Deployment-associated exposure surveillance with high-resolution metabolomics

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the suitability of high-resolution metabolomics (HRM) for measure of internal exposure and effect biomarkers from deployment-related environmental hazards. Methods: HRM provides extensive coverage of metabolism and data relevant to a broad spectrum of environmental exposures. This review briefly describes the analytic platform, workflow, and recent applications of HRM as a prototype environmental exposure surveillance system. Results: Building upon techniques available for contemporary occupational medicine and exposure sciences, HRM methods are able to integrate external exposures, internal body burden of environmental agents, and relevant biological responses with health outcomes. Conclusions: Systematic analysis of existing Department of Defense Serum Repository samples will provide a high-quality, cross-sectional reference dataset for deployment-associated exposures while at the same time establishing a foundation for precision medicine.