At a glance
Scientists at CDC determine which environmental chemicals people have been exposed to by measuring how much of those chemicals actually get into people's bodies. This is called biomonitoring. The Tracking Network hosts biomonitoring data from the "National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals."
We Track That
Most biomonitoring involves measuring the amount of a chemical or its breakdown product (metabolite) contained in a sample of a person's blood or urine. The amount of the chemical or metabolite found depends on the amount of the chemical that has entered the body.
We know that some environmental chemicals cause disease or illness in people. However, for most chemicals, we do not know if low level exposures affect our health. Finding an environmental chemical in a person's blood or urine does not mean that it causes health effects or disease.
Biomonitoring data on the Tracking Network come from CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) as presented in CDC's National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals.
Types of Data
This indicator shows concentrations of different environmental chemicals in urine or blood. These data tell you what levels of those environmental chemicals are found in samples from people who are typical examples of the U.S. population. These data are available for the United States as a whole, not by county, state, or region.
- Disinfection By-products
- Metals and Metalloids
- Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS)
- Personal Care and Consumer Products Metabolites
- Pesticide Metabolites
- Phthalate Metabolites
- Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
- Tobacco Smoke
- Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and VOC Metabolites
These biomonitoring data do not provide the following.
- Data to estimate exposure by state, city, or other specific area
- Data about specific exposure sources (e.g., hazardous chemical site)
- Data about specific pathways of exposure (e.g., breathing, eating)
- Information about specific products or environments
- Regulatory guidelines or recommendations
- Information about health effects related to chemical exposures
Access the Data
Use the Data Explorer to create custom maps, tables, and charts.
View data in simple Quick Reports.
Get machine-readable data from the Application Program Interface (API).
Data in Action
Scientists, doctors, and health officials can use biomonitoring data in different ways.
- Finding out what chemicals people are exposed to
- Measuring how common these exposures are in groups of people
- Determining exposure levels among sensitive groups (e.g., children)
- Helping prevent or reduce exposure to some environmental chemicals
- Evaluating the success of efforts to prevent or reduce exposures