Planning and Capacity Building Activities
| Grantee: | Maine Department of Human Services, Bureau of Health |
|---|---|
| Contact: | Andrew E. Smith, ScD |
| Telephone: | 207-287-5189 |
| E-mail: | Andrew.E.Smith@Maine.gov |
| Address: | Environmental Health Unit Maine Bureau of Health 286 Water Street, #SHS11 Augusta, ME 04333-001 |
| Web site: | http://www.maine.gov/dhs/ehu/epht/ [external link] |
| Funded Since: | September 30, 2002 |
| Funded Program: | National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program, Part A |
Program Description:
Maine has the highest prevalence of asthma among U.S. adults. Seven of the state’s most populous counties are considered non-attainment areas for the national ambient air standard for ozone. A survey of women of childbearing age in Maine indicates that 20% have hair mercury levels above those considered safe. Approximately half of the state’s households obtain drinking water from domestic wells, and it is estimated that 10% of these have elevated levels of arsenic, 5% have elevated levels of uranium 238, and 17% have elevated levels of radon. One third of homes have indoor air radon levels above 4 picoCuries/liter. In a colder climate, residents spend a proportionately greater amount of time in indoor air environments. Epidemics of carbon monoxide poisoning during winter storm power outages have been documented. These environmental health issues and others call for effective environmental health tracking systems to better assess actual exposures and their associated health hazards, as well as to monitor progress in reducing exposures. Maine has an extensive and unique set of environmental databases available for assessment and possible inclusion in a larger system.
Because of Maine’s progress toward identifying and protecting healthy environments, the state is now ready to include environmental health data in a planned Maine Public Health Information System (MPHIS). Implementation efforts are proposed to link and integrate various public health data sets, including environmental health data sets, into MPHIS.
The Maine Bureau of Health (MBOH) proposes a three-year project to develop an environmental public health tracking and surveillance system. The requested funding will leverage existing efforts and resources from other entities within the state.
The primary goals of this project are to:
- Develop plans and components of a standards-based, coordinated,
and integrated Environmental Public Health Tracking (Surveillance)
System that allows linkage and reporting of health effects data with
human exposure data and environmental hazard data.
- Increase environmental public health capacity at the local and state levels. Although the MPHIS may not be fully realized for several years, within the context of this agreement, Maine will be able to develop model systems that link environmental health data and can be used by other states and localities for planning environmental public health actions on the basis of reliable, accessible data.
Among its existing resources, MPHS has ongoing surveillance activities through its cancer registry, an occupational disease registry, a childhood lead poisoning program, and a youth asthma surveillance system still in development. Additionally, MPHIS has identified a list of potential environmental health indicators, relevant hazard, exposure, health effects, and behavioral surveillance databases, with years of data availability, and owners (state, federal agency) of the databases described. Within the Maine Bureau of Health, the Department of Environmental Protection, and in the private sector, a significant effort already exists to integrate data and to enhance electronic reporting. The proposed structure includes Web-based reporting, integration of numerous databases within a public health data warehouse, and data dissemination through a Web-accessible information system. Environmental health tracking has not previously been included in the MPHIS due to lack of resources. MBOH plans a significant coordination of surveillance and integration within the state government, with federal agencies, and with the American Lung Association of Maine whose work on the Respiratory Health Indicators of Maine will be a major component of the environmental public health tracking system.
