criteria, respectively. After scoring each criterion
for each group of biomarkers, and discussing the relative
ranking of each group during a round table meeting, the final prioritized list obtained contained both historic (e.g.
dioxins or lead) and emerging substances (e.g. phthalates,
bisphenol A). Combining rigor and flexibility, our method
has clearly helped to build a prioritized list shared and
supported by many international actors.