New York State Department of Health to Test Environmental Chemical Levels in Long Island Adults as Part of Biomonitoring NY Project

ALBANY, N.Y. (October 7, 2021) – The New York State Department of Health today announced that adults across Long Island are being invited to take part in the Department's Biomonitoring NY Project. The recruitment on Long Island is the first phase of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded five-year effort. The Department plans to randomly recruit up to 2,000 participants over the course of the full project. Additional recruitment efforts will occur from the Mid-Hudson and Capital District Areas in 2022, Northern New York and the Southern Tier in 2023, and the Finger Lakes and Western New York in 2024.

"The Department's Biomonitoring NY Project is an important data collection exercise that will inform future scientific publications, reports and presentations on the range of environmental chemicals in people's bodies." said New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker. "Collecting current and accurate baseline data on levels of environmental chemicals in adults is vital for meaningful epidemiological research."

This invitation-only effort seeks to recruit 500 eligible Long Islanders aged 20 and older. Eligible adults who agree to participate will have measurements taken of approximately 40 environmental chemicals in their blood and urine. Results from this project will provide the latest information about the range of chemicals in New Yorkers' bodies. In return, confidential test results will be provided to participants at no cost to them.

The Department intends to protect all personal information and publish a dataset at the end of the five-year project along with group-level results in scientific publications, reports and presentations. These reports will protect participant confidentiality and will be published in a way so that participants cannot be identified.

New York State is one of six states that received funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct biomonitoring projects.

Learn more about the Biomonitoring NY Project at www.health.ny.gov/BiomonitoringNY.