1
00:00:05,00 --> 00:00:07,00
We encounter hundreds of 
chemicals every day:

2
00:00:08,00 --> 00:00:11,00
in our food, the air, 
water, soil, dust, and 

3
00:00:12,00 --> 00:00:15,00
the products we use.

4
00:00:15,00 --> 00:00:17,00
While many chemicals are 
considered harmless, 

5
00:00:17,00 --> 00:00:19,00
some may be harmful
to our health.

6
00:00:19,00 --> 00:00:22,00
CDC’s Environmental Health Laboratory
studies the chemicals in

7
00:00:22,00 --> 00:00:26,00
our environment to help us 
find out which ones may be harmful. 

8
00:00:27,00 --> 00:00:30,00
For more than 30 years, 
CDC scientists have tracked 

9
00:00:30,00 --> 00:00:33,00
what chemicals people are 
exposed to and how much 

10
00:00:33,00 --> 00:00:35,00
of those chemicals get 
into their bodies.

11
00:00:35,00 --> 00:00:38,00
This type of scientific study 
is called biomonitoring.

12
00:00:39,00 --> 00:00:42,00
The information we learn 
from biomonitoring helps scientists

13
00:00:42,00 --> 00:00:46,00
plan and conduct research 
about the chemicals in our environment, 

14
00:00:46,00 --> 00:00:48,00
and how those chemicals 
might affect our health.

15
00:00:48,00 --> 00:00:50,00
And public health officials 
use biomonitoring results

15
00:00:50,00 --> 00:00:54,00
to make important decisions, 
like developing better policies,

16
00:00:54,00 --> 00:00:57,00
programs, and guidelines 
to protect our health.

17
00:00:58,00 --> 00:01:03,00
Biomonitoring also helps us assess 
the nutrition status of the U.S. population.

18
00:01:03,00 --> 00:01:06,00
Through biomonitoring, 
we can find out if Americans are getting 

19
00:01:06,00 --> 00:01:10,00
too little, too much, 
or the right amount of key nutrients.

20
00:01:11,00 --> 00:01:14,00
Today, the Biomonitoring Program 
can reliably measure more than 

21
00:01:14,00 --> 00:01:18,00
300 chemicals and 
nearly 60 nutrition indicators in people.

22
00:01:18,00 --> 00:01:21,00
Our scientists use methods 
that can measure even

23
00:01:20,00 --> 00:01:23,00
very low levels of these chemicals 
in small amounts of

24
00:01:23,00 --> 00:01:26,00
people’s blood and urine.

25
00:01:27,00 --> 00:01:30,00
The Biomonitoring Program works 
together with several other organizations,

26
00:01:30,00 --> 00:01:33,00
including state and local health departments.

27
00:01:34,00 --> 00:01:37,00
If there’s an environmental emergency 
in your state,

28
00:01:37,00 --> 00:01:40,00
like a chemical spill, 
the Biomonitoring Program can provide 

29
00:01:40,00 --> 00:01:44,00
important data to your state’s health department 
to help state officials understand

30
00:01:44,00 --> 00:01:47,00
who may have been exposed to 
harmful substances.

31
00:01:48,00 --> 00:01:51,00
In addition to helping in 
emergency situations,

32
00:01:51,00 --> 00:01:54,00
the Biomonitoring Program
works with other researchers

33
00:01:54,00 --> 00:01:59,00
and state health departments 
to conduct 60 to 70 exposure studies each year.

34
00:01:59,00 --> 00:02:03,00
These studies help us learn about the chemicals 
in a specific area or community and

35
00:02:03,00 --> 00:02:06,00
how they might affect residents’ health.

36
00:02:07,00 --> 00:02:11,00
CDC’s Biomonitoring Program also provides 
funding and support for state public health 

37
00:02:11,00 --> 00:02:13,00
laboratories to do their own research 
through the

38
00:02:13,00 --> 00:02:16,00
State Biomonitoring Cooperative Agreement.

39
00:02:16,00 --> 00:02:18,00
States can use the funding 
to train laboratory staff,

40
00:02:18,00 --> 00:02:23,00
provide technical support, 
and conduct site visits to the laboratories.

41
00:02:24,00 --> 00:02:28,00
And finally, the Biomonitoring Program 
is a part of the National Biomonitoring Network,

42
00:02:28,00 --> 00:02:34,00
a network of regional, state, and local labs 
dedicated to high-quality biomonitoring research.