Colorado gets $225,000 from CDC to measure lead, PFAS exposure

Colorado will receive $225,000 each of the next three years to monitor exposure to lead in rural residents and to “forever chemicals” in people who encounter them at work.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made grants to Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah for “biomonitoring,” which refers to testing blood or other bodily fluids for chemical contamination. The grants will allow them to test the amount of lead and other heavy metals in rural residents’ blood, while testing for per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) will focus on firefighters and other people in jobs where they frequently use the chemicals.