Outstanding recognition for a publication by O2 researchers / 5.02.2026

We are pleased to announce that the scientific article “Harmonized human biomonitoring in European children, teenagers and adults: EU-wide exposure data of 11 chemical substance groups from the HBM4EU Aligned Studies (2014–2021)”, published in the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, has received the 2025 Best Paper Award for outstanding scientific contribution among articles published in 2023.

The award, granted by the journal’s editorial board and the publisher Elsevier, is based on the publication’s impact, citation rate, and number of downloads, and represents an important international recognition of research that significantly contributes to understanding population exposure to chemicals and to the development of policies in the field of chemical safety.

The awarded publication represents one of the key outcomes of the European HBM4EU initiative, within which data on internal population exposure to 11 groups of chemicals in children, adolescents, and adults were, for the first time at the European level, harmonized and comparably analyzed. The study includes data from more than 10,000 participants from numerous European countries and provides an important reference basis for monitoring the effects of European chemicals legislation and for shaping future public health measures.

For Slovenia, this research is of particular strategic importance. The Jožef Stefan Institute, Department of Environmental Sciences (JSI-O2), has coordinated and actively developed the field of human biomonitoring since 2008, placing Slovenia among the pioneering countries in this area. Systematic monitoring of internal population exposure to chemicals is becoming one of the key tools of modern society, which lives in a complex “chemical environment” where we are daily exposed to a wide range of substances through food, consumer products, and occupational and living environments. Human biomonitoring therefore represents one of today’s central scientific and policy tools for understanding real-life exposure, assessing risks, and planning effective measures to protect public health.

Researchers from the Department of Environmental Sciences of the Jožef Stefan Institute also contributed to the preparation of the article, representing an important international recognition of the department’s long-standing work in the fields of human biomonitoring, chemical exposure, and public health protection.

Sincere congratulations to all contributing authors and project partners for this exceptional recognition and successful international collaboration!