New York State Environmental Public Health Tracking imageEnvironmental Public Health Tracking

New York's Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) Program focuses on tracking environmental and health patterns and trends. Environmental Public Health Tracking is a national program led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is intended to improve access to environmental health information and support research, programs and policies that may help protect our communities.

Tracking Projects Explore the Connections Between Health and the Environment

New York State has several projects that focus on combining environmental, health, and other data to explore possible relationships between environmental hazards and health effects. These projects look for geographic patterns, clusters, or trends over time. This work helps to promote a healthy and safe environment, a key priority of the New York State Health Department Health Improvement Plan.

New York State's Tracking Program partners with many other organizations to assess the health and community impacts of heat and extreme weather. Partners include New York State's Climate and Health Program, local health departments and emergency managers, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Weather Service, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Tracking Program continues developing climate/health-related indicators and promoting messages to increase awareness about the potential health impacts of climate change. The Tracking Program maintains an online directory to help New Yorkers find local cooling centers during periods of extreme heat. It also provides county-specific heat vulnerability reports, and County Heat and Health Profile Reports that use fine-scale estimates of temperature from NASA to explore the impacts of heat on health in each New York State County.

The Tracking Program provides ongoing assistance to New York State's Childhood Lead Program. Projects include providing technical support for statistical analyses and mapping activities, and partnering on the review and update of lead soil standards in New York State.

The Tracking Program is currently developing local level (sub-county) environmental and health indicators.  Sub-county level data provide insights into variations of environmental, exposure, health, and population patterns and trends within a county, which may be useful to help identify health disparities and opportunities for outreach and intervention. The Tracking Program's Heat Vulnerability Index and County Heat and Health Profile Reports are examples of how sub-county data can help communities understand trends and identify populations with highest vulnerability to heat and heat-related illness.

Read about the Tracking Program's work to provide tools and resources that help partners identify patterns and trends, and deliver programs that improve environmental health.

Timely Topics

Radon in the Home

Radon Sign

Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers. You can’t see, smell or taste radon, but it could be present at a dangerous level in your home. The only way to know if your home has high radon levels is to test it. You can check out radon rates in your county and learn more about testing your home.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless, gas that can kill you before you are aware it is present. CO exposure is the leading cause of death due to poisoning in the United States. However, CO deaths are entirely preventable. Install CO alarms in your home and check them twice a year to make sure the batteries are working properly. Learn more about CO poisoning in New York State.

Climate and Health

climate and health

New York State is working to address climate change and protect New Yorkers. Learn about climate change and health, what communities can do to respond, and about the New York State's Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) program.