Department of Health and Human Services September 3, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is a program of periodic surveys conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Examination surveys conducted since 1960 by NCHS have provided national estimates of the health and nutritional status of the U.S. civilian non-institutionalized population. To add to the extensive amount of information collected for the purpose of describing the health of the population, DNA specimens were collected during three NHANES surveys. DNA is available in the form of crude lysates of cell lines derived from approximately 7,157 participants enrolled in Phase II of NHANES III (1991-1994). In addition, DNA purified from whole blood is also available from approximately 7,900 participants enrolled in the NHANES 1999-2002 and 4,621 participants enrolled in NHANES 2007- 2008. All specimens (NHANES III, NHANES 1999-2002 and NHANES 2007-2008) were sent to the Division of Laboratory Sciences (DLS) at the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) for processing. DNA samples from these specimens are being made available to the research community for genetic analyses.