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L.
Stallones, J.R. Nuckols and Z. Feng
NIOSH Education and Information Division
The
purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a
model surveillance system based on birth certificates which
makes use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) database.
Weld County, Colorado, was selected as the pilot area for
the development of the surveillance system because of the
diversity and extent of agricultural activity in the county.
Data from birth certificates for 1990-1992 are used as one
layer in the GIS. Data obtained from land-use maps and remote
sensing are used as other layers in the GIS. Agricultural
land use, including crop type, can be derived from the land-use
maps and remote-sensing information. Crop species have been
identified using remote-sensing data for the 1991-1992 periods.
The objective of the project is to demonstrate the utility
of GIS in developing surveillance systems to evaluate environmental
hazards related to agricultural land use and to better identify
populations potentially exposed to those hazards. These populations
can then be used for more detailed evaluation of exposure
and outcome. The presentation will describe the development
of the GIS as a tool in developing surveillance systems in
agricultural health, including procedures for linking birth
certificate data to rural residence data.
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and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not represent
NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears by permission
of the author and/or copyright holder. More
NASD Review: 04/2002
This
research abstract was extracted from a portion of the proceedings
of "Agricultural Safety and Health: Detection, Prevention and
Intervention," a conference presented by the Ohio State University
and the Ohio Department of Health, sponsored by the Centers
for Disease Control/National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health.
The
authors noted above are from: All at Colorado State University,
Fort Collins, CO.
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