European nation [59]. four. Final Remarks HBM has contributed towards the availability of data associated to exposure to mycotoxins in the Portuguese population. The identified exposure determinants could possibly be the starting point for additional research and wellness promotion policies and IP Inhibitor web applications, particularly in population groups that had been found to become additional often linked with larger exposure to mycotoxins. Amongst the quite a few mycotoxins that were incorporated inside the studies, OTA and AFs were the predominant ones. A current HBM study demonstrated infant exposure to OTA and AFs [60]. Indeed, some breastfed infants presented exposure levels to AFs that had been 5 times higher than the TDI value proposed in [36] (0.2 ng kg-1 b.w.), plus the mother’s consumption of chocolate and rice, a reduced amount of education, as well as the period when the samples have been collected (summer season and at the starting of lactation) were potential determinants of exposure [28]. Serum concentrations of OTA were elevated in rural populations in the central area of Portugal [54]. Furthermore, the accessible evidence demonstrated a higher exposure to urinary biomarker in residents from Alentejo area [56]. Although to a lesser extent, the contribution of occupational exposure to mycotoxins was also demonstrated in distinct functioning settings. Despite the Portuguese participation within the European Human Biomonitoring Plan HBM4EU, the present study revealed the limited nature with the current information and facts with regards to the evaluation of Portuguese exposure to the chosen hazardous substances. The difficulty in mobilizing a representative sample (by gender, age, area, and informed agreement) to study a wide variety of well being indicators and get far more robust benefits was also identified as a limitation. This has not simply hindered an integrated view of your trouble, but has also hampered consistent comparisons amongst obtained outcomes, ultimately resulting within a difficulty in implementing policies primarily based on scientific evidence. Thus, extra HBM studies are required to superior characterize Portuguese exposure to the chosen health-hazardous contaminants/pollutants and evaluate the results with total exposure levels determined in other European populations. The paucity of certain and effectively validated biomarkers, at the same time because the lack of information and facts around the toxicokinetics that persist for these chemical compounds, hinders objective risk assessments. Moreover, for a lot of chemical compounds, the lifetime health impacts associated with exposure stay unknown and guidance is largely missing. These limitations were in line using the mainMolecules 2022, 27,10 ofhurdles and challenges of HBM, contemplating the danger assessment of chemical compounds identified by EU and extra-EU IL-17 Inhibitor drug regulators [3]. In spite of the recognized limitations, HBM tends to make it feasible to assess trends in temporal exposure, to characterize geographical patterns of exposure, evaluate distinctive population groups, and recognize vulnerable subpopulations [7] to serve as the starting point for the implementation of preventive measures and assess the effectiveness of policy actions [93].Author Contributions: Conceptualization, A.P.; writing–original draft preparation, S.D., A.M.P.T.P., L.J.G.S., C.S.M.L. and M.O.; writing–review and editing, S.D., A.M.P.T.P., L.J.G.S., M.O., S.M. and a.P.; supervision, A.P., C.L. and S.M.; funding acquisition, A.P., C.L. and S.M. All authors have read and agreed towards the published version with the manuscript. Funding: This function received financial sup