Epidemiology: Occupational and Environmental

Environmental Health Data Inventory

The North Carolina Environmental Health Data Inventory provides a listing of available national and state government databases that may be used for linking environmental hazards to health outcomes.

Originally created by the Data Sharing Workgroup of the North Carolina Environmental Health Collaborative (NCEHC), the inventory fulfills a recommendation from the 2010 Environmental Health Collaborative Summit, "America's Healthcare Policy through the Lens of Environmental Health." The original data inventory was updated in July 2021 in preparation for the launch of the Environmental Health Data Dashboard.

What's in the Inventory?

Click on the icon or heading to access a listing of data available for each topic area. The first two topic areas contain a table listing relevant state and national databases, the agency that manages each database, a short description of the data, data format, geographic scale, time period available, access restrictions (if any), and contact information for data requests where data are not publicly available. The third topic area links directly to the NC State Laboratory of Public Health’s website for information on available data and how to access it.

environmental hazards and exposures icon

Environmental Hazards and Exposures (PDF, 272 KB) - Includes database listings for contaminated sites (soil/groundwater); waste management facilities (Superfund, solid waste, hazardous waste, underground storage tanks, USEPA); aquifer protection (wastewater disposal, wells); outdoor air quality; public drinking water quality; shellfish sanitation; and recreational water quality.

health effects icon

Health Effects (PDF, 170 KB) - Includes hospital discharge data; emergency department visits; poison center data; surveillance for communicable diseases, cancer, conditions, nutrition and physical activity, risk factors; blood lead test results; pregnancy risks assessment monitoring; birth defects; and vital statistics (births, deaths, fetal deaths).

state laboratory of public health icon

State Laboratory of Public Health (website) - Clinical, environmental, and radiochemistry laboratory test results.

How to Use the Inventory

  • Each agency listed will have specific instructions about how access their data. Contact the corresponding data custodian for each listed database for these instructions or click on the website to download any publicly available data.
    • Data-sharing agreements may be required with the state agency serving as the custodian of the database.
    • Institutional and research procedures for securing and protecting data confidentiality should be in place prior to requesting identifiable health data.
  • Health data may be aggregated to prevent identification of individuals.
  • Both environmental and health databases featured are typically collected for regulation and monitoring rather than research purposes. Therefore, some types of research questions may not be suitable for these databases.
  • The inventory will be updated periodically to verify the availability of each database and the accuracy of contact information.

Questions?

For general questions regarding the inventory, contact the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch at (919) 707-5900 or OEEB@dhhs.nc.gov.

Last Modified: January 10, 2023