Application of biological monitoring to the diagnosis of poisoning.

Examples of cases in clinical medicine as well as occupational and environmental health studies are described to indicate the conditions under which reliable results for exposure assessment were obtained through biological monitoring. Biological monitoring is a solution-oriented practical approach. Four check points are described for effective biological monitoring, i.e., identification of the type of biological specimens available, selection of correct sampling time, a sensitive and selective analytical method, and interpretation based on a full knowledge of the metabolism.