Newborn Biomonitoring Methods
MN Biomonitoring is conducting studies to find the best way to measure mercury in newborns. These studies are comparing mercury levels in different types of biological samples – cord blood, dried newborn blood spots and mother’s blood. All studies are conducted with informed consent from the mothers. The results will provide important information for measuring chemicals in newborns from different Minnesota communities.
About the Studies
- Pregnancy and Newborns Exposure Study: A collaboration with the University of Minnesota’s The Infant Development and Environment Study (TIDES). This study is comparing mercury concentrations in paired bloodspots and cord blood from 48 Twin Cities women and infants. The study is also measuring lead and cadmium in these newborns. Results will help determine whether testing newborn bloodspots is a reliable way to measure mercury in newborns.
- Riverside Newborn Mercury Study: A collaboration with the University of Minnesota’s Riverside Birth Study. This study is measuring mercury in newborn bloodspots from 160 newborns born to Twin Cities women. Results will show mercury levels in newborns from a large and diverse urban area.
- National Children’s Study Newborn Mercury Validation: A collaboration with the National Children’s Study (NCS). This study is measuring mercury in matched cord blood and newborn bloodspots from 83 newborns, and maternal blood samples from 49 of these mothers. It includes NCS participants from Yellow Medicine, Pipestone and Lincoln Counties, Minnesota and Brookings, South Dakota. Results will compare mercury in different types of biological samples and will show mercury levels in several rural Minnesota communities.
Results Available Soon
The MDH Public Health Laboratory is conducting all laboratory analyses. We will post results here when they are available.
For questions or more information, contact Minnesota Biomonitoring: Chemicals in people.