"Environmental Justice Index at the State and Local Level

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Find out how the Environmental Justice Index (EJI) can provide a valuable national perspective to local or regional environmental justice challenges. Explore the EJI today at eji.cdc.gov.

Environmental justice is achieved when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and has equal access to the decision-making process to function in a healthy environment. The EJI helps public health officials identify and prioritize communities most at risk for the health impacts of environmental burden. The EJI is the first national, place-based tool designed to measure the cumulative impacts of environmental burdens through the lens of human health and health equity.

This document outlines examples of how public health officials and others have used the EJI, offers a supplemental approach to identifying and mapping areas most at risk for environmental health impacts, and provides definitions for three environmental justice tools. This information is intended to help you to use the EJI to promote environmental justice and health equity at the state and local level.

EJI Uses

The EJI can be used to

• identify and prioritize areas that may require special attention or additional action in order to improve health and health equity,
• educate and inform the public about the environmental burdens in their community to inspire and empower community-driven action,
• analyze the unique, local factors driving cumulative impacts on health to inform policy and decision-making, and
• establish meaningful goals and measure progress towards environmental justice and health equity.

The EJI may also serve as a framework to develop new tools in states where environmental justice mapping and screening tools have yet to be developed..."
Environmental Justice Index 

Diet Is a Factor in Contact with Glyphosate

"Learn more on the role of diet in human contact with glyphosate, a widely used herbicide in the United States.

An estimated 81% of the U.S. population has had recent exposure to glyphosate, a chemical found in some weed killers, according to a new study, “Exposure to glyphosate in the United States: Data from the 2013–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.”

People can be exposed to glyphosate through diet, skin contact, and breathing in particles from the air. Fruits, fruit juices, vegetables, and cereals are possible sources of glyphosate, a widely used herbicide in the United States.

The study represents the largest evaluation of glyphosate exposure of its kind in the United States and the country’s first to provide information on the levels of glyphosate in urine by race/ethnicity and sex for adults and children 6 years and older.

Researchers noticed that fasting influenced both adults’ and children’s levels of glyphosate in urine. Longer times between eating can help determine whether food contributes to exposure to environmental chemicals. Participants who had not eaten for eight or more hours had lower levels of glyphosate in their urine—suggesting that food is an important source of contact with the chemical.

The presence of glyphosate in a person’s urine indicates exposure; it does not by itself mean that the chemical causes disease or an adverse effect. Research studies, separate from the data presented in the paper, are required to determine which urine levels are safe and which may be associated with disease or an adverse effect.

Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum, systemic herbicide and the active ingredient in glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs). Since their introduction in the late 1970s, the volume of GBHs for weed control in the United States has grown about 100-fold. Studies conducted in the United States and other geographical regions, including Europe, have reported similar levels of glyphosate in human urine samples.."
Glyphosate 

Environmental Health

"Learn more about how CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) protect and promote environmental health across the United States.

Your environment is everything around you—the air you breathe, the water you drink, the places where your food is grown or prepared, your workplace, and your home.

When your environment is safe and healthy, you are more likely to stay healthy. But when your environment exposes you to dangerous events or harmful amounts of toxic substances, your health can be affected. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, 24% of all diseases worldwide are caused by something harmful in the environment.

How can my environment affect my health?

Where is contamination in the environment? Contaminants can pollute air, water, soil, or food. We sometimes call these “environmental media”.

Environmental contaminants can be carried to humans by air, water, soil, or food.

Here are some examples of the many ways the environment can affect your health:

• Drinking well water can contain benzene from industrial activities, if near one’s home.
• A child’s exposure to air pollution can potentially cause asthma.
• Individuals can inhale contaminants when they’re released into the air from contaminated sources, such as a mercury spill in a home or school.
• Contaminants can accumulate in food sources, such as the tissue of animals, fish eating birds, or contaminated soil where food is grown.
• People can come into contact with contaminants from natural elements found in rocks and fertilizer and when man-made chemical compounds make their way into the soil..."
  Environmental health

CDC’s Tracking Network in Action

"Take a look at Faces of Tracking to see how tracking programs across the country are making a difference in the lives of individuals.

CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (Tracking Network) connects people with vital public health information. It has data and information that can be used for a wide variety of environmental and public health efforts. But the Tracking Network is more than just data.

Beyond Data: Faces of Tracking

The Tracking Network is also a network of people and resources that transform data into public health action. Tracking programs provide essential environmental health infrastructure and expertise to keep communities safe and help improve where we live, work, and play.

Faces of Tracking showcases stories from real people who have been impacted by Tracking, or have used Tracking data to enact public health change across the United States. Featured story topics include a variety of environmental health issues reflecting diverse environment-health connections the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program seeks to understand..."
Tracking network

Success Stories in Environmental Health

"Learn more about how CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) protect and promote environmental health across the United States.

Your environment is everything around you—the air you breathe, the water you drink, the places where your food is grown or prepared, your workplace, and your home. When your environment is safe and healthy, you are more likely to stay healthy. But when your environment exposes you to dangerous events or harmful amounts of toxic substances, your health can be affected. In fact, 25% of all diseases worldwide are caused by something harmful in the environment.

How can my environment affect my health?

Here are some actual examples of the many ways your environment can affect your health.

• Your drinking water well is contaminated by benzene from industrial activities near your home.
• Your seven-year-old child suffers from severe asthma, and you don’t know how to help him.
• Your child’s school is contaminated by mercury found in a science lab.
• You are suffering from depression following a man-made disaster near your community.

e National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a sister agency to the CDC, are committed to keeping people safe from environmental hazards. Each agency works to:

• promote healthy environments,
• respond to natural and man-made disasters,
• support public health workers,
• educate communities, and
• provide scientific knowledge..."
  Environmental health

Success Stories in Environmental Health

"Learn more about how CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) protect and promote environmental health across the United States.

Your environment is everything around you—the air you breathe, the water you drink, the places where your food is grown or prepared, your workplace, and your home. When your environment is safe and healthy, you are more likely to stay healthy. But when your environment exposes you to dangerous events or harmful amounts of toxic substances, your health can be affected. In fact, 25% of all diseases worldwide are caused by something harmful in the environment..."
Environmntal health

CDC- Environmental Health

If you are looking for current information on environmental health, try the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site section on "Environmental Health".
CDC- Environmental Health

Children's Health Month- learn about environmental health risks

"Did you know that the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the food you eat can affect the way your body grows and works? It’s true. By learning about hazards in the environment (air pollution, pesticides, hazardous wastes, etc), and how they can affect your health, you can take charge of your environment and make a real difference in your life and the lives of your family and friends..."

Children's Health Month, October 2011

Resources from the EPA highlighting environmental hazards to children.

Environmental Justice Resource Guide
"Minority and low-income communities are often disproportionately exposed to environmental harm and risks. EPA has programs and projects to protect these communities from adverse effects on human health and the environment. The Agency is committed to the fair treatment of these communities. This includes the opportunity to participate meaningfully in the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. This participation requires access to the wide variety of resources available from EPA.
In light of this commitment, EPA’s Pacific Southwest Regional Office has developed this Resource Guide as a tool for individuals, non-governmental organizations, community groups, and local officials. The goal is to provide information and access to EPA’s funding sources, training opportunities, and technical and program assistance. The guide highlights recent successes in communities affected by environmental injustices and references some of the tools these communities have used to achieve results."

EPA Releases Comprehensive Database on Environmental Chemicals Agency continues efforts to provide new level of transparency
"March 12, 2009) EPA has released a new online database that collects information on more than 500,000 man-made chemicals from over 200 public sources. The Aggregated Computational Toxicology Resource (ACToR) database allows access to hundreds of data sources in one place, providing a new level of transparency and easy access for environmental researchers, scientific journalists and the public. Sources of information include EPA, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. National Institutes of Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and other federal agencies; state databases, Health and Environment Canada, the European Union, the World Health Organization and other international groups; and non-governmental organizations, private companies and universities."

Children's Environmental Health, 2008 Highlights
"Since its founding in 1970, EPA’s mission has been to protect human health and the
environment. This report, eighth in an annual series from the Office of Children’s Health Protection and Environmental Education, highlights the Agency’s recent work on protecting the health of children by addressing the environments where they live,
learn and play."

EPA Knows More About Children's Health Today Than Ever - New Report Highlights 10 Years of Comprehensive Research
"EPA knows more now than ever about children's environmental health and how to create a healthier environment for children. This is the result of a 10-year research effort on children's environmental health highlighted in a new report issued today.

"Understanding potential environmental health risks to children is important to EPA," said George Gray, assistant administrator of EPA's Office of Research and Development. "This research will help us assess and address environmental factors that may affect some of the most vulnerable members of our society."

The report, "A Decade of Children's Environmental Health: Highlights from EPA's Science to Achieve Results Program" focuses on 10 years of research funded or performed by EPA's National Center for Environmental Research's Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grants program."