Biomonitoring of Heavy Metals

To participate in the study, you would: 

• Read and agree to an informed consent explaining details of the study. 

• Fill out a survey on demographics like age, sex, race, employment status, etc. 

• Fill out a survey on potential routes of exposure. This survey asks questions about hobbies, your home, diet, and water sources. 

• Provide a urine sample and a water sample. 

• Receive results from your urine and water sample with an explanation of what values mean and if you can take any steps to reduce exposure to metals. 

Biomonitoring stands for biologic monitoring. It consists of measuring levels of chemicals in people. For this study, we are only measuring metals. The metals can be measured from biological samples like blood or urine. 

Biomonitoring helps scientists understand the burden of certain chemicals on people. This information can direct efforts to reduce metal exposure in specific geographic regions or among groups of people. The end goal of biomonitoring is to understand which metals are elevated and where, so that we can protect people’s health. 

People can be exposed to heavy metals from their diet, drinking water, hobbies, behaviors, and the environment around them. A certain amount of metals in the body is expected, but elevated levels of metals can be harmful to our health. For more information on each metal, including how you can be exposed, potential health risks, and how to limit exposure, please see the resources section below.