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COMMENTARY: Improving Community Health: Brownfields and Health Monitoring

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2009

Laurel Berman ,
Deborah Orr  and
Tina Forrester
Laurel Berman*
Affiliation:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), Brownfields Coordinator, Division of Regional Operations, Region 5 Office, Chicago, Illinois
Deborah Orr
Affiliation:
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)Region 5 Office, Chicago, Illinois
Tina Forrester
Affiliation:
ATSDR, Director, Division of Regional Operations, Atlanta, Georgia
*
Address correspondence to: Laurel Berman, ATSDRRegion 5 Office, 77 West Jackson Blvd., Ste. 413, ATSD-4J, Chicago, Illinois 60604, (phone) 312-886-0840; (fax) 312-886-6066, (email) LABerman@cdc.gov
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Abstract

This commentary highlights efforts to promote health monitoring in brownfields communities. Both the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) recognize how public health may be improved by including a holistic approach to redevelopment that includes community health monitoring activities. Health monitoring goes beyond testing blood samples to address potentially toxic exposures and can be implemented to assess overall community health status throughout the course of community revitalization efforts. Examples of health monitoring activities include asthma or blood lead level screening, reviewing health statistics, environmental testing, and evaluation of community-specific health concerns. While health monitoring is encouraged as an activity within US EPA Brownfields funding, the number of communities that implement health monitoring programs is low. To encourage more communities to implement health monitoring activities, with or without Brownfields funding, this paper describes several projects by health agencies and communities to represent best practice examples. To facilitate more community health monitoring projects, the ATSDR has created and continues to create tools and resources to assist brownfield and land-reuse communities. In addition, the ATSDR and the US EPA are working together to build internal as well as community capacity to monitor community health through redevelopment activities.

Environmental Practice 11:190–195 (2009)

Type
FEATURES
Information
Environmental Practice , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , September 2009 , pp. 190 - 195
Copyright
Copyright © National Association of Environmental Professionals 2009

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