HUMAN ORGAN SPECIMEN BANKING - 15 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

As a reaction to the lack of information concerning ranges of a 'norma l xenobiotic burden' within the population and also the aquatic, terre strial and atmospheric environments, the sampling and storage of envir onmental materials in Germany in 1974 as a possible tool for environme ntal observation and early recognizing of hazards was proposed. During subsequent years the collection of human specimens was undertaken in Munster. In a pilot phase (1978-1983) conditions of optimized storage were investigated, including reliable storage temperature and containe r materials. Since 1985 the Environmental Specimen Bank for Human Tiss ue in Munster has been institutionalized under the auspices of the Fed eral Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety as well as the Federal Environmental Agency in Berlin. Up to 1991 about 3 00 000 samples had been collected and stored at -85-degrees-C in a wal k-in deep-freezer of 34 m3 comprising autopsy material as well as 'ava ilable' organs form living persons (e.g. blood, urine, hair, human mil k, saliva, seminal plasma, sweat). Having fulfilled the tasks within t he scope of environmental banking the Munster institution has proved t o be an adequate scientific tool. It has been integrated into the logi stic system of the Environmental Specimen Bank in Germany having the f ollowing main tasks (a) the development of Standard Operation Procedur es (SOP) for sampling and sample handling, (b) evaluation of reliable analytical methods for inorganic and organic sample characterization, (c) collection of a sufficient data pool for reference ranges of xenob iotics, which are essential for environmental risk assessment, and (d) the evaluation of the efficacy of legislative xenobiotic restrictions : this could be proved for lead and some organochlorine pesticides.