![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.jpg)
Biomonitoring of human exposure to environmental contaminants is an important tool in assessing health impacts from chemical hazards. While there are national biomonitoring data available on CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking(EPHT) portal and elsewhere, data providing state-specific estimates of biological burdens of environmental contaminants (other than blood lead ) are scarce. Wisconsin’s EPHT program is undertaking an effort to generate data on levels of select toxicants in urine from previously-collected samples to evaluate the exposures of Wisconsin residents and obtain comparative information to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey(NHANES). These samples provide a unique opportunity for environmental monitoring and exposure assessment in a targeted statewide population.
METHODS:
Source data were derived from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin(SHOW), a quasi-random and representative sample of Wisconsin residents modeled after NHANES. SHOW collects questionnaire data on health and health determinants but also includes an exam component and collects blood and urine samples for long-term storage. Samples from 300 participants were selected to reflect the demographics of the core SHOW sample and reflect a similar statewide distribution to other state estimates for important risk factors including geography and drinking water status. For this initial phase, only urine samples will be analyzed. Urine samples and core survey data will be combined into a de-identified data set by SHOW staff and shared with EPHT staff. Samples were drawn from the existing 2008-2011 biorepository and no prospective data collection was undertaken. Analysis is being run following standard EPA methods by the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene. Selected urine analytes include cadmium, arsenic, mercury, and uranium. Data will be analyzed by age, gender, and congressional district to determine demographic markers of exposure.
RESULTS:
Analytic results will provide Wisconsin-specific data for the biological toxicants in urine listed above. Descriptive analyses will increase understanding of population variation in exposure to nationally-relevant analytes among Wisconsin residents and baseline comparisons for tracking exposures over time.
CONCLUSIONS:
Findings from this project will identify exposures of concern for Wisconsin residents and avenues for intervention to reduce and prevent such exposures in the future. This unique collaboration between a state EPHT program and a statewide health survey program serves as a model for developing valid population-based environmental public health exposure estimates at the state level. It is hoped and expected that this collaboration will continue to generate new and highly-useful environmental public health data and EPHT network content in upcoming years.