Projects & Samples

The biobank currently holds over 30,000 samples including:

Samples	Year started	Project
Breastmilk	1999	Human biomonitoring contributions to WHO/UNEP POPs program. Approximately 500 breastmilk from first time mothers collected.
Serum	2002	Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. Study using surplus pathology samples pooled into 12 age/gender groups. 2,400 samples (or more) collected every 2 years.
Pesticides	2005	Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority initiated. A dozen sites using passive samplers for polar and nonpolar pollutants. Expanded to freshwater and estuarine sites in last decade.
Wastewater	2009	Daily samples from wastewater treatment plant. 50 sites one week every 2 or 4 months. Covers >50% of Australian population.
Air	2010	Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. 40 sites nationally, yearly deployment.
Urine	2010	Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. Study using surplus pathology samples pooled into 12 age/gender groups. 2,400 samples (or more) collected every 2 years.
Census wastewater & biosolids	2011	2011 Census day pilot study from 12 wastewater treatment plants. Since 2016 Census samples collected from approx. 100 sites for a week plus biosolids during Census anniversary week.

Priorities and capabilities to understand chemical exposure in the Australian population are constantly evolving, for example through advances in analytical capabilities, ongoing changes in the prioritisation of chemicals, and discovery of new biological markers of exposure. Future retrospective analysis of biobanked samples therefore provides the means to investigate human exposures to chemicals for which there are no current analytical methods or for chemicals on the global market that are not yet recognised as hazardous. The high value of biobanking is internationally recognised and many countries operate state-of-the-art national biobanks.