National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network Announces New State Grantees

The New York City Rat Information Portal

[Announcer] This podcast is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC? safer, healthier people.

Narrator: Hello everyone, and welcome to the Tracks podcast, where we explore the Environmental Public Health Tracking Network. Today, we have Dan Kass, who is the assistant commissioner with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Thank you for joining us today, Dan.

Dan Kass: Oh, it's a pleasure.

Narrator: First of all, New York City developed a Rat Information Portal, which will help residents learn more about what they can do to control rats on their properties, in their buildings, and in their apartments. Could you tell us a little bit more about why New York City decided to create the Rat Portal?

Dan Kass: Well, over the last couple of years, we've been redesigning our rodent control program, from one that is largely complaint driven to one that is more proactive. One component of that is the recognition that eradicating rats depends on more than just an inspection and an order to a landlord. It really, it requires the engagement of communities in a real neighborhood-level effort to eradicate rats.

So the Rat Portal enables us to share best practices and information with a variety of audiences: residents, owners, pest control firms, elected officials, and people who receive notices of violations from the health department. In addition, it enables many of those people to visualize rat problems as something that exists beyond their own properties. Using our mapping function and our data function, they can compare findings in their neighborhoods and on their block to others. They can make maps and distribute them in community meetings. You know, New York City is blessed with a very active citizenry. We have thousands of neighborhood organizations around the city that are eager to think about how they can make their neighborhoods better, and they need good data.

Narrator: And, ultimately, what do you feel New York City hopes to accomplish with the Rat Information Portal?

Dan Kass: Well, we had two overarching aims. One relates to the Tracking Program generally. We needed to build a data infrastructure for our eventual EPHT portal, which will have data on many more environmental concerns beyond rats in neighborhoods. And so we saw this as an opportunity to get some attention, to get some additional resources to build this data infrastructure, and to really test out how people respond to more data in their neighborhood.

The other thing we really hoped to achieve is that we're a health department. We're a big health department, but we're a big health department in a big city with a lot of rats. And we can't do this alone. We know that we need attention?some of it kind of amusing and appealing to the strange and some of it factual and scientific to really get people to pay attention to the problem and realize we just can't do this by ourselves. One philosophy of the current administration in this city is that good data rule the day. Good data enable people to make good decisions, and we haven't been that great at sharing data, up 'til now. So, this really was a test case for a new vision of what data can achieve in the communities and an opportunity to evaluate whether we were correct.

Narrator: You kind of touched on it earlier about how the Rat Information Portal was initiated prior to EPHT and how part of it was intended for testing. Have the lessons you learned from the Rat Information Portal made your EPHT portal better?

Dan Kass: Without question, it already has. Our EPHT portal will be launched in the next few weeks, but it will be launched in a way that is a bit different that we had envisioned originally. The first lesson I think we learned is that there are a variety of different users. And that there are ways people use the portal that we can't really imagine when we first set out to plan it. So we knew we needed to design a very flexible system. We needed to be able to design a data architecture that was flexible that could respond to changes that we knew we needed to make once the data goes out live. We needed a simplistic?certainly more simple than  we had on the Rat Portal?map interface. Something that expected less of people in terms of thinking of the mapping interface as an analytic tool and more as a data presentation tool. We knew how important it was from the Rat Portal that people be able to produce high-quality documents for sharing in community meetings, so we invested more resources than we might have otherwise in producing appealing looking tables that can print out and high-quality maps that can be printed in relatively large formats and color for distribution. We also knew that, when people, we learned that when people extract data from this they typically extract it without all the contextual information that comes with it and so we learned for Tracking Portal, for example, that all of the documents produced will provide some contextual information, what the sources of data were, what any caveats are, about the quality of that data, some precautionary statements about how to interpret or not interpret the data. But, most importantly, we really validated the notion that good data really helps communities make good decisions.

Narrator: Have you seen within the communities people being very proactive with the data they collect, whether with the Rat Information Portal or with the tracking Web site you're about to release?

Dan Kass: I would say that for the Rat Information Portal we have found some intended users to be extremely creative in how they use it. Community district managers and community boards are looking and printing maps and trying to identify areas that have yet to be resolved. Some elected officials have asked us for training and presentations, and they now know that they can look up on their own, our findings and response to constituents' complaints. We don't get quite the same number of referrals that we used to because they know what's going on and elected officials are able to satisfy their constituents by knowing more, rather than being completely dependent on an agency for telling them information. We've seen reporters, I think, use this very effectively to both advance stories about the problem of rats in some neighborhoods but also to dispel some myths where people have said the problems have gotten worse and the data that's available in front of them suggests that it may not have. So those are some examples of what we've seen. There are undoubtedly many that we never learn about.

Another lesson that we've learned in this is that the media matters a lot. So we've had a tremendous number of users. We had a huge amount of press coverage when we first launched the Rat Portal. And that's because rats are interesting and it's the number-one cause of complaints to the health department and people have a kind-of curious interest in it, it grosses people out and they pay attention to it. As we move forward with the Tracking Portal we don't expect that kind of attention. We expect to have to really build a user base for that and not have one instantaneously appear.

Narrator: What kind of methods are you preparing to build that user base?

Dan Kass: Well, o ne of the things we are able to do is we have a user base of people for the Rat Portal and we do regular meetings in communities and we expect to at each of those meetings to tell people about the Tracking Portal and all of the other data available to them. You know, there aren't groups in New York City that exist specifically to eradicate rats. They're neighborhood associations and elected officials for whom rats are one of many concerns. And so we think that these groups will have a lot of interest in the tracking portal.

We also work with a number of environmental organizations, and the city will be working with them on how to use it. We'll be training in academic centers. First, we'll reach out to the academic staff, and, later, we'll invite them to invite us to classrooms to train people on how to use it. We think it'll have a lot of utility for neighborhood needs assessment activities and grant writing and other documentation. And, then, we'll be trying to float stories to specific media, print, and television about things that they can find out so that they can use it.

Narrator: You had mentioned that your referrals have dropped because of the Rat Information Portal. Does this, ultimately, make your job easier or does it make your job more challenging?

Dan Kass: Well, some referrals seem to have dropped and other questions have increased, and I have to say our that hope was both of those things would occur. So we're pleased that we seem to be getting fewer questions asking us about the location of whether rats have been found at a particular location. That's not the kind of question we'd like to answer. But the kinds of questions that we've gotten more of are the ones we do want to answer, which is, "What can we do to get rid of rats?", "Are you willing to come and talk about rats in our community?", "We've noticed on your maps that there seems to be a problem on this avenue, or in these blocks, or this area. What could be contributing to that?"

We've had a lot more interagency collaboration since the portal was launched. Some agencies are concerned about some of their properties having lit up on the map with signs of rats. And they want to know, now that there's public exposure they want to know even more what they can do to basically disappear from our map in the future. So that's exactly what our intention was.

So it's put the department in a better role, a role of really teaching and guiding individuals and institution about what they can do to get rid of rats and less in a role of just having to answer questions about individual properties, which we don't think is the answer.

Narrator: What were some of the challenges you faced while developing the Rat Portal?

Dan Kass: One important challenge is that we weren't in touch with many of the potential, intended users of the site. So, while we envisioned a role for community associations or planning entities in New York City called "community districts" or "community boards," we weren't exactly sure how to engage them in the portal. So one challenge was just trying to talk to people in advance without necessarily having a product to show them and really having to evaluate what it is we think they wanted and what we thought their abilities to use it would be.

Another challenge was overcoming resistance on the part of several programs and agencies about this level of data transparency. Our own pest control program was nervous about the kind of message it would put out to neighborhoods, and, rightfully so, they were concerned that we would get complaints as an agency that we were depreciating property value in some neighborhoods. Other agencies were concerned they would be faced with an onslaught of requests. Schools were concerned they would be the subject of derision, if the school had signs of rats. There was concern of some of the inconsistencies with the data; as a program we inspect some properties but we don't inspect others. If somebody complains about rats in public housing, that complaint goes directly to the public housing authority, and so they may not appear on the map even though they may have rats. So those were concerns that were legitimate and we had to work through before we launched the Rat Portal. We worked them through by meeting with the affected agencies. We worked through the internal concern about data transparency by really returning to the campaign pledges and the general philosophy of our current city administration, which is that we wanted to be more transparent with data. And we're going to trust that people are going to do the right thing with it.

Narrator: Despite all of the challenges you've faced while developing this, how many people to this date have accessed the Rat Information Portal?

Dan Kass: The first month, we had as many as 18,000 daily users of the site. When Time Magazine featured the site on its online we had a peak day of I think 80,000 users. As we tracked it over time, and as the stories about the portal have diminished, we have a general user base of somewhere between 100 and 150 unique daily users, who largely gravitate to the data side of the site and a little less so to the text side of the site.

Narrator: And, personally, what do you feel is the benefit of having Environmental Public Health Tracking systems such as the Rat Information Portal in place?

Dan Kass: Well, there are a lot of reasons to do this. The Rat Portal is just one of many subjects that will be the subject of our more full and robust Environmental Public Health Tracking Portal here in New York City. The principal reason, I think, to put this data out is that decisions are made every day about the environmental health of communities. Some of those decisions are intentional, and they're explicit about where to put a facility or about what to allow into the air. And a lot of decisions are made absent intent. They're made, in effect, by not making a decision. One can only know what one doesn't know when someone delivers more information to really expose that ignorance or that gap in knowledge. And I think the main purpose of putting data out there is to basically let people know what they don't know already. To enable individuals and neighborhood associations and elected officials and planners and academics to be aware that there is a wealth of information that describes communities and neighborhoods and the health of the public that they may be unaware of and that they may have yet to really envision a purpose for. And I don't think we'll ever be able to anticipate all the uses of public health tracking information, but I do know that, without it, there are far fewer data available for people to really consider the impact and the meaning of.

 [Announcer] For the most accurate health information visit www.cdc.gov or call 1-800-CDC-INFO 24/7.

A National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network Overview

[Announcer] This podcast is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC? safer, healthier people.

Narrator: Hello everyone. Thanks for tuning in to the Tracks podcast, where we explore topics related to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network.

Today, joining us is Dr. Mike McGeehin, Director of the Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects in the National Center for Environmental Health at CDC. Thank you for joining us today, Mike.

Mike McGeehin: I'm glad to.

Narrator:In your own words, can you tell us what you think the goal is of the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network? 

Mike McGeehin: Well, the goal of the network is really to establish a national environmental public health surveillance system. And by that, I mean what we're trying to do is to bring together standardized data from environmental contamination, human exposure, and human health outcomes into one location from a variety of different sources that can then be used by the public, by our elected representatives and policymakers, and by scientists and researchers.

Narrator: How do you feel the Tracking Network will, overall, improve public health?

Mike McGeehin: Well, an environmental public health surveillance system like the Tracking Network is needed for public health because there are many questions about the associations and the possible associations between environmental exposures and health outcomes. And part of that is the tremendous increase in chronic diseases that we have seen over the last 50 years in the United States and the impact that has on the health of the public. And part of that is that the public, and many scientists, believe that many of these chronic diseases are associated with some environmental exposures.

What we need to do is we need to get the information together in one place that looks at the environmental exposures and at the health outcomes in a standardized way, and that's very important that it be in a standardized way, so that we can begin to answer the questions about: are our diseases, are our health outcomes, is our general health affected by environmental exposures?  

Narrator: Could you explain who you think will be using the Tracking Network and why they might come to this Web site? 

Mike McGeehin: Sure. The Tracking Network is designed for multiple audiences, and it has been from the very initiation of the program. And the audiences are any group of people or any individual who really wants to know more about how their environment might be affecting their health. We have designed the network so that it can be used by people who are making policy decisions on the environment or on health outcomes, such as our elected representatives and their staffs. Certainly, it can be used by scientists as we gather these data together in one place from multiple sources and they're standardized so that scientists and researchers can look at these data and look at possible links and associations.

But it is also designed so that it can be used by the individual person who is interested in how their state or how their community might be impacted by environmental exposures or how their health might be impacted. So we have tried to design this entire project so that it can meet multiple audiences' needs. But the overall goal of it isn't changed, and the overall goal of it is to bring together standardized data from a variety of sources that answer questions about the impact of the environment on health.

Narrator:What do you feel are the next steps for the Tracking Network?

Mike McGeehin: Well, we have a few next steps that we want to begin right after the launch of this network, and, obviously, we need to tweak the Web site and the network to refine it with the data we currently have. But the next big step is we want to add more data on health outcomes and exposures and environmental contaminations. And so our next process will be to work with our states and our city health departments to determine which data sets we will be adding to the Web site.

But there is an additional step that I would like to focus on. And that is that my vision of this Web site, my vision of the entire program is that, eventually, our Web site will be the site that people go to get broad environmental health information. So that, when people want to know about environmental issues and human health, not only will they go there to find our data, but they'll go there to find the latest information, the latest publications.

So what we want to do is to take the Web site as it currently is, continue to expand the data in it, continue to refine the data. But we also want to make sure that it is an information portal for people so that they can find high-quality, valid data on a number of different environmental health issues?sort of a one-stop shop for environmental health.

Narrator: To go along with your vision where people can find broad environmental health information, why do you feel there is a need and how important is it for all 50 states, as well as a national Tracking Network, to be included?

Mike McGeehin: Well, I think it's extremely important that we have all 50 states, eventually, part of this network. Just as I feel it's extremely important that all 50 states participate and have the benefits of any health surveillance. I think it's important for the communities in all of the states as I described earlier, that they are able to get this information.

And I think it's very important, if we are talking about policymakers using this information or researchers using this information, that we are able to look at differences in geography, that we are able to look at differences in populations, that we are able to look at the nation as a whole on the trends that we're seeing with the health outcomes, on the trends that we are seeing with the environmental exposures and the environmental contamination.

It's very important that this, eventually, be a national system so that, when we refer to the data and when we analyze and interpret the data, we are really looking at it from a national perspective.

Narrator: Thanks, Mike. Is there anything else you'd like to add before we conclude the podcast?

Mike McGeehin: I just, once again, want to say that how we envision this is that this will be a dynamic tool. That people will go to the Web site, that they will enjoy using the Web site, and that they will come away from it with more information and a better understanding of how the environment impacts their health. And, particularly, as we refine it and as we get the data more and more at a local level, that they will understand how the environment may be impacting their community. We're excited about this opportunity, we're excited about what we've done up until now, and we really look forward to the future.

Narrator:I'd like to thank our guest Dr. Mike McGeehin again for joining us and would like to encourage all of our listeners out there to experience the Tracking Network for themselves by visiting www.cdc.gov/ephtracking.

[Announcer] For the most accurate health information visit www.cdc.gov or call 1-800-CDC-INFO, 24/7.

Tracks: EPHT Massachusetts Case Study

[Announcer] This podcast is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC ? safer, healthier people.

Narrator: Hello everyone. Thanks for tuning into the Tracks podcast, where we explore topics related to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network.

In 2006, Massachusetts was one of 16 states selected by CDC to develop a statewide Tracking Network. Recently Massachusetts launched its network, and I was able to catch up with Suzanne Condon, associate health commissioner with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

I asked Suzanne who she believed would receive the greatest value from the network.

Suzanne: We've built a very strong team that has an incredible commitment to two major audiences. One, are those local health partners that we have. They have a really hard job. And so the goal was, how can we use, and build a tracking network and build data systems that would ultimately reduce some of the pressure on them in terms of local decision making.

The second thing that we have an incredible commitment to is working closely with community residents. I learned many years ago in the early days of trying to best investigate the childhood leukemia problem in Woburn, Massachusetts, which became the subject of the movie and book a Civil Action, That, when a child is diagnosed with a horrific disease, parents want answers. And sometimes those answers have taken far too long, too many years. And so, the idea of the Tracking Network becoming a reality provided us with the opportunity to say, 'How can we make neighborhood level data available that was within the, constraints of privacy regulations, privacy issues, but that would provide the community with readily available data.

Narrator: Suzanne believes, community residents will benefit greatly from the Massachusetts Tracking Network.

Suzanne: When if a child gets diagnosed with Leukemia, for example. Um, a parent wants to know, 'How many other kids in my neighborhood? Does my neighborhood have a problem or did I just have some pretty bad luck? And uh, so today, very soon over the next few weeks, people across Massachusetts will be able to look at our data, our public portal and essentially have that question answered

Narrator: So, why is tracking so important? One reason is Massachusetts ranks third in the United State s for prevalence of asthma. When Massachusetts Tracking Program staff conducted asthma surveillance and indoor quality assessments in schools, a significant association between moisture and the prevalence of asthma was found. Based on tracking data, Massachusetts staff are working with school officials to correct the moisture problem and to enact policy changes for reducing mold and moisture in schools.

What part of the Tracking Network does Suzanne find most exciting?

Suzanne: I think being able to answer those questions from parents. From the time I was a very young researcher I used to get so frustrated having to tell a parent we really wanted to answer their questions but we had 60 communities ahead of them. And a parent will always say, 'But my child is sick.' And unfortunately in the field of environmental health most of the people that come to talk to us are sick. Or have children that are sick. So it becomes this difficult process for environmental public health practitioners to try to figure out how to explain the lack of resources, to people that are very concerned. So for me the most exciting part is being able to have the public have the answers much quicker than they have ever had before.

Narrator: I hope you've enjoyed this inside look at the Massachusetts Tracking Network, and how the data and information collected is being used to make a difference in the health of our communities. The Environmental Public Health Tracking Network: collecting and connecting data to improve your health.

Thanks for tuning in to this Tracks podcast focused on Massachusetts. Check out other episodes, including a look at the importance of partnerships and New York City's attempt to monitor rat populations using their own tracking portal.

Tracks: Working with Partners to Achieve Success

[Announcer] This podcast is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC ? safer, healthier people.

Narrator:Hello everyone. Thanks for tuning into the Tracks podcast, where we dive into topics related to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network.

In this podcast we explore the partnerships that played a crucial role in building the Tracking Network and hear from some of our partners about why this new environmental public health resource is so important.

Adam Reichardt, Director of Environmental Health, from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials told us about the benefits of partnerships.

Adam Reichardt: I think the Tracking Network has been able to bring down barriers between various agencies at the state level, at the national level and with the private sector, different organizations that own the data. A large success of the Tracking Network is building partnerships.

Narrator: Faced with the unprecedented challenge of gathering environment and public health data from across the United States into one robust resource, CDC turned to a team of partners. The collaboration of federal agencies and national organizations positioned the Tracking Network to launch.

The National Environmental Health Association is another Tracking Network partner. Tom Dickey, the Assistant Manger of Research and Development, had more to say about how the partnership between his organization and CDC has advanced the field of environmental public health.

Tom Dickey: Tracking has fostered a new found communication between various federal agencies, and state and local health departments. I think that the Tracking Network is going to provide a...a huge database of information for, for those that are seeking answers on, "Is this environmental cause? Is this something that I should be concerned with?

Narrator: But why is the Tracking Network valuable to concerned parents, environmental advocates, and public health officials? Amanda Raziano, Health Policy Analyst, from the American Public Health Association talks about the value the Tracking Network will bring to communities, public health officials, and policymakers.

Amanda Raziano: "To take a quick look and be able to see, "Oh I see how the environment impacts my health." And, you know, look at a map, or look at some data, or some, you know, messaging information and better understand what's going on. Or recognize why the science is complicated and why we don't have the answers maybe to the questions that they're asking."

Narrator: As you heard from these three different organizations, the ability of many different groups to come together and build the Tracking Network has affected the future of environmental public health. Additional Tracking Network partners include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, U.S. Geological Survey, the National Cancer Institute, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologist, National Association of County and City Health Officials, National Association of Health Data Organizations, and the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems.

Together, CDC and its national and local partners are now providing public health officials and members of the public with information about how the environment affects public health.

Thanks for tuning in to this Tracks Podcast on the importance of partnerships. Check out other episodes, including the Massachusetts Tracking Portal and New York City's attempt to monitor rat populations using their own tracking portal.

The Environmental Public Health Tracking Network: collecting and connecting data to improve your health.

Tracks FAQs: How Do I Link Asthma Rates And Air Quality Data?

[Announcer] This podcast is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC - safer, healthier people.

[Desiree Robinson] Hello everyone. Thank you for tuning in to the Tracks FAQs Podcast, where we explore topics about CDC's National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network. In this podcast series, CDC scientists address frequently asked questions about the National Tracking Network, including using and applying data, running queries, and much more. Epidemiologist Heather Strosnider joins us to answer one of our top questions. Thanks for joining us.

[Heather Strosnider] Thank you.

[Desiree Robinson] Heather, one common question we get from Tracking Network users is? How can I link asthma rates to air quality data?

[Heather Strosnider] The Tracking Network does not currently support linking health data and environmental data, such as linking asthma rates and air quality. However, we are working to include datasets on the Tracking Network containing "pre-linked" information.

We have to take many factors into account to determine connections between health problems and the environment; it's complicated. Although one piece of data might indicate that residents of an area with poor air quality have higher rates of asthma, the data might not take into account other factors possibly causing the higher rates of asthma. Asthma rates could also be high in a county because the county has an unusually high rate of smoking. In such an instance, the heightened asthma rates may be due to the effects of smoking, either direct or secondhand smoke, rather than to the effects of air pollution. This is just one example of how, as I said, it can be complicated to understand the relationship between health and the environment. Stay tuned as we continue to add new data and features to the Tracking Network.

[Desiree Robinson] Special thanks to CDC Epidemiologist Heather Strosnider for joining us for this episode of Tracks FAQs. Thank you, Heather. That's all for this episode of Tracks FAQs. To submit a question for a CDC Tracking expert to address in this series, please e-mail trackingsupport@cdc.gov.

[Announcer]For the most accurate health information, visit www.cdc.gov or call 1-800-CDC-INFO, 24/7.

Tracks FAQs: How Can I Tell If Asthma Hospitalization Rates In My Area Are Changing Over Time?

[Announcer] This podcast is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC - safer, healthier people.

[Desiree Robinson] Hello everyone. Thank you for tuning in to the Tracks FAQs Podcast, where we explore topics about CDC's National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network. In this podcast series, CDC scientists address frequently asked questions about the National Tracking Network, including using and applying data, running queries, and much more. Epidemiologist Heather Strosnider joins us to answer one of our top questions. Thanks for joining us.

[Heather Strosnider] Thank you.

[Desiree Robinson] Heather, one common question we get is?How can I tell if asthma hospitalization rates in my area are changing over time?

[Heather Strosnider] To find information on asthma hospitalization rates, select "asthma" from the query page as your content area. Then select "hospitalizations" as your indicator. The Tracking Network offers three measures of asthma hospitalizations, including age-adjusted rate, crude rate, and number of hospitalizations. The best measure over time is the age-adjusted rate. The rate recognizes that levels of asthma vary among different age groups. It has been statistically modified to decrease the effects of age on the data. After selecting the measure you want to use, choose the locations to compare and then select the time period. To compare the rates for different time periods, select the timeframes you are interested in and run the query.

You can view the results as a map, or table, or graph. A graph will provide a visual display of any increases or decreases of asthma hospitalization rates in your area. This data can be used in a number of ways. We recently learned that one Tracking Network partner joined forces with a state asthma coalition to aid in local outreach efforts. The partner and the coalition used data from the Tracking Network to identify specific counties that had an increase in the number of asthma-related hospital visits. They worked together to ensure that programs were in place to help people in those counties manage their asthma better.

[Desiree Robinson] I would like to thank CDC Epidemiologist Heather Strosnider for joining us for this episode of Tracks FAQs. Thank you, Heather. That's all for this episode of Tracks FAQs. To submit a question for a CDC Tracking expert to address in this series, please e-mail trackingsupport@cdc.gov.

[Announcer]For the most accurate health information, visit www.cdc.gov or call 1-800-CDC-INFO, 24/7.

Tracks FAQs: What is Modeled Air Data?

[Announcer] This podcast is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC - safer, healthier people.

[Desiree Robinson] Hello everyone. Thank you for tuning in to the Tracks FAQs Podcast, where we explore topics about CDC's National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network. In this podcast series, CDC scientists address frequently asked questions about the National Tracking Network, including using and applying data, running queries, and much more. Epidemiologist Heather Strosnider joins us to answer one of our top questions. Thanks for joining us.

[Heather Strosnider] Thank you.

[Desiree Robinson] Heather would you tell us?.What is modeled air data?

[Heather Strosnider] Sure. Modeled air data are used to estimate levels of ozone and particulate matter, or PM2.5, in the air. This data is applied to areas that don't have air quality monitors and to fill in time gaps when monitors may not be recording data. So, where does this modeled data come from? The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, maintains a database called the Air Quality System. This system contains data from about 4,000 monitoring stations around the country. However, these monitoring stations don't operate all the time and are in only about 20 percent of the counties in the United States. Modeled air data statistically combine monitoring data from the Air Quality System with results from another EPA dataset called the Community Multiscale Air Quality model. These estimates are available for every day of the year, except the first and the last, and they cover the entire United States, except Alaska and Hawaii.

Both monitored and modeled data are available on the Tracking Network. You can use these data to track possible exposures to ozone and PM2.5, to evaluate their health impact, to conduct analytical studies linking health effects and the environment, and to guide public health actions.

[Desiree Robinson] Special thanks to CDC Epidemiologist Heather Strosnider for joining us for this episode of Tracks FAQs. Thank you, Heather. That's all for this episode of Tracks FAQs. To submit a question for a CDC Tracking expert to address in this series, please e-mail trackingsupport@cdc.gov.

[Announcer]For the most accurate health information, visit www.cdc.gov or call 1-800-CDC-INFO, 24/7.

Tracks FAQs: What Are Suppressed Data And How Can It Be Used?

[Announcer] This podcast is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC - safer, healthier people.

[Desiree Robinson] Hello everyone. I'm Desiree Robinson. Thank you for tuning in to the Tracks FAQs Podcast, where we explore topics about CDC's National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network. In this podcast series, CDC scientists address frequently asked questions about the National Tracking Network, including using and applying data, running queries, and much more. Epidemiologist Heather Strosnider joins us to answer one of our top Tracking Network questions. Thanks for joining us, Heather.

[Heather Strosnider] Thank you.

[Desiree Robinson] Here's one of our top questions?.When I look at the tracking information for my state, a lot of counties have their data suppressed and I cannot get a clear picture or pattern. How can I get a better view of the data?

[Heather Strosnider] There are several reasons for this. Some of the health conditions included on the Tracking Network are rare. When we look at data from a small geographic area, such as a county, often there are only a few cases. When there are very few cases, the Tracking Network will suppress or withhold these data. We do so because we can't be confident in the rate derived from the data. The Network also suppresses the data to protect the confidentiality of residents in those states or counties where there are rare health conditions.

To strengthen the data from small geographic areas, the Tracking Network offers a "smoothed view." It's like an average for a geographic area. The results come from combining data from one county with data from neighboring counties; then the Network calculates an average to allow a pattern to emerge within the area. So the smoothed view is an average over many counties. It shouldn't be interpreted as the rate for one particular county.

A smoothed view is available for rates within a state. If you want to generate a smoothed view, conduct a query as you normally would. Select all the counties for which you want the view and make sure they are all within one particular state. Then check the box "Apply smoothing to view patterns across counties."

[Desiree Robinson] I would like to thank CDC Epidemiologist Heather Strosnider for joining us for this episode of Tracks FAQs. Thank you, Heather.

[Heather Strosnider] Thanks, Desiree.

[Desiree Robinson] That's all for this episode of Tracks FAQs. To submit a question for a CDC Tracking expert to address in this series, please e-mail trackingsupport@cdc.gov.

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ntsip.

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