National Biomonitoring Program

Since 2007, Health Canada’s national biomonitoring program has provided essential data on Canadians’ exposure to chemicals in the environment. Integrated into the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS), this program has completed seven data collection cycles, sampling approximately 40,000 people and measuring more than 350 chemicals in blood and urine. These data support regulatory policies and enable the monitoring of exposure trends in the general population. The presentation will provide an overview of how the biomonitoring component of the CHMS operates, the results dissemination portal, and the fact sheets on chemical substances. Particular attention will be given to the example of arsenic to illustrate how biomonitoring data can address key questions regarding exposure levels, temporal trends, international comparisons, and associated factors.

Annie St-Amand has worked at Health Canada for over 20 years. She initially spent seven years working in air quality risk assessment before shifting her focus to biomonitoring in 2012. Since 2016, she has led the national biomonitoring program within the Office of Environmental Health Science and Research. She oversees a team of more than ten researchers and scientists. Annie has played a key role in the development and implementation of the biomonitoring component of the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS), and she is actively involved in national and international collaborative efforts in the field of human biomonitoring.

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