Meeting Report: The Use of Newborn Blood Spots in Environmental Research: Opportunities and Challenges

INTRODUCTION: Dried blood spots (DBS) are routinely collected from newborns in the United States using a heel stick. The DBS are screened for inborn errors of metabolism and other disorders. More states are keeping residual spots and making them available for research purposes. DNA extraction from the DBS has been widely applied; however, the development of methods to measure a range of environmental toxicants in DBS has been a more recent goal for laboratory scientists and epidemiologists. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the meeting was to examine the utility of DBS to measure environmental exposures. Speakers and discussants were invited to present data and discuss approaches to measure a range of analytes using DBS. RESULTS: This meeting was held on 20 February 2007 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The audience consisted of epidemiologists, chemists, and staff from state public health programs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health. The meeting included presentations on measurement of flame-retarding chemicals and pesticides, metals, perchlorate, infectious agents, markers of immune status, and protein adducts. Analytical methods included mass spectrometry, atomic absorption, molecular methods, and microfluidic techniques. Significant progress was reported, but important challenges remain. Concerns including storage conditions, sample volume, contamination, and normalization require additional systematic evaluation. In addition, DBS storage and access policies require coordination. CONCLUSIONS: DBS remain a highly valuable resource for clinical, epidemiologic, and toxicologic investigation. The use of DBS to measure environmental exposures shows promise but additional work is necessary before more widespread use is warranted.