Health protection of persons exposed to chemical substances is achieved by limitation and supervision of the concentrations a) of substances in the air (Environmental Monitoring, EM) and b) of substances and metabolites in body fluids (Biological Monitoring, BM). Both strategies belong to the sphere of responsibility of the analytical chemist. EM and BM show requirements which are different in some characteristic facts among them: EM. The assessment of exposure is difficult because the concentrations strongly depend on the location and time of measurement. The analytical determination of ppm and ppb concentrations in the air in general do not make problems nowadays. Unsolved, however, is the problem of the quality control and the determination of certain species of substances. BM. It offers a better means of the assessment of individual exposure. The complexity of the biological matrix, its low availability, and the small concentration of substances are still a great problem for analytical chemistry. Nowadays μg/l-concentrations of metals, organic solvents etc. can routinely be determined in biological matrices. Efficiency of analytical chemistry, however, must further be improved. Certain substances, for instance PAH's, certain metals like Pt, Ni, Co cannot be determined in the required range of concentrations. Huge efforts have to be done to determine the substances at the location of their effects for instance bound to DNA, Hb or certain proteins. The possibilities and limitations of instrumental analysis in the field of environmental and occupational health are discussed using characteristic examples. The problems of analytical reliability and the comparability of results are also discussed. © 1990 Springer-Verlag.
