SciLux podcast – Brice Appenzeller on Exposome

04 February 2025

Chemical Pollutants Exposure

Various pollutants and chemicals are present in our everyday lives. What is the impact of this exposure on our health? Prof. Brice Appenzeller’s research specialises in biomonitoring of human exposure to pollutants, with a particular focus on hair testing.

Professor Brice Appenzeller is the Head of Human Biomonitoring Research Unit at Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) and associate Professor adjunct at the University of Luxembourg. He is also the vice-president of the Society of Hair Testing.

His research interest focuses on the biomonitoring of human exposure to pollutants such as pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and endocrine disruptors and on the study of exposure-associated effects on human health. He is also interested in the study of mechanisms of incorporation of chemicals in hair, and in using this matrix for hormonal profiling to investigate hormonal disruption associated with various stressors.

Listen to Prof. Brice Appenzeller to discover what the exposome is, the various environmental agents we are exposed to, and the innovative methods used to analyse these exposures through biomonitoring.

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Analysing Children’s Hair in Luxembourg

Hair samples offer insight into long-term exposure and can reveal compounds that may not be detectable in other types of samples. Prof. Appenzeller shares findings from a study involving Luxembourgish children, where they discovered an alarming average of 88 different chemicals per child in hair samples, highlighting the pervasive nature of chemical exposure.

Learn more about the study and analysis

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