Specimen banks

Becker PR, Wise SA, Thorsteinson L, Koster BJ, Rowles T. 1997. Specimen banking of marine organisms in the United States current status and long-term prospective. Chemosphere 34 1889-1906. 

Oxynos K, Schmitzer J, Kettrup A. 1993. Herring gull eggs as bioindicators for chlorinated hydrocarbons contribution to the German Federal Environmental Specimen Bank. Sci Total Environ 140 387-398. 

Emons H, ed. (1997) Biological Environmental Specimen Banking (besb 2) 2nd International Symposium and Workshop held at Stockholm, Sweden 20-23 May 1996, Chemosphere Vol 34 Nos. 9 and 10. 

Stoepplbr M and Zeisler R, eds. (1993) Biological environmental specimen banking. A collection of papers presented at the ist International Symposium on Biological Environmental Specimen Banking. Vienna, Austria, 22-25 September 1991. Sci Total Environ, Vols. 139 and 140. Tanner JT (1984) The FDA-IFC infant formula methods study and standards for organic nutrients. In Wolf WR, ed. Biological Reference Materials, pp 197-205. John Wiley Sons. 

ScHiADOT JD, Backhaus F, Burow M, Froning M, Mohl C, Ostapczuk P, Rossbach M (1993) Collection, preparation and characterization of fresh, marine candidate reference materials of the German Environmental Specimen Bank. Fresenius [ Anal Chem 345 137-139. 

Ihnat M (1992) Selection and preparation of relevant reference materials for agricultural purposes. In Rossbach M, Schladot JD, Ostapczuk P, eds. Specimen Banking — Environmental Monitoring and Modem Analytical Approaches, pp 57-73. Springer, Berlin. 

Mackey EA, Demiralp R, Fitzpatrick KA, Porter BJ, Wise SA, Becker PR and Greenberg RR (1999) Quality assurance in analysis of cryogenically stored liver tissue specimens from the NIST National Biomonitoring Specimen Bank (NBSB). Sci Total Environ 226 165-176. 

New sampling methods are also required for the monitoring of solid samples. The Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB) of Germany has developed devices for sampling suspended particulate matter and sediments. In both purposes, sampling and freezing are carried out in the field. For example, Fig. 15 shows the device used in sediment monitoring [48]. 

Ricking M (2007) Sampling methods of SPM and sediments within the environmental specimen bank (ESB) of Germany. In Proceedings of the RISKBASE 1st Thematic Workshop, Lisbon, pp 98-100... 

Third, continued periodic monitoring of fishery and wildlife resources is important, especially in areas with potential for reservoir development, in light of the hypothesis that increased flooding increases the availability of mercury to biota. The use of museum collections for mercury analysis is strongly recommended for monitoring purposes. For example, the Environmental Specimen Bank at the Swedish Museum of Natural History constitutes a base for ecotoxicological research and for spatial and trend monitoring of mercury and other contaminants in Swedish fauna (Odsjo et al. 1997). 

Odsjo, T., A. Bignert, M. Olsson, L. Asplund, U. Eriksson, L. Haggberg, K. Litzen, C. de Wit, C. Rappe, and K. Aslund. 1997. The Swedish environmental specimen bank — application in trend monitoring of mercury and some organohalogenated compounds. Chemosphere 34 2059-2066. 

Schroter-Kennani C, Helm D, Hermann T, et al. 2000. The German environmental specimen bank-application in trend monitoring of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in human blood. Organohalogen Compounds 47 49-52. 

Wise SA, Zeisler R. 1984. The pilot environmental specimen bank program. Environ Sci Technol 18 302a-307a. 

Environmental Specimen Banking Volume Editors S. A. Wise and P. P. R. Becker Vol. 3/S, 2006... 

Because of the scientific and cost-effective value of specimen banks for maintaining samples for future analyses, the committee concludes that there should be provisions for increased availability of previously collected and characterized samples. In addition, long-term funding for both existing and new biorepositories should be supported. 

German Environmental Specimen Bank Established to systematically collect, process, characterize, and store environmental samples. Blood and other human specimens have been collected since 1981 from about 100 unexposed persons (German Federal Environmental Agency 2006). 

Lee et al. (1995) defined environmental-specimen banking as a longterm, stable storage of specimens sampled from the physical environment,... 

There are a number of large specimen banks and repositories in the United States, administered primarily by federal government. Others are administered by the military, universities, corporations, and nonprofit organizations (NBAC 1999). Similarly, the EU has specimen banks available for research purposes. A few examples from in the United States and EU are described below. 

In the United States, CDC has been involved in tissue and specimen banking primarily to provide information for use in epidemiologic studies and research programs. Two larger-scale programs include specimens from NHANES and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Specimen and Data Repository. 

The EU, through its Health and Environment Strategy, has stressed the importance of increased funding and capacity in addition to improved coordination among current biobanking activities (European Commission 2004). A number of European countries have established national specimen banks, including Germany and Sweden. 

The German Environmental Specimen Bank, initiated in 1985, annually samples and archives specimens to determine the effectiveness of environmental regulations and to conduct retrospective monitoring (European Commission 2004). The bank collects six types of human specimens— whole blood, blood plasma, scalp hair, pubic hair, saliva, and 24-hour urine samples from people 20-29 years old in four cities (Munster, Halle/ Saale, Greifswald, and Ulm). Screening is conducted to determine the pres-... 

The Swedish Environmental Specimen Bank is a centralized storage bank that has been operational for 20 years. It conducts annual sampling of a variety of environmental and human specimens for use in a number of studies, including retrospective analyses. Regional banks store human blood for use in these studies (European Commission 2004). 

UK Biobank is a long-term human-specimen bank that will be initiated at full scale in 2006, although pilot projects are under way. The project will collect information, including blood (fractioned to plasma or serum) and urine samples, from 500,000 participants 40-69 years old. The study will follow participants over 20-30 years to study progression of chronic diseases. 

German Federal Environmental Agency. 2006. Environmental Specimen Bank [online]. Available http //www.umweltbundesamt.de/uba-info-daten-e/daten-e/umweltprobenbank-des-bundes.htm [accessed July 7, 2006]. 

Gunter, E.W. 1997. Biological and environmental specimen banking at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chemosphere 34(9/10) 1945-1953. 

Lee, L.W., J. Griffith, H. Zenick, and B.S. Hulka. 1995. Human tissue monitoring and specimen banking Opportunities for exposure assessment, risk assessment, and epidemiologic research. Environ. Health Perspect. 103(Suppl. 3) 3-8. 

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