From a single strand of hair, Traced maps day-by-day exposure to 15 elements over 30 days, spanning essential nutrients and toxic elements, on LinusBio’s proprietary platform.
NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#EnvironmentalHealth—LinusBio, a leader in exposomic sequencing and precision health, today launched Traced™ Environmental Exposure Test, a direct-to-consumer wellness product that measures essential, non-essential, and toxic elements in a hair sample over a period of 30 days. Developed from research at Mount Sinai and built on LinusBio’s proprietary platform, the test is now available to consumers across the United States (except New York).
Traced measures 15 elements, including essential nutrients like zinc, calcium, and magnesium, and toxic elements like lead, arsenic, cadmium, and aluminum. Unlike standard blood and urine tests, which capture a single point in time, Traced reveals exposure across about 30 days, helping people connect changes in their levels to everyday routines, travel, and environment. Each report also includes tailored guidance that points to common, everyday sources of the elements measured, drawing on publicly available references from organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help people make informed lifestyle choices.
“You can’t change your genes, but you can change your environment,” said Dr. Manish Arora, an environmental epidemiologist and exposure biologist who is Founder and CEO of LinusBio.
“We’re surrounded by environmental exposures, yet most of us measure almost none of them. We track the temperature on a thermostat and smoke with a fire alarm, but what about everything else? For most people, the annual physical looks at a very limited blood panel and does not consider exposure to surprisingly common toxins such as lead and arsenic. Traced reads a single strand of hair to give people a molecular movie of their exposure over time, no clinic visit, no needles, no blood draw. Everyone deserves to understand their environment, because that’s something you can take charge of.”
Traced uses LinusBio’s proprietary platform, combining advanced robotics, laser ablation, and mass spectrometry to identify exposure patterns over time. Traced provides consumers with a 30-day history of all measured exposures. Levels are measured relative to LinusBio’s proprietary global reference database. It is not a measure of health or a diagnosis of any condition; it’s meant to inform consumers and empower them to take steps to mitigate their exposure.
Supporting wildfire-affected communities in CA
The value of this kind of insight became clear through LinusBio’s work with communities affected by the Eaton and Palisades wildfires. The company met with neighborhood groups of residents with damaged standing homes where houses were left physically standing but their interiors and surroundings were damaged or destroyed by heat, smoke and fire residue, which can carry heavy metals and other elements into insulation, walls, floors, ceilings, roofs, HVAC and electrical systems, furnishings and belongings. An early group of residents purchased Traced testing to measure their elemental exposure over time, identify patterns in their results, and make informed choices about their environment.
“Large-scale urban wildfires are a relatively new phenomenon, and the residential damage is not familiar to most people,” said Elissa Ashwood, fire survivor and community leader of Palisades Standing Homes. “When the smoke cleared, the damage wasn’t only what we could see. This made restoration and moving back in high-stakes decisions for families. Data from Traced has helped residents see patterns in exposure reported from their hair samples and has provided important information as they evaluate environmental concerns following the fires.”
“Prolonged exposure to certain elements is associated with a host of overlapping health conditions,” said Arora. “Our goal is to give consumers access to a clearer picture of exposure risk so they can take action to make informed decisions about their environment and lifestyle.”
Traced will retail for $299 in the U.S., with discounts available for family purchases and subscription-based orders. The Traced test is informational only and not to be used for medical advice. To order Traced and for more information, please visit www.traced.life
ABOUT LINUS BIO:
LinusBio pioneers exposomic sequencing to transform how we understand, diagnose, and treat disease. By decoding the dynamic interplay between genetics and the environment, LinusBio provides powerful insights to advance precision medicine. Its debut product, ClearStrand™ ASD, is a Laboratory Developed Test (LDT) performed in a CLIA-certified laboratory. The core technology received Breakthrough Device Designation from the FDA, and is designed to help rule out autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children 1 month and up to 10 years of age. The company’s platform has already been applied to neurodevelopmental disorders, oncology, and chronic disease research, and is advancing the discovery of biomarkers for ALS and other conditions.
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