Supplier
CDC/NCEH
Years Available
1999-2000 to present
Periodicity
Biennial
Description
The National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals (NRHEEC) is a series of ongoing assessments of the U.S. population's exposure to environmental chemicals by measuring chemicals in a person's blood or urine. The Environmental Health Laboratory within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health (CDC, NCEH) has produced four of these reports since 2001. The Fourth Report includes findings from national samples for 1999-2000, 2001-02, and 2003-04. Updated tables to the report are produced biennially. The 2019 edition provides data through 2015-16.
Selected Content
Findings on the presence of 212 chemicals are reported in the original report. The updated tables for 2015-16 include data for 352 chemicals.
Population Covered
U.S. civilian non-institutionalized population
Methodology
The Environmental Health Laboratory measured chemicals or their metabolites in blood and urine samples collected from a random sample of participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) conducts NHANES, which is a series of surveys on the health status, health-related behaviors, and nutrition of the U.S. population. Since 1999, NHANES has been conducted in continuous two-year survey cycles. For the NRHEEC, an environmental chemical refers to a chemical compound or chemical element present in air, water, food, soil, dust, or other environmental media. Blood and urine levels reflect the amount of the chemical that actually gets into the body from the environment. Results are weighted to account for complexities of the NHANES sample design and possible non-response bias.
Response Rates and Sample Size
Each two-year NHANES sample includes about 2,400 persons.
References
National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, Updated Tables, January 2019.
