The Minnesota Department of Health will begin seeking out 200 adult participants for its upcoming East Metro Perfluorochemical Biomonitoring Study. The study will measure perfluorochemical, or PFC, levels in 100 adults from households that are served by the Oakdale municipal water supply and 100 adults from households in Lake Elmo and Cottage Grove with private wells contaminated with perfluorooctane sulfonate and/or perfluorooctanoic acid.

PFCs are used to make waterproof fabrics and nonstick cookware. The chemicals leaked into east metro drinking water from 3M-owned waste sites. 3M manufactured the chemical from the 1940s until 2002. While little is known about the chemicals’ effect on the human body, the substance is bioaccumulative, meaning that it is absorbed by the human body at a rate faster than it leaves.

Biomonitoring directly measures chemical levels in the body and is a new endeavor for the health department. State legislation in 2007 mandated the agency implement a statewide environmental health tracking and biomonitoring program.

The results from the East Metro PFC Biomonitoring Study will be used by health officials to make recommendations about public health policy and actions.