Minnesota has won a $4 million federal grant to expand biometric testing of children for exposure to chemical and environmental health hazards.

The five-year grant will allow the state Department of Health to conduct voluntary testing statewide, rather than just in individual communities with known toxins in their air or drinking water, health officials said Monday.

"As we learn more about potential health impacts of chemicals in our environment, it's important to have a deeper understanding of who may be exposed to what, and at what levels," said state Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm.

Biometric testing of volunteers' blood and urine samples has already helped the state to uncover public health problems such as an increase in mercury and lead in immigrant women who used certain skin-lightening creams. Testing has also helped the state monitor the health of children in east metro communities near the 3M Co., which has been blamed for contaminating area water supplies with a class of manufacturing chemicals known as PFAS.

Broader testing will allow the state to monitor for chemical exposure levels over time, and to perhaps find communities with previously unknown hazards, said Jessica Nelson, an epidemiologist and program manager for the department's biomonitoring program. "What this broader approach allows us to do is see if there are some groups that are more at risk [of chemical exposure] and that we may not know about," Nelson said.

Testing also will expand beyond agricultural pesticides and harmful metals in drinking water to include chemicals known as phthalates, which have been found in consumer products and toys, and flame retardants used as coatings on toys and furniture.

Testing will occur in the Twin Cities and in select public health regions in the state over the next five years. The state estimates it will gain 2,500 volunteers — children ages 3 to 6 who give urine samples with their parents' consent.

Nelson said testing will focus on children because of concerns about how chemical exposure harms their growth and development.

The state used a similar approach for its Healthy Rural and Urban Kids Project, which looked for signs of chemical exposure in children in north Minneapolis and north-central Minnesota. The two groups were targeted because of concerns about air pollution in their communities. Results from that testing project will be released this fall.

Nelson stressed that personal information on volunteers and data from urine samples will remain confidential. State officials plan to notify families, though, if their children's test results suggest an imminent health problem.

Jeremy Olson • 612-673-7744