Data Sources

Environmental Data

Washington Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (WTN) is working to improve access to and use of environmental data to inform public health decisions and actions. The Washington State Department of Ecology’s Environmental Information Management (EIM) System is a primary source for this data.

Washington State Department of Health (DOH) uses data from the Washington State Department of Ecology's EIM. DOH retrieves EIM data regarding levels of PCB and methyl mercury in fish tissue samples and uses that information to develop fish consumption advisories for areas throughout Washington State. WTN has developed a tool that integrates EIM data and other data sources, standardizes methodologies, and increases the efficiency of advisory development.

Exposure Data

Measurement of human exposure to environmental contaminants poses many challenges and is costly to track consistently over a sustained period of time at the population level.  Washington has maintained, however, a registry of children and adults who have been exposed to lead (Pb.) WTN is working with the Childhood Lead Registry and the Adult Blood Lead Registry to improve the efficiency and usability of those registries.

WTN is also developing methods for tracking exposures over time and in different parts of the state using surveys, sampling, and bio-monitoring. For example, in Washington questions were added to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to collect information about fish consumption and awareness of fish consumption advisories. This information can, in turn, be used in combination with fish tissue sampling data to estimate population-level exposures to fish contaminants such as PCBs and methyl mercury. The BRFSS has also been used to gather information about household use of pesticides, drinking water sources and well testing, perceptions of indoor air quality, and household mold presence.

WTN has also helped develop plans to directly measure exposures to environmental hazards through efforts such as state-wide bio-monitoring or a state-level Health And Nutrition Examination Survey (HANES) study. While not currently funded, any future implementation of these projects would yield powerful information concerning human exposure to agents in the environment.

DOH has also worked with the Department of Labor and Industries to establish Cholinesterase Monitoring among workers who handle toxicity class I or II organophosphate or N-methyl-carbamate pesticides. A blood test helps to detect pesticide overexposure in these workers; if needed, action can be taken to prevent symptomatic pesticide illness. WTN contributed to this system by developing the Cholinesterase Monitoring Data System (CMDS,) which sends out automated “alerts” when a farm worker’s lab test results indicates pesticide overexposure.

Health Outcome Data

DOH currently tracks several conditions and diseases that potentially have a relationship to environmental hazards and exposures, including birth defects, asthma, pesticide illnesses, and cancer.  WTN is working with programs throughout DOH to improve the efficiency, access and usability of these information systems used to monitor these health conditions.

WTN efforts have focused primarily on information systems related to notifiable conditions that may have environmental determinants. WTN is working to complement the agency's overall effort to automate and standardize reporting of diseases in Washington State.