Maryland Department of Health
Environmental Health

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​​National Environmental Public Health Tracking Week



Environmental Public Health Tracking Awareness Week 2022

Welcome to Maryland Environmental Public Health Tracking (MD EPHT) - your gateway to environmental and health data resources. You can work with MD EPHT data, tools, resources, and partnerships to assess and evaluate a variety of environment and health topics in Mar​​yland. MD EPHT is supported with a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Environmental Public Health Tracking program, (CDC-RFA-EH17-1702).

The CDC Environmental Public Health Tracking program, Tracking Network data, can be used to prepare for and respond to natural disasters or other public health emergencies. Explore the types of data on the CDC EPHT website that can be used to identify threats or make informed decisions during an emergency or disaster response.

In order to respond to COVID-19 in Maryland communities, MDH had to utilize innovative approaches to track the disease. MD EPHT collaborated with Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and Baltimore City on wastewater sampling for COVID-19 at several locations. MD EPHT works with MDE on analysis of wastewater sampling data in the context of infection rates.
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Everyone deserves the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards. 

MD EPHT is partnering with the University of Maryland's Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health (CEEJH) to use MD EPHT Portal, data, and products to better understand environmental injustice across Maryland. MD EPHT and CEEJH collaborated on communications and data stories to describe disparities related to environment and health. Check out these resources:

The CDC National Tracking Network data can be used to assess trends and events to determine which communities may be at risk. Learn more about environmental justice

The Tracking Network allows you to visualize data in many different resolutions, and is working towards getting even more localized health and environmental data. MD EPHT relies on interagency partnerships to collaborate on local data and programs. MD EPHT has partnered with the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) since 2002, and collaborates with MDE on air quality and radon initiatives. This includes providing radon data, education for homeowners at the MDH Environmental Health Helpline (866-703-3266 or mdh.envhealth@maryland.gov), and an online order form for free radon test kits. 


You can also visit the CDC National Tracking Program to learn more about tracking geographies and how viewing data at different resolutions can help us better understand the connections between health and the places where we live, work, and play.

The Tracking Program has developed a variety of interactive data tools and resources to provide a more complete, detailed picture of important environmental health topics. 

You can use the MD EPHT Portal to create maps of different environmental public health topics in Mar​​yland. The MDE  has been developing a new screening tool and recently shared an online beta version of the Environmental Justice Screening Tool for review and input.

You can also view the CDC National Tracking Program “Powered by Tracking” dashboards, use the data explorer tool, or access a variety of resources to learn more about important issues that affect environmental health. 

The Tracking Program team and partners work to use environment and health data to implement policy changes, improve public health efficiencies, and impact citizens in state and local communities.

MD EPHT collaborates with Green and Health Homes Initiative (GHHI) and Maryland American Academy of Pediatrics to conduct an online webinar series for healthcare providers.  Please find recordings of these webinars on the MDH Environmental Health Training and Instructional Materials web page. 

In addition, find the recording of the 2022 Asthma Summit here:

Visit the CDC National Tracking Network website to see more success stories.