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Biomonitoring helps us understand 
the chemicals in our environment

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and how they affect our health.

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It’s the most reliable way to 
find out what chemicals,

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and how much of those chemicals, 
we have in our bodies.

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And public health officials use
that information to make

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important decisions that affect our health.

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Biomonitoring shapes our public health 
policies and nutrition guidelines.

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It also helps us respond to 
chemical-related emergencies

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faster and more effectively.

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Biomonitoring is a useful tool, 
but like any tool,

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it’s important to understand 
its limitations and use it responsibly.

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Biomonitoring can only tell us 
whether someone has chemicals in their body.

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It can’t predict whether that 
person will have health problems in the future.

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Just because people have a chemical 
in their blood or urine does not mean

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that the chemical causes health problems.

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And some chemicals, like radon, 
may be safe in small amounts,

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but cause health problems in larger amounts.

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There are some chemicals, like lead, 
that we know cause health problems.

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But for most chemicals, 
we still have questions about

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exposure levels that may cause health problems.

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That’s why CDC scientists are 
doing research that can help us

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to learn more about the relationship 
between chemical exposure and health problems. 

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This research will help us understand 
which chemicals may cause health problems

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and which chemicals don’t, 
so we can use biomonitoring data more

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effectively in the future.

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If you’d like to learn more about biomonitoring, 
take a look at the resources on this page.