How We're Organized

The Division of Laboratory Sciences (DLS) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) National Center for Environmental Health houses specialized laboratories whose activities are organized into six branches. The work of these six branches fits conceptually into two major groups of activities.

One grouping encompasses the work of three branches (Emergency Response and Air Toxicants, Organic Analytical Toxicology, and Inorganic Toxicology and Nutrition) that measure levels of specific environmental chemicals or essential trace elements in human specimens such as people's blood, urine, or saliva. The other grouping encompasses the work of three branches (Molecular Biology, Newborn Screening, and Clinical Chemistry), where laboratorians conduct work related to either genetics, newborn screening, or selected chronic diseases.

The common thread that links the work of branches in the first grouping is biomonitoring, which is the direct measurement of toxicants (chemicals known or suspected to be toxic) in people, rather than in air, water, soil, or food. Having information about which substances actually get into people and at what levels ultimately helps CDC make better decisions about how to protect and improve people's health. Scientists in this grouping also work to prevent iron and vitamin deficiencies.

The three branches in the second grouping concentrate on DLS's decades-long work to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of inherited metabolic diseases, such as phenylketonuria and hypothyroidism, and selected chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hemochromatosis, and cardiovascular disease. Work is both national and international in scope and spans a full range of services, from technical assistance and training to external quality assurance and standardization programs.

All six branches provide services to state and local public health officials, federal agencies, international organizations, academia, and professional organizations to improve laboratory science and increase CDC's ability to address issues related to environmental health and chronic disease. Branches also collaborate on studies and investigations with other CDC units; private and professional groups; and local, state, and federal agencies.

What We Do

Here's a snapshot of the range of work conducted in each branch.

Emergency Response and Air Toxicants

• Develops and maintains state-of-the art analytical methods for identifying chemical agents used during acts of terrorism. Transfers these methods to state public health laboratories.
  
• Conducts research, method development, and analyses related to tobacco products, including the tobacco itself, tobacco smoke and its constituents, and levels of tobacco byproducts in people.
  
• Conducts research and analytical method development on volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a broad spectrum of organic chemicals with different physiochemical and biological properties. VOCs that the laboratory studies include benzene, tetrachloroethene, trihalomethanes, and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline additive. Chronic exposure to high levels of certain VOCs has been associated with cancer, birth defects, and neurologic dysfunction.

Organic Analytical Toxicology

• Conducts research and develops methods for analyzing selected synthetic and naturally occurring organic chemicals and their metabolites or reaction products in blood or urine.
  
• Measures levels in people of dioxins and furans; polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); coplanar PCBs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; alkyl phenols; disinfectants and fumigants; herbicides and fungicides; and organochlorine, organophosphate, and carbamate pesticides.

Inorganic Toxicology and Nutrition

• Conducts research, method development, and analyses related to physiologic levels of micronutrients, such as vitamin A and iodine, and other dietary substances or their metabolites.
  
• Conducts research, develops methods, and performs analyses related to so-called "heavy" metals, such as mercury (total and organic), arsenic (total and speciated), cadmium, lead, cobalt, tungsten, uranium, molybdenum, and antimony.

Molecular Biology

• Establishes large, population-based DNA banks that are used to study gene-environment interactions and genetic risk factors for disease, such as hemochromatosis (iron overload disease) or kidney disease, among people with diabetes.
  
• Develops materials and methods to improve measurements of autoantibodies that are used to predict who is at risk for diabetes and its complications.

Newborn Screening

• Provides essential quality assurance services and proficiency testing for newborn screening programs conducted by laboratories throughout the world.
  
• Develops analytical methods to measure substances in dried blood spots (DBSs) and produces certified DBS quality-control and reference materials for newborn screening tests.

Clinical Chemistry

• Provides standardization support services for cholesterol measurements worldwide. Helps to ensure the quality of about 35 million cholesterol measurements annually in the United States alone. Functions as the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center for reference and Research in Blood Lipids.
  
• Provides statistical consultation services in research, study design, data analysis, reporting, and quality-control development for laboratory investigations and environmental health studies to numerous international, federal, state, and local agencies and organizations.
  
• Develops, evaluates, and standardizes analytical methods for measuring biomarkers used to assess disease status and risk for selected chronic diseases, such as osteoporosis.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) protects people's health and safety by preventing and controlling diseases and injuries; enhances health decisions by providing credible information on critical health issues; and promotes healthy living through strong partnerships with local, national, and international organizations.

NCEH Pub. No. 02-0434
July 2002