The Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource, or HHEAR, is a program funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO). The purpose of HHEAR is to advance understanding of the influence of environment on human health over a lifetime. HHEAR provides researchers access to high-quality, exposure-assessment services including, state of the art laboratory analysis of biological and environmental samples, statistical analysis, and expert consultation on exposure analysis, study design, and data analysis and interpretation. There is no cost to the investigator.
HHEAR measures exposures that cover the breadth of the “exposome,” which encompasses all environmental exposures including chemical, physical, and biological stressors, as well as lifestyle and social environments, from conception through adulthood.
HHEAR is designed to provide researchers access to the full range of environmental exposures assessment services for their funded epidemiological and clinical health studies, including:
The Children’s Health Exposure Analysis Resource (CHEAR) was launched in 2015 to provide access to an infrastructure for adding comprehensive exposure analysis of biological samples to existing studies of children’s health. In 2019, NIEHS will establish a new infrastructure, the Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource (HHEAR) as a continuation of CHEAR. The scope of HHEAR will expand to include environmental exposures and health outcomes at all life stages. In addition, HHEAR will add analyses of environmental samples linked to biological samples to examine the sources of environmental exposures. The goal is to provide the research community access to laboratory and statistical analyses to add or expand the inclusion of environmental exposures in their research, and to make that data publicly available as a means to improve our knowledge of the comprehensive effects of environmental exposures on human health throughout the life course.
The HHEAR Policy on Publications ensures accurate reporting of the design, conduct, and analysis of studies, as well as proper acknowledgement of HHEAR support for reported studies. These guidelines address authorship and acknowledgement and apply to manuscripts and meeting abstracts, posters, and presentations that utilize HHEAR resources or funding.
The HHEAR Human Material Transfer Agreement (H-MTA) is used for transfer of human biological materials with or without accompanying data between an academic or research (provider) institution and a HHEAR Laboratory Hub. It should be reviewed and signed by the provider investigator and authorized official for the provider and by the Lab Hub investigator and the authorized official for the Lab Hub.
This User Guide contains instructions on how to register for an account on myHHEAR.
Free and bound forms of environmental phenols exist, as the parent phenols are metabolized or conjugated prior to excretion in urine.
Exposure to PBDE and other BFR can be measured by quantifying the parent chemicals or their metabolites in plasma, serum or urine, or in environmental samples, such as house dust or wristbands.
After a project is approved for HHEAR services, the PI will need to provide evidence of approval by their institutional IRB to deposit their data into the HHEAR Data Center repository. This approval will indicate that data submission and subsequent data sharing for research purposes are consistent with the informed consent of study participants from whom the data were obtained.
The HHEAR Human Material Transfer Agreement (H-MTA) is used for transfer of human biological materials with or without accompanying data between an academic or research (provider) institution and a HHEAR Laboratory Hub. It should be reviewed and signed by the provider investigator and authorized official for the provider and by the Lab Hub investigator and the authorized official for the Lab Hub.
The HHEAR Policy on Publications ensures accurate reporting of the design, conduct, and analysis of studies, as well as proper acknowledgement of HHEAR support for reported studies. These guidelines address authorship and acknowledgement and apply to manuscripts and meeting abstracts, posters, and presentations that utilize HHEAR resources or funding.
