The Environmental Health Tracking and Biomonitoring Advisory Panel (Advisory Panel) is convened by the Minnesota Department of Health’s (MDH) Environmental Tracking and Biomonitoring programs three times per year. This panel consists of public health and environmental experts that provide recommendations on MDH’s priorities and activities.

A big topic in the water resources sphere currently is the prevalence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), especially as the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has been working on their PFAS monitoring plan for the state. At the next Advisory Panel meeting, the experts will discuss PFAS in Minnesota and the potential for MDH PFAS biomonitoring efforts in the future. There will be a time for public comments for anyone who would like to provide input.

All meetings of the Advisory Panel are open to the public and the next meeting will be Tuesday, February 8th from 1:00-3:00 pm. The meeting will be held online via Teams. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to lynn.treadwell@state.mn.us and the meeting login information will be emailed to you.

About the Programs:

MN Tracking “brings environmental public health data together, enabling communities, policymakers and public health professionals to explore relationships between environmental exposures and health effects.”

MN Biomonitoring “measures levels of chemicals in Minnesotans and whether exposures differ between groups and over time. This information is used to promote public health actions to reduce chemical exposures.”