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Welcome! to News from Minnesota Biomonitoring: Chemicals in people newsletter, sent three times a year to keep you up-to-date on our program and advisory panel activities. Please share and encourage interested colleagues to?subscribe.
Healthy Kids Minnesota update
Healthy Kids Minnesota, our new statewide biomonitoring program measuring exposures to potentially harmful chemicals in children, has wrapped up recruitment for 2021 in Minneapolis and Southeast Minnesota.
Thanks to the amazing work of our partners at Minneapolis Public Schools, Fillmore County Public Health, Olmsted County Public Health, and Rochester Public Schools, 454 kids were recruited with a urine sample collected. Kids were recruited at their Early Childhood Screening appointments and families gave consent for their child to participate.
For 2022, Healthy Kids Minnesota is moving to two new regions: St. Paul and Northeast Minnesota. We are developing partnerships with local public health, school districts, and tribal nations in those areas. We plan to begin recruitment of kids in fall 2022.
Sharing results with families, enhanced online information available
Minnesota Biomonitoring is preparing to send the first round of test results to the families of children who participated in Healthy Kids Minnesota 2021. Families will receive their child?s individual results for metals and an information sheet in the mail. The information will have background on the chemicals and common ways to reduce exposures. In-depth?information about each chemical we measured will be online at Healthy Kids Minnesota Chemical Information and Resources.
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Legislative Session: MDH Environmental Health Tracking and Biomonitoring supervisor Jessie Carr (Shmool), Dr.PH., gave a short overview of the recent legislative session.
Life and Breath report: MDH Tracking Program epidemiologist Kathy Raleigh, Ph.D., presented results from the recent MDH/MPCA Life and Breath report, as well as broader initiative goals and opportunities.
Healthy Kids Minnesota 2021 participation and lessons learned: MDH Biomonitoring Program epidemiologist Sheila Amenumey, Ph.D., presented information on recruitment outcomes from Healthy Kids Minnesota 2021. She also shared lessons learned about program implementation as we look ahead to Healthy Kids Minnesota 2022.
Follow-up on elevated cases of arsenic, manganese, and mercury: MDH Biomonitoring program director Jessica Nelson, Ph.D., gave a summary of completed follow-up with Healthy Kids Minnesota 2021 families whose kids had elevated urine levels of arsenic, manganese, and mercury. She discussed plans to return results to all families and lessons learned in this area.
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