Related Information on the ATSDR Home Page Web Site
What Is ATSDR?
ATSDR is the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a federal public health agency. ATSDR is part of the Public Health Service in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ATSDR is not a regulatory agency like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Created by Superfund legislation in 1980, ATSDR's mission is to prevent exposure and adverse human health effects and diminished quality of life associated with exposure to hazardous substances from waste sites, unplanned releases, and other sources of pollution present in the environment. Through its programs-including surveillance, registries, health studies, environmental health education, and applied substance-specific research-and by working with other federal, state, and local government agencies, ATSDR acts to protect public health.
What is a Public Health Assessment?
An ATSDR Public Health Assessment
reviews available information about hazardous substances at a site and
evaluates whether exposure to them might cause any harm to people. ATSDR
conducts a Public Health Assessment for every site on or proposed for
the National Priorities List (the NPL, also known as the Superfund list).
A Public Health Assessment is not the same thing as a medical exam or
a community health study. It can sometimes lead to those things, as well
as to other public health activities.
Public Health Assessments consider-
ATSDR's Public Health Assessments identify health studies or other public health actions-such as community environmental health education-that might be needed. They advise federal, state, and local agencies on actions to prevent or reduce people's exposure to hazardous substances.
How Is the Community Involved in a Public Health Assessment?
The community plays a key role in a Public Health Assessment and any activity that may follow. Throughout the Public Health Assessment, ATSDR talks with people living or working near the site-action groups, local leaders, and health professionals, among other community members-about what they know about the site and their site-related health concerns. Community health concerns are addressed in every Public Health Assessment for every site.
Two-way communication between the public and ATSDR is vital to every Public Health Assessment. For that reason, ATSDR has many ways to give and receive information and involve the community in its activities, such as-