Priority Area: Healthy Environment

Protecting Human Health in Our Environment

There are many ways to define a healthy environment. It includes the air we breath, our water, our food and our surroundings. It's the chemicals, radiation and microbes as well as the physical world that we have contact with everyday. The environment's effect on our health is complicated, but there is sufficient knowledge from decades of research to take action in reducing environmental hazards.

Objectives

Each community's progress towards reaching these Prevention Agenda Objectives will be tracked so members can see how close each community is to meeting the objectives.

  • By the year 2013, reduce New York's incidence of elevated lead levels in children and in adults in the workforce so that:
    • The incidence of children aged < 72 months with a confirmed blood lead level of > 10ug/dl (per 1,000 children tested) is 0. Baseline: 17 per 1,000 children tested, Childhood Lead Program data, New York State excluding New York City 2001-2003.*
    • The incidence of elevated blood lead levels (>25 ug/dl) per 100,000 employed persons ages 16+ is 0. Baseline: 6.4 per 100,000 employed persons 16+, New York State Heavy Metals Registry, 2003-2005.*
  • By the year 2013, reduce asthma related hospitalizations in New York so that:
    • The age-adjusted asthma hospitalization rate is no more than 16.7 per 10,000. Baseline: 22.2 per 10,000, SPARCS, 2003-2005. (Healthy People 2010 objective not available for total population - 25% percent reduction from 2003-05 baseline.)
    • The asthma hospitalization rate among children (ages 0-17) is no more than 17.3 per 10,000. Baseline: 34.1 per 10,000, SPARCS, 2003-2005 (Healthy People 2010 objective)
  • By the year 2013, reduce the work-related hospitalization rate for employed New Yorkers to no more than 11.5 per 10,000 employees. Baseline: 15.3 per 10,000 employed ages 16+, SPARCS, 2003-2005. (Healthy People 2010 objective not available - 25% reduction from 2003-05 baseline.)

    * Healthy People 2010 Objective

County Strategies and Partners Matrix

The County Strategies and Partners Matrix for Healthy Environment was compiled from the 2010-2013 community health assessments submitted in 2009 by four local health departments. It describes how local health departments collaborate with hospitals and community organizations to plan and address this priority to improve population health outcomes.

Asthma

Lead in the Home

Occupational Health

More Environmental Health Programs



More Information

Center for Environmental Health
New York State Department of Health
547 River Street, Room 316
Troy, NY 12180
Environmental Health Information Line: 1-800-458-1158
CEHEDUC@health.state.ny.us