Lab Matters Fall 2017 | Page 17

from the bench

I love biomonitoring . It ’ s a wonderful way for the public health lab and epidemiology to work together in tackling real-world problems .”

— Jason Mihalic , Arizona Department of Health Services

“ The consortium is a great way to consolidate resources ,” Petty said . “ Ultimately , there ’ s so much information these studies can provide in the future .”

To date , Chaudhuri said the consortium has tested more than 900 urine samples and about 500 water samples . Labs work closely with their state colleagues in epidemiology and environmental health — or in Utah and New Mexico , with CDC-funded participants in the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program — in determining where in the states to focus their biomonitoring efforts and what kind of data gaps the consortium can help fill . Chaudhuri added that the consortium leverages its unique work to help particularly vulnerable communities reduce their risk of harmful exposure . For example , because well water often goes unregulated , 4CSBC can help alert residents to potential contaminants , while collecting the data that allow health officials to measure changes in environmental risk .

4CSBC teams regularly share data with each other and evaluate their progress during monthly phone calls and at two face-to-face meetings each year .

“ We couldn ’ t have stretched ( the CDC biomonitoring funds ) across four states if wasn ’ t for our collaborations ,” Chaudhuri said . “ We get so much in-kind support from our environmental health and tracking partners — who else can better appreciate the need for biomonitoring data ?”

On the ground , the biomonitoring collaborative not only hopes to offer new insights , but to boost capacity for more traditional public health responsibilities , such as safeguarding drinking water quality . For example , in New Mexico , about 20 percent of residents depend on drinking water sources — like private wells — that aren ’ t regulated by either federal or state oversight . At the same time , said Heidi Krapfl , MS , chief of the New Mexico Department of Health ’ s

Environmental Health Epidemiology Bureau , the state ’ s geology means private well water drinkers may be at heightened risk of harmful arsenic and uranium exposures . Urine uranium concentrations above a certain threshold are already a notifiable condition in New Mexico .

To better understand that risk , New Mexico ’ s 4CSBC team partners closely with the state ’ s environmental health tracking program to collect and analyze water samples . To date , according to Barbara Toth , PhD , MS , epidemiologist supervisor at the New Mexico Department of Health , the biomonitoring effort in New Mexico has collected about 150 household water samples for heavy metal testing and just more than 200 urine samples for heavy metal and phthalate testing .

“ Tracking is about exposure and health outcomes ,” Toth said , “ and biomonitoring is the method by which we understand that exposure .”

Krapfl added : “ Those three legs of the stool — tracking , biomonitoring and private well water testing — provide a strong foundation for supporting public health actions in the state . You really need all three .”

One of the 4CSBC ’ s main projects — the San Luis Valley Children ’ s Study — is focused on a specific community in Colorado . According to Petty , the 4CSBC lead in Colorado , the area has a particularly shallow water table and has a history of agricultural use . To get a clearer picture of the risk , 4SCBC is partnering with a researcher from the University of Colorado who conducts the field work and collects samples , while the Colorado public health lab does the testing . To date , Petty said the lab has tested more than 200 urine samples and 100 water samples .

Well water quality is a priority issue in Arizona too , according to Jason Mihalic , chief of the Chemistry Office at the Arizona Department of Health Services and the state ’ s principal 4CSBC investigator . Any Arizona resident who uses well water can take part in the biomonitoring effort . But to sweeten the deal — and attract as many participants as possible — the Arizona lab offers a free water analysis for 19 metals using an EPA-approved method . The Arizona 4CSBC effort is also partnering with existing well water programs at the University of Arizona to spread word about the biomonitoring effort .

For many of the compounds included in 4CSBC testing — such as pyrethroid insecticides and phthalates — biomonitoring will produce the first regional baseline data available , Mihalic noted .

And more precise data means public health can be even more effective in protecting communities against potentially harmful exposures .

“ I love biomonitoring ,” Mihalic said . “ It ’ s a wonderful way for the public health lab and epidemiology to work together in tackling real-world problems .” ■

DIGITAL EXTRA : Read more about the Four Corners States Biomonitoring Consortium .