ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a review of principles and concepts that underlie development of biological monitoring for occupational exposure assessment. It utilizes critiques of specific studies against general criteria for a biomonitor in order to focus discussion on problems and future prospects in the development of biological endpoints for exposure assessment. Biological monitoring measures reflect the internal dose of a particular chemical which has been received and/or the response at biological receptor at a particular point in time. In practice, biological indices are usually surrogates for the concentration of a chemical or its metabolites or its effect at the true receptors. Knowledge of kinetic aspects is critical to determine the optimum time for biological sampling for different parameters and for their interpretation. Analysis of chromosomal aberrations has been the standard method for determining damage directly in metaphase chromosomes and appears most sensitive to ionizing radiation.
