The Clinical Chemistry Branch in the Division of Laboratory Sciences (DLS) at the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) 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 and functions as the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center for Reference and Research in Blood Lipids.
As an acknowledged reference laboratory for glycated hemoglobin A1c measurements, the Branch supports the efforts of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) to standardize glycated hemoglobin A1c, and it provides support to the National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program (NGSP). These activities will improve A1c measurements nationally and internationally. The Branch further develops methods and procedures that help harmonize the measurement of blood glucose performed with hand-held blood glucose monitors by people with diabetes. In addition, researchers develop, evaluate, and standardize analytical methods for measuring biomarkers used to assess disease status and risk for selected chronic diseases such as osteoporosis.
As part of DLS biomonitoring activities, researchers in this Branch develop methods to assess people's exposure to chemicals such as acrylamide by measuring protein-adducts formed by these chemicals in people. They also develop methods to measure antibiotics in people to make reliable data available on the consumption by and exposure to antibiotics in the U.S. population.
The Branch also 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.
DLS Resources
