Environmental Health

Built and Synthetic Environment

Strengthening environmental health capacity includes addressing land use and community design, harmful chemical exposure, and environmental threats in built-up areas. Read more »

Data Partnerships to Improve Health

Increased adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and health information exchanges (HIEs) as a result of federal initiatives such as the Affordable Care Act, HITECH Act, and Meaningful Use (MU) have underscored the need to develop better strategies for using data in health agencies, as well as develop and support an informatics workforce that can understand and meet these increased needs. ASTHO’s Data Partnerships to Improve Health project aims to further environmental health (EH) involvement in EHRs, MU, and other national initiatives which impact the integration, implementation, and capacity around EH data exchange efforts and address electronic health data, health data systems, and surveillance systems, as they relate to EH. Read more »

Food Safety

Ensuring a safe food supply is fundamental to public health. Each year 48 million people are sickened by consuming contaminated food, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die. Read more »

Natural Environment

ASTHO helps states combat public health threats in the natural environment that include vector-borne and zoonotic diseases, as well as environmental health threats arising from natural disasters and other emergencies. Read more »

Tracking Environmental Health Hazards

This program supports environmental health programs within state and territorial health agencies, including data and surveillance, connectivity, workforce, performance and marketing. Read more »

Tribal Environmental Health

Approximately 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives belong to 565 federally recognized tribes in 35 states. Tribal populations often experience reduced longevity, higher infant mortality and other adverse health outcomes, many of which may be associated with environmental exposures. ASTHO plans on engaging three geographically diverse tribes and their partners in (a) identifying priority health issues related to environmental exposures on tribal lands, and (b) developing environmental health assessments and work plans for addressing environmental health priorities impacting tribal communities.
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Water Safety

ASTHO supports state and territorial health agencies as they confront water-related issues caused by chemical and biological contaminants, new and emerging contaminants resistant to current treatment methods, deteriorating infrastructures, the threat of intentional contamination, and the effects of climate change. Read more »

State Environmental Health Directors

The State Environmental Health Directors (SEHD) are an informal peer group supported by ASTHO with the goal of strengthening ties among states and partners and sharing best practices. Read more »

Environmental Health Programs and Services Portal

This dashboard presents comprehensive information about the location of various environmental health services, programs, and activities provided by state and territorial health agencies. Read more »

Environmental Health Success Stories

ASTHO’s Environmental Health team collects and disseminates stories that highlight promising and useful practices and implementation strategies developed by state and territorial health agencies. 

• Florida Protects Natural Springs with Passive Onsite Sewage Systems - The Florida Department of Health, in collaboration with other Florida state and local agencies, researchers, and industry partners, led an effort to implement innovative onsite nitrogen reduction systems to protect Florida groundwater.
• Wisconsin Creates Local Adaptation Strategies for Weather-Related Emergencies - The Wisconsin Department of Health Services created 9 subject-specific toolkits on climate and health to help local jurisdictions plan for extreme weather events.
  
• Ensuring Drinking Water Safety Through the Massachusetts Assistance Program for Lead in School Drinking Water - The Massachusetts Assistance Program for Lead in School Drinking Water protects children from harmful lead exposures in drinking water thanks to collaboration across various state agencies, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.
  
• Using Medicaid Reimbursement for Childhood Lead Poisoning Case Management and Inspection in Rhode Island - The Rhode Island Department of Health’s Center for Healthy Homes and Environment program requested a policy change following changes to CDC’s blood lead level standards to secure Medicaid coverage for lead poisoning prevention for children under six.
  
• Minnesota and Wisconsin Collaborate to Curb Occupational Lead Exposure Among Shipyard Workers - Collaboration between two state health agencies to address elevated blood lead levels among shipyard workers in northern Wisconsin highlights the importance of interagency collaboration, information sharing, and the need for strong occupational health surveillance systems.