Emergency and Environmental Health Services
Safeguarding people's health from environmental threats
CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health/Division of Emergency and Environmental Health Services (EEHS) provides national leadership in the development of environmental and emergency public health policy and prevention programs to improve public health practice nationwide.
EEHS provides consultation and technical and resource assistance, including training, to state and local health departments and to other agencies at the federal, state, local, and international levels.
The division also responds to national and international emergency and recovery assistance situations, especially after natural or technologic disasters, and provides technical support for public health activities during emergencies such as famines, disasters, and civil strife.
The division’s six major activites are chemical weapons elimination, environmental health services, healthy community design, international emergency and refugee health, lead poisoning prevention/healthy homes, and vessel (cruise ship) sanitation. Brief information about these activities follows.
EEHS Activities
Chemical Weapons Elimination
Ensures that the health and safety of workers and the general population are protected during the handling and
destruction of the nation's chemical weapons. Reviews all chemical weapons elimination plans and works closely with
the Department of Defense throughout the disposal process. Evaluates the on-site medical response capabilities to
ensure that responders are prepared for any related emergencies.
Environmental Health Services
Provides technical assistance and scientific guidance to state, local, tribal, and other government agencies engaged in
environmental health service programs; participates in disease outbreak investigations and identifies environmental antecedents
contributing to outbreaks; and supports, through training and technical assistance, those environmental disciplines that have
technology or information gaps in areas such as food safety and water and sanitation issues.
Healthy Community Design
Promotes healthy community design. Provides technical assistance for health impact assessments (HIAs), which can be
used to evaluate objectively the potential health effects of a project or policy before it is built or implemented.
The HIA process brings public health issues to the attention of persons who make decisions about areas that fall
outside of traditional public health arenas, such as transportation or land use. Reviews all
Environmental Impact Assessments external to CDC.
International Emergency and Refugee Health
Coordinates CDC’s response to complex humanitarian emergencies; provides technical assistance to other federal
agencies, the United Nations, and other organizations in areas related to the health of refugee populations; applies epidemiologic
and public health principles to the study of complex emergencies; works closely with international partners to identify the number and
nature of landmine-related injuries and deaths; and provides technical assistance and training in public health emergency
planning.
Lead Poisoning Prevention/ Healthy Homes
Leads national lead poisoning prevention efforts, with emphasis on childhood lead poisoning prevention, by working with other federal
agencies to develop an integrated national childhood lead poisoning prevention program. Provides assistance to federal agencies, state
and community health agencies, and others in developing and evaluating childhood lead poisoning prevention programs. Maintains a
system for the collection and dissemination of data on lead poisoning, and conducts and evaluates epidemiologic research on
childhood lead poisoning.
Promotes, develops, and implements cross-disciplinary activities at the federal, state, tribal, and community levels
to address the problem of unhealthy and unsafe housing through surveillance, research, and comprehensive prevention programs.
Builds capacity and competency among environmental public health practitioners, public health nurses, housing specialists,
and others who work in the community to develop and manage comprehensive and effective healthy homes programs.
Vessel Sanitation Program
Protects passenger and crew health by developing and implementing comprehensive sanitation programs to minimize the risk
for gastrointestinal illnesses aboard cruise ships, inspects vessels to ensure compliance with the Vessel Sanitation Operations Manual
2005, collects and monitors reports of gastointestinal illness on board passenger vessels to estimate illness among passengers and
detect outbreaks, and provides technical assistance to international public health officials on public health issues related to vessel
sanitation.
Contact Us:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Atlanta, GA 30333 - 800-CDC-INFO
(800-232-4636)
TTY: (888) 232-6348
24 Hours/Every Day - cdcinfo@cdc.gov