Hair analysis for biomonitoring of environmental and occupational exposure to organic pollutants: State of the art, critical review and future needs

► This work reviews the state of the art in organic pollutants analysis in human hair. ► The influence of methods sensitivity on results interpretation was highlighted. ► We investigate the relevance of hair as representative of subjects levels of exposure. ► Critical evaluation of the literature and focus on current limitations was done. ► Future needs for promoting the use of hair in epidemiological studies were identified. This paper presents the current state of the art in human hair analysis for the detection of organic pollutants associated with environmental and occupational exposure. The different chemical classes are reviewed with a special focus set on compounds that were only recently investigated. The importance of methods sensitivity and particularly the influence of this parameter on the results presented in previous publications is highlighted. This report also investigates the relevance of hair analysis as an indicator of subjects’ level of exposure and underlines limitations that are still associated with this matrix. This study also presents a critical assessment of some specific aspects presented in the literature as well as future needs to strengthen the position of hair as a relevant biomarker of exposure to be used in epidemiological studies.