In south Minneapolis, 100 children are providing urine samples to be tested for arsenic from a long-abandoned pesticide storage site. In Oakdale, Lake Elmo and Cottage Grove, 200 adults are signing up to have blood drawn and analyzed for traces of three former 3M chemicals found in their drinking water.
The hunt for pollution is getting a lot more personal.
Scientists have traditionally measured contaminants in air, water, soil or food, and then estimated whether people were exposed to unhealthy levels. But now Minnesota and a handful of other states are increasingly using a technique called biomonitoring to measure chemicals directly in people: their blood, urine, hair and other body tissues and fluids. "It answers the question: Is it in us?" said Jean Johnson, environmental epidemiologist at the Minnesota Department of Health. She directs the state's biomonitoring program, which includes four pilot projects.
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