State Biomonitoring Grants

New Jersey Department of Health (NJDH)

Public Health and Environmental Laboratories (PHEL)

Both the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDH) and the Public Health and Environmental Laboratories (PHEL) created the New Jersey Biomonitoring Program. The purpose of the program is to increase the capacity and capability to assess exposure to environmental chemicals in New Jersey’s residents.

The program’s goals are to conduct studies in both targeted and larger statewide populations. Therefore, NJDH is implementing the following studies:

• The Environmental Contaminant Levels in Blood and Urine Specimens from New Jersey Clinical Laboratories and Blood Banks, which collects samples representative of the state population through strategic partnerships to assess exposure to per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBS), and metals
• Assessing Perfluorononanoic Acid (PFNA) Body Burdens Following Drinking Water Intervention, which will evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to reduce exposure to PFNA in drinking water by monitoring participants’ exposure over a three-year period
• Assessing Environmental Exposure of Expecting Women in New Jersey to Toxic Metals, PCBs, and PFAS, which will assess pregnant women’s exposure to environmental contaminants and offer intervention assistance

CDC’s Division of Laboratory Sciences awarded NJDH and PHEL $794,650 in fiscal year 2017 for the biomonitoring program.

Contacts

Bahman Parsa, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Phone: 609-530-2820
Bahman.parsa@doh.nj.gov

Kristin Dortch, MS
CDC Project Officer
770-488-0346
KDortch@cdc.gov