CDC Environmental Health Nexus Newsletter
Healthy Environment, Healthy You
June 2023 | Volume 20
EH Nexus newsletters provide information about environmental health issues and promotes actions to help save lives. The newsletters explain how to reduce harm from many threats, such as climate change, contaminated food and water, toxic environments, and inadequate systems and practices.
This issue covers the following topics:
If the newsletter was emailed directly to you, we thank you for joining our subscription distribution list. If you are not a subscriber, please click here, enter your email address, and click the subscribe button.
Hurricanes and Other Tropical Storms
Hurricanes are dangerous and destructive. Known also as cyclones and typhoons in other parts of the world, hurricanes cause high winds, flooding, heavy rain, and storm surges.
Learn more about hurricanes and other tropical storms so you can be prepared to keep your family safe.
- Before
- Cover windows with storm shutters or plywood.
- Tune in for local information.
- Know how to turn off your gas, electricity, and water in case you need to evacuate.
- Secure outdoor items by moving them to the garage.
- Make an emergency kit.
- Designate a shelter area if you can’t evacuate. Rooms without windows are best.
- After
- If your home has damage, do not reenter until it has been examined by a building inspector for safety.
- Prevent mold growth; by airing out rooms and disinfecting.
- Tap water may not be safe to drink. Listen to local warnings.
- Throw away food that may be unsafe.
- Prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. Use generators, stoves, and grills outside and away from windows and doors.
Learn more about how to prepare for hurricanes and how to stay safe after a hurricane. For more information
For more information on Food, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Information for Use Before and After a Disaster or Emergency.
Prevent Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Fuel-burning equipment creates carbon monoxide (CO). This can include equipment like generators, pressure washers, charcoal grills, and camp stoves. You can’t smell or see carbon monoxide, but if it builds up in your home, it can cause sudden illness and death.
- Never use portable gasoline or coal-burning equipment or camp stoves inside your home, basement, or garage. Keep it outside and at least 20 feet from any window, door, or vent.
- Use a battery-operated or battery backup CO detector any time you use a generator or anything else that burns fuel.
- If you have a CO detector and it starts beeping, leave your home right away and call 911
Check out Carbon Monoxide Poisoning After a Disaster for more information.
Take Care of Your Emotional Health
During and after a hurricane, it is natural to experience different and strong emotions. Coping with these feelings and getting help when you need it will help you, your family, and your community recover from a disaster.
- Connect with family, friends, and others in your community.
- Take care of yourself, each other, and know when and how to seek help.
Learn more on how to take care of your emotional health after a disaster.
New environmental health resource for the 10 Essential Public Health Services
The 10 Essential Public Health Services provide a framework for public health and promote the health of all people in all communities. To achieve equity, these services were revised in 2020 to actively promote policies, systems, and overall community conditions that enable optimal health for all and seek to remove systemic and structural barriers that have resulted in health inequities. Visit our new web resource describing how environmental health programs
- help deliver the 10 Essential Public Health Services in their communities and
- link to and support broader public health initiatives such as public health accreditation.
VIDEO: Why are environmental health services so important?
How do environmental health professionals work with epidemiology and laboratory professionals to protect public health?
Learn how the practice of environmental health answers how and why a disease occurs, recommends actions to stop outbreaks and prevent future ones, and shields hosts from harmful agents through environmental controls [available in English and Spanish].
Resources for environmental health aquatic programs
Explore the updated Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC) and related inspection resources.
- Our updated inspection form can be used to conduct inspections based on the MAHC.
- Additional inspection form resources help aquatic staff members calculate inspection scores and find MAHC provisions by inspection item.
Communicate recreational water inspection data consistently with the new Standard for Aquatic Facility Environments–Data (SAFE-D) model.
- Each of the more than 3,000 environmental public health programs across the country collects and manages aquatic information differently.
- SAFE-D is a standardized format for publishing aquatic facility inspection information across jurisdictions. This model was produced by the National Environmental Health Association in collaboration with CDC.
CDC Workshop on Applied Epidemiology and Environmental Health
July 18, 2023
9:45 a.m.–5:30 p.m. ET
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Environmental Health Nexus is hosting its second annual environmental epidemiology methods workshop titled “Applied Epidemiology and Environmental Health: Selected Study Designs and Applications for Causal Inference” on July 18, 2023. Subject matter experts from CDC, state and local health departments, and academia will discuss innovative epidemiologic methods and how they can be applied to environmental health research and practice.
Practical Considerations in Causal Inference
Sonja Swanson, ScD
Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology
University of Pittsburgh
Difference-in-Differences Studies
Neil Pearce, BSc, PhD, DSc
Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Regression Discontinuity and Interrupted Time Series Studies
Antonio Gasparrini, BSc, Mbiol, MSc, PhD
Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Application of Negative Controls to Identify Noncausal Associations
Eric J. Tchetgen Tchetgen, PhD
The Luddy Family President’s Distinguished Professor
Professor of Biostatistics, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Informatics
Professor, Department of Statistics and Data Science
University of Pennsylvania
Moderator
W. Dana Flanders, MD, DSc, MPH
Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health
Emory University
Registration
Please register online at https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_aCzdVUeKRJ-9seUF_GUTDQ. Registration is free.
More information
For more information, please visit (link to workshop webpage) or contact envepiworkshop@cdc.gov.
Thank you for reading. Do not keep this great resource to yourself! Please share it with your colleagues and networks.
If you are not yet a subscriber, please click here, enter your email address, and click the subscribe button at the bottom of the webpage.
