1. ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE The Environmental Defense Chemical Scorecard National Infrastructure for Community Statistics February 16, 2005 John M. Balbus MD, MPH Director, Health Program Environmental Defense

2. ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH An introduction to Environmental Defense Founded in 1967 by scientist, high school teacher, and lawyerFounded in 1967 by scientist, high school teacher, and lawyer Now 270 people in eight offices around the USNow 270 people in eight offices around the US –Professional staff includes lawyers, economists, scientists –45+ million dollar annual budget “Finding the ways that work”“Finding the ways that work”

3. ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Introduction to Environmental Defense Scorecard website Started on-line in 1998Started on-line in 1998 Provides unique context for environmental informationProvides unique context for environmental information –User-friendly –Extensive health effects information –Screening-level risk assessment allows comparisons between releases and locations

4. ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Scorecard’s current status #1 ranked site for “environmental-” and “local pollution”: Google, Yahoo, etc.#1 ranked site for “environmental-” and “local pollution”: Google, Yahoo, etc. 40-100,000 unique monthly visitors40-100,000 unique monthly visitors Deep links to health effects data from US EPA and other websitesDeep links to health effects data from US EPA and other websites

5. ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Scorecard’s Structure Eight “layers”Eight “layers” –Toxic Chemical Releases –Lead Hazards –Superfund –Smog and Particulates –Hazardous Air Pollutants –Clean Water Act –Watershed indicators –Animal Waste Environmental justice analysisEnvironmental justice analysis Health effects dataHealth effects data 400+ databases400+ databases –TRI –Air Quality System –National Emissions Trends –National Air Toxics Asst. –US Census –California chemical lists –Risk scoring systems 100 Gb of data processed to 5- 7 Gb100 Gb of data processed to 5- 7 Gb

6. ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Data integration Scorecard uses set of identifiers to align datasetsScorecard uses set of identifiers to align datasets –CAS numbers, FIPS codes, facility identifiers Creates tables of releases aggregated by zipcodes, counties, statesCreates tables of releases aggregated by zipcodes, counties, states –Raw release data converted to toxic equivalencies, risk scores, sorted by health effect Over 100 scripts run to generate ranking tables and graphicsOver 100 scripts run to generate ranking tables and graphics

7. ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Maintaining a rich resource…

8. ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Summary Scorecard uniquely combines EPA exposure and release data with health effects dataScorecard uniquely combines EPA exposure and release data with health effects data Future of Scorecard unclear at this pointFuture of Scorecard unclear at this point

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