Environmental public health professionals have been able to link exposures to some environmental hazards with specific diseases.  The link between exposure to asbestos and lung cancer and the link between exposure to lead and decreased mental function in children are but two examples.  Many states are now developing systems to track and integrate information on environmental hazards, human exposure to them, and possible health effects.  Moreover, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working to create an integrated national system.  The goal of environmental public health tracking is to help protect communities by providing information to federal, state and local agencies about how to plan public health responses to diseases related to the environment.  Tracking should help advance research on possible linkages between environmental hazards and disease.  And agencies will be able to monitor and distribute information to the public about environmental hazards and disease trends.

The field of environmental public health also encompasses housing-related hazards and deficiencies that can exacerbate respiratory illnesses and cause injuries.  States are working with the CDC's Healthy Homes Initiative to address unhealthy and unsafe housing through surveillance, research and prevention programs. 

Many states are also focusing on community design and its impact on opportunities for physical activity as well as mental and respiratory health. 

Finally, with scientific understanding of global climate change emerging, state governments have begun to look at ways to prepare for the potential health risks that may result including heat stress, infectious diseases and food and water shortages.

States Seek Tools to Improve Local Planning and Zoning and Promote Public Health

A number of states in recent years have sought to bring order to inconsistent local land use decision-making processes by encouraging the use of health impact assessments (HIAs).  These assessments help planning groups judge the potential effects of policies, programs or projects on the health of a population.  States are also providing incentives to encourage "smart growth," a set of land use and transportation principles that often include mixed land use, decreased automobile dependence, increased availability of transportation alternatives, increased density and preservation of green spaces.  Learn more in this August 2007 State News article.

Community Health Resources

Learn more about building environment to improve health and environmental justice initiatives in CDC's Community Health Resources, including  fact sheets,  state and local program contacts, communication materials and state data.

There's more about the CDC's National Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) Program in recent articles from CSG publications:

• "The Impact of Asthma on Vulnerable Populations"
• "Hispanic Communities Face Unique Risks from Their Environment"
• "Protecting the Public's Health from Environmental Hazards"
• "Environmental Public Health Tracking"

The objective of the 2006 National Tracking Conference was to showcase the implementation phase of the Tracking Network. Below are three presentations from the conference that deal with policy issues for environmental public health tracking:

Policy and Tracking: Understanding the Climate

• Legal Issues and Environmental Public Health Tracking: Lessons from Montana (.pdf)
• Overview of Data Access and Privacy Policies Relevant to the Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (.pdf)
• Oregon's View of Legal Issues and Challenges in EPHT Implementation (.pdf)

Learn more about the linkages between the environment and health from the presentations below by health experts during the Healthy States Forum in Boston, Aug. 24-26, 2006:

Links Between the Environment and Health

• "Environmental Public Health Tracking: Data to Action", Judith R. Qualters, branch chief, CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking Branch
• "Environmental Public Health Tracking in Massachusetts", Suzanne K. Condon, associate commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Linking the Environment with Public Health: Session on Environmental Public Health Tracking

During CSG's 2005 Annual Meeting, experts provided an update on national, state and local efforts to build the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network.  They also discussed how legislators and others can use information from the network as a foundation for decision-making to protect communities from environmental hazards to improve health.  You can view presentations and resources from the session below:
 
Health Tracking Overview, presented by Kyle Kinner, JD, MPA, Physicians for Social Responsibility
 
Healthy Informed Communities Through Environmental Public Health Tracking, presented by Anyana Banerjee, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
 
Environmental Public Health Tracking: Lessons Learned in New York City, presented by Daniel Kass, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene - Click here to find out more about the New York City Tracking program.

NY Assembly Bill 969A, sponsored by Assemblymember David Koon, provides for the development of an environmental health tracking system within the department of health with cooperation from other agencies.