Saliva shows promise for monitoring some diet-related contaminants

This review found that only a limited subset of diet-related contaminants have been quantitatively measured in saliva. Compounds like nitrate, arsenic, and pesticides showed moderate to strong correlations with systemic levels, supporting saliva's potential for exposure assessment.

Researchers conducted a systematic review of over 500 diet-related contaminants to assess saliva's potential as a non-invasive biomonitoring matrix, identifying compounds with robust diet-related associations and knowledge gaps.

To fully realize saliva's potential for biomonitoring, several key actions are needed to improve reliability and accuracy.

This systematic literature review synthesized findings from 104 studies, compiling information on over 500 diet-related contaminants into a FAIR database. The authors highlight challenges like low salivary concentrations and the lack of standardized collection protocols, which contribute to high interindividual variability.