Tracking is when we compile, analyze, and communicate data about our environment and health in order to protect communities from environmental hazards and disease.

During this week, state and local tracking programs across the country are sharing activities and accomplishments related to this year's theme of Healthy Communities. The CDC's National Tracking Program is also highlighting Tracking's impact in communities across the county, following these daily topics: 

• Monday:  Health Equity
• Tuesday:  Children
• Wednesday:  Rural/Urban communities
• Thursday:  Women's Health
• Friday:  Healthy Schools

To learn more:

• Join the #WeTrackThat conversation on Facebook and Twitter
• Participate in CDC's live Twitter chat #TrackingChat 
• Visit CDC's Tracking Awareness Week webpage

Advancing community air monitoring

Over the past year, we focused significant effort in completing the last stages of our  NIEHS-funded project to develop a community air monitoring network, in partnership with Comite Civico del Valle and the University of Washington.  This has included sharing results with the community, ensuring sustainability of the network, and documenting lessons learned. 

Project team and partners receive recognition from the Office of Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia.

In honor of our accomplishments in developing an innovative community air monitoring network in Imperial County, our program team and project partners received recognition from the CA State Assembly and Senate at a ceremony in Heber, CA, on April 26th. 

Our project has also been influential in the passage and implementation of AB 617 (Garcia), which requires air districts to develop community air monitoring networks in communities disproportionately burdened by air pollution.

In the upcoming year, we will continue supporting communities in developing air monitoring networks through various activities, including providing technical assistance to community-based organizations planning their own air monitoring networks, conducting workshops on community air monitoring, publishing results of our project, and producing a community air monitoring manual.

Improving efforts to collect drinking water system data

Our  Water Boundary Tool (WBT) serves as a centralized location for creating and collecting maps of customer service areas for all drinking water systems in California. The only system of its kind in California, data collected via the WBT are being shared and used by state and local water agencies, researchers, emergency preparedness programs, and others to conduct essential public health activities.

Example of WBT use: Map of water systems and wildfire, shared with state and local public health and emergency response programs during October 2017 wildfires in Northern CA.

This past year we have been working to substantially improve the underlying data systems for this tool to ensure more accurate data collection and storage.  We also continue to work with water systems to add new boundaries, which are updated in real-time on the WBT. You can explore the data on our interactive map or by registering to download the data.

Assessing the economic costs of pollution on health

In April, we released results from a study examining the costs of preterm birth due to particulate matter (PM). We found that about 3,000 preterm births and over $1 billion dollars in costs could be avoided by eliminating preventable PM pollution. These findings can help decision makers to make more informed choices when considering policies to improve air quality. 

We continue to update the maps, tables, and charts on our website for a variety of topics, including pesticide use, asthma, heat-related illness and death, and more.   Start exploring our website  today.