Health

Minn. To Test Humans For Contaminants

ST. PAUL (AP) ― Scientists at the Minnesota Department of Health are preparing to go a step beyond measuring toxins in the environment -- they're looking for the chemicals in human bodies.

The agency is preparing $2 million worth of biomonitoring studies that will test human subjects for arsenic, mercury and industrial chemicals once manufactured by 3M Co. They aim to identify the substances or their byproducts in human hair, blood, urine or other body tissues or fluids.

The first study, set to begin in mid-2008, will measure arsenic levels in 100 children near a contaminated site in south Minneapolis. Another study will test 200 adults for the 3M chemicals, which have turned up in southeastern Twin Cities groundwater and urban fish.

Minnesota lawmakers approved the money for the research last session.

Biomonitoring is not without controversy. Projects in other states have prompted debate about privacy issues and use of the data. Two years ago, the federal Environmental Protection Agency called off a Florida biomonitoring study of pesticides and household chemicals in infants and children over concerns about the industry's financial role and the ethics of paying poor families to participate.

Still, experts say it is a growing area of science.

A 2006 report from the National Research Council credited human blood tests for lead and a smoking-related chemical with separately helping to prompt bans on leaded gasoline and smoking. California became the first state to pass a statewide biomonitoring program in 2006.

"It's obvious to me that we're going to do more and more of this personalized medicine and risk analysis," said John Adgate, associate professor of environmental health science at the University of Minnesota. "It has great promise but there's a lot of potential bumps in the road."

One local medical privacy advocate raised concerns about identifying chemical exposure in humans.

"If you come out with a study and 80 percent of children have some arsenic levels, that could incite the public to unnecessary concern and could push a policy agenda that may limit progress in this country," said Twila Brase, who heads Citizens' Council on Health Care in St. Paul.

State health researchers said their studies must be approved by a 13-member scientific advisory council that includes scientists from companies, environmental groups and governmental agencies. Any federal study with human subjects must be reviewed by experts on an institutional review board.

Both panels must ensure that studies follow privacy laws, said John Linc Stine, environmental health division director at the Minnesota Department of Health. He said researchers usually separate data from identifying information on individuals as quickly as possible after participants get their test results.

Participants must sign consent forms that spell out why and how the data are collected, how the information will be used and what happens to the human samples.

Still, detecting the chemicals doesn't mean researchers can always explain the implications for human health, said Adgate, who sits on the scientific advisory council for the Minnesota biomonitoring studies.

"Our ability to explain what those very low levels mean has not kept up with our ability to measure things," he said.

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