Public Health Advisories
-
What is a Public Health Advisory?
- What Happens After the Public Health Advisory?
- Related Information
on the ATSDR Home Page Web Site
What is
a Public Health Advisory?
A Public Health Advisory is
a way for ATSDR to respond quickly when hazardous substances released
into the environment pose an immediate and significant danger to people's
health. It is a notice sent directly from ATSDR's administrator to EPA's
administrator that alerts EPA to a public health threat. Other government
agencies-such as state and local health and environmental agencies-are
also notified about the problem. ATSDR works with all these agencies to
take action to protect the public.
A Public Health Advisory reports
information available about a release of toxic material, whether people
might be exposed to it, and what harm exposure might cause. Public Health
Advisories consider-
- what the levels (or "concentrations")
of hazardous substances are
- whether people might be
exposed to contamination and how (through "exposure pathways" such as
breathing air, drinking or contacting water, contacting or eating soil,
or eating food)
- what harm the substances
might cause to people (or the contaminants' "toxicity")
- whether working or living
nearby might affect people's health
- other dangers to people,
such as unsafe buildings, abandoned mine shafts, or other physical hazards
What Happens After the Public Health Advisory?
Because ATSDR Public Health
Advisories address an immediate and significant danger to people's health,
they usually result in quick action by regulatory and health agencies.
Recommendations ATSDR makes
in Public Health Advisories cover many activities by EPA, state environmental
and health agencies, and by ATSDR. Public Health Advisory recommendations
can contribute to -
- placing the site on the
National Priorities List (or Superfund list)
- relocating exposed people
- site cleanup
- keeping people away from
contamination and physical dangers - for example, by fencing the site
- giving residents acceptable
drinking water
- community environmental
health education for residents and health care providers to inform them
about site contamination, harmful health effects, and ways to reduce
or prevent health effects
- an ATSDR or state health
study
In addition, a Public Health Advisory
can lead to other ATSDR activities - specifically, a Public Health Assessment.
ATSDR Public Health Assessments
are like Public Health Advisories, but are more detailed. They rely on
three main types of information -
- environmental data, such
as information available on the contaminants and how people could come
in contact with them
- health data, including
available information on communitywide rates of illness, disease, and
death compared with national and state rates
- community concerns, such
as reports from the public about how the site affects their health or
quality of life
Related
Information on the ATSDR Home Page Web Site
The
ATSDR
Home Page Web Site contains links to additional information available
from the Agency, including the following which may be of interest to communities:
Click on Public
Health Advisories to go to a list.
This page updated March 21, 2008