Environmental Health of Communities

AirData: Access to Air Pollution Data
(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA))
At this site, you can create maps and reports based on annual summaries of air pollution data collected by the EPA. You can specify a specific location, down to county or zipcode level, or you can search by state, region, or nation. You can get information about particular pollutants at monitoring sites and levels of emissions for specific hazardous pollutants. The reports and maps can be complex to create and understand, but the instructions and explanations are helpful.
https://www.epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data
Census 2000 data for the State of South Carolina
(U.S. Census Bureau)
This is the US Census Bureau site for South Carolina's census information. It includes census tables and maps for the 2000 census. some comparison tables and reports for the 1990 and 2000 census are also available. Files are in various formats: Word, Excel, and .pdf. Some are available in more than one format.
https://www.census.gov/census2000/states/sc.html
Children’s Environmental Health Program
(Center for Health, Environment and Justice)
Children’s Environmental Health Program is an effort to channel the rising concern of parents and communities across the country into effective and coordinated grassroots action aimed at eliminating environmental health hazards from schools. The site offers well-documented reports discussing the environmental problems found in the nation's schools and the threats they present to children's health. School Siting Guidelines suggest a model for legislation.
http://archive.chej.org/campaigns/cehp/
Creating Healthy Indoor Air Quality in Schools
(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
This EPA site focuses on creating a safe and healthy learning environment and maintaining good indoor air quality in schools. Tools include kits that show schools how to carry out a practical plan of action to improve indoor air problems at little or no cost using straightforward activities and in-house staff. Select the IAQ DESIGN Tools for Schools link for recommendations and tools to help communities and design professionals integrate good indoor air quality practices into the design, construction, renovation, and operation and maintenance of K-12 school facilities.
https://www.epa.gov/iaq-schools
Designing and Building Heathy Places
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
CDC created this site to help people educate themselves about aspects of the environment that can promote health and well-being. The site discusses the public health implications of the interactions between people and the built environment. Learn about communities and health topics such as physical activity, respiratory health, social capital, children's and elders' health, water quality, and more. Links to other good Web sites are listed in each topic.
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/
Envirofacts Data Warehouse
(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
This Web site provides access to several EPA databases to provide information about environmental activities that may affect air, water, and land anywhere in the United States. With Envirofacts, you can learn more about these environmental activities in your area or you can generate maps of environmental information. Topics include Waste, Water, Toxics, Air, Radiation, Land, Other, and Maps. Put in your Zipcode to get information about sites of environmental hazards, watersheds, facilities reporting to EPA, flood zones, and other local data.
https://www3.epa.gov/enviro/
Environmental Permitting
(South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control)
This page provides names and phone numbers of people you can contact for information about South Carolina's environmental regulations and permitting requirements. Sections include Air Quality, Land and Waste Management, Environmental Laboratory Certification, Underground Storage Tanks, Water, and more. There is also a link to the Environmental Permitting Handbook, a General Guide to Environmental Permitting in South Carolina. This booklet is a .pdf file.
https://www.scdhec.gov/permits-regulations/permit-central
Ground-Level Ozone Forecast
(Bureau of Air Quality)
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control shows you what the air quality is in your part of South Carolina. This site is updated daily and indicates ozone levels in the upstate, midlands, and central Savannah River area. In addition to the map, sections include more specific information about the air quality index, common questions about ozone, and links to national ozone forecasts.
https://apps.dhec.sc.gov/Environment/OzoneForecast/
Health Care Without Harm
"Health Care Without Harm is an international coalition of hospitals and health care systems, medical professionals, community groups, health-affected constituencies, labor unions, environmental and environmental health organizations and religious groups." Their mission is to "transform the health care industry worldwide, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment." Learn about the dangers and alternatives to the use of PVC plastics, mercury, and other toxic chemicals in hospitals. Learn why the use of antibiotics in the food supply is dangerous. Other topics include pesticides and cleaners, electronic waste, healthy building and medical waste. The site includes fact sheets, policies, and guidlelines fthat hospitals and health care institutions can use to become more environmentally healthy.
https://noharm.org
Healthy People Living in Healthy Communities
(DHEC)
The 2009 annual report of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is a good resource for learning about the environmental issues that South Carolina citizens and communities are living with. Planning efforts and projects by DHEC, citizens groups, and other partnerships are described.
https://www.scdhec.gov/sites/default/files/Library/ML-006048.pdf
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Healthy Places by Design
This national program aims to increase active living and healthier lifestyles through community design. The site offers information that will help citizens, city planners, and community groups learn about issues like land use, parks, trails and greenways, how to make physical activity more accessible and safe, and how to raise awareness and change behaviors.
https://activelivingbydesign.org/
MyEnvironment
(Environmental Protection Agency)
Enter zipcode and choose from four databases to retrieve environmental information about your community. Select Envirofacts for information about Pollution, hazardous waste sites, and other regulatory information. EnviroMapper creates customizable maps of regulated sites in the US. Surf Your Watershed contains Environmental conditions and activities in watersheds. UV Index has daily forecasts of the expected intensity of ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
https://www3.epa.gov/enviro/myenviro/
Rural Indicators Map Machine
(Economic Research Service, USDA)
This tool combines data from several government agencies that provides a visual way to view indicators for rural areas. It can be a useful resource for service agencies and others who need data for reports or to support grant projects, budget requests, and other funding issues. State and county level data are available. You can find out about indicators like population change, unemployment rate, and household income. New indicators and features will be added in the future. Scroll down to instructions/helpful hints and select Find out more on using the Rural Map machine to learn about the data and how to use it to learn about your area of interest.
https://wayback.archive-it.org/5923/20110904000532/http://ers.usda.gov/data
/RuralMapMachine/
South Carolina Coastal Conservation League
This grassroots, nonprofit conservation organization works with citizens and government toward finding solutions to environmental problems. Here you can learn about protecting South Carolina’s beautiful natural landscapes, wildlife, clean water and traditional communities. Conservation issues like land use, water quality, forestry and wildlife, are covered.
https://coastalconservationleague.org/
The Sustainability Institute
This institute is committed to creating homes and communities that are environmentally sound and comfortable. Located in North Charleston, the main office serves as an example of an older home renovated using environmentally friendly materials and techniques. Click here to learn how to save energy and water and to create green spaces. See how to build or renovate a “green home” and how to make “green” choices. Click on the Events Calendar to learn about workshops, community meetings, and other events.
http://sustainabilityinstitutesc.org/
Tox Town
(National Library of Medicine)
Tox Town uses neighborhood scenes - the Port, City, Town, Farm, and US-Mexico Border region - along with color, graphics, sounds and animation to add interest to learning about connections between chemicals, the environment and the public's health. Each scene focuses on unique environmental health concerns. Tox Town's target audience is the interested public, plus high school, college and graduate students, and educators (see the link on the home page For teachers). Tox Town also has a growing number of resources en español.
https://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/
TOXMAP
(National Library of Medicine)
TOXMAP uses maps of the United States and local areas to explore data about the release of toxic chemicals. The data is from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory. Maps show where these chemicals are released on-site into the air, water, and ground, and identify the releasing facilities, single year releases, and chemical release trends over time. You can search the system by chemical name, chemical name fragment, and/or location (such as city, state, or zip code).
https://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov/toxmap/

Last Modified: Friday October 25, 2019 3:58 PM