This is from the NYAM Info Notes blog:
NIEHS Launches Website with global info system for assessing environmental hazards from Hurricane Katrina
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
NIH News
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, September 9, 2005
CONTACT: Christine Bruske, 919-541-3665, rmackar@niehs.nih.gov
NIEHS LAUNCHES WEBSITE WITH GLOBAL INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR ASSESSING
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS FROM HURRICANE KATRINA
NIEHS Launches Website with global info system for assessing environmental hazards from Hurricane Katrina
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
NIH News
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, September 9, 2005
CONTACT: Christine Bruske, 919-541-3665, rmackar@niehs.nih.gov
NIEHS LAUNCHES WEBSITE WITH GLOBAL INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR ASSESSING
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS FROM HURRICANE KATRINA
A new website with a Global Information System will provide valuable
information for assessing environmental hazards caused by Hurricane Katrina.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), one of the
National Institutes of Health, created the website to provide the most
up-to-date data to public health and safety workers on contaminants in flood
waters, infrastructure and industry maps, as well as demographic information
for local populations.
The NIEHS Hurricane Katrina Information Website accessible at
http://www-apps.niehs.nih.gov/katrina/ provides information on assessing and
evaluating hundreds of potentially hazardous environmental pollutants that
may pose a risk to human health. The website draws from information that
NIEHS has acquired from a variety of sources including its research
programs, as well as through its Superfund Basic Research Program, Worker
Education and Training Program, and Environmental Health Science Centers.
The website also includes a link to a new Global Information System (GIS)
that NIEHS is developing with several academic partners. The GIS will
contain layers of data, including the locations of refineries, oil
pipelines, industrial facilities, Superfund sites, Toxic Release Inventory
Data, agricultural operations, as well as maps and satellite images of
schools, neighborhoods, and medical facilities, that will help assess the
short and long effects of Katrina on the Gulf region.
"With a disaster of this magnitude, people need many things, including easy
access to science based information so they can make informed decisions to
further reduce their risk of harm," said NIEHS Director Dr. David Schwartz.
"Consolidating information in this new website is one vehicle that NIEHS is
using to help our fellow citizens."
Information in the GIS, such as the demographics of populations before
Katrina will be helpful as health officials treat displaced citizens who may
have been previously exposed to toxicants. Subsequent phases will provide
more in-depth information to fully assess exposures and make informed
decisions about risk of disease.
"This GIS has the capability of being a powerful tool to fully assess and
evaluate the short- and long-term environmental health effects of Hurricane
Katrina. It will help us all make informed decisions about the uncertainty
of risk of exposure and potentially enable us to better understand the links
between exposure and disease, "said William A. Suk, Ph.D., Director of the
NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program.
Other partners working with NIEHS in the development of the various phases
of the GIS include Duke University, University of California at San Diego,
University of Kentucky, Johns Hopkins, University of Arizona, Boston
University, Columbia University, Research Triangle Institute and Harvard
University.
The Hurricane Katrina Information Website also provides other ongoing NIEHS
efforts related to recovery efforts, including collaborations with other
federal agencies.
The NIEHS, a component of the National Institutes of Health, supports
research to understand the effects of the environment on human health. For
more information on environmental health topics, please visit our website at
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — "The Nation’s Medical Research
Agency" — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.
S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary Federal agency
for conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical
research, and investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common
and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit
http://www.nih.gov.
This NIH News Release is available online at:
http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/sep2005/niehs-09.htm.
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