Chapter 7.5 Air quality characterization for environmental public health tracking

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been given the mandate to develop a national environmental public health tracking network (Tracking Network). The Tracking Network will require both environmental and public health data to be routinely available at a national scale. Historically, the only source of air quality data in the United States that was available on an ongoing and systematic basis at national levels was generated by ambient air monitoring networks put in place for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Air Quality Programs. However, new analysis techniques are being developed to use air quality modeling forecasts and satellite data to provide additional information to characterize air quality on a routine basis. With the public's expanding interest in the serious health effects associated with ozone and fine particles, public health officials are looking for ways to better use the available air quality data for use in the Tracking Network. The EPA and the CDC have conducted a collaborative effort entitled the Public Health Air Surveillance Evaluation (PHASE) to evaluate various air quality data sets, from routinely available sources, for specific use by public health officials. The U.S. EPA generated air quality data sets using ambient monitoring data, modeling results, and statistically combined monitoring and modeling data. The EPA, in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is also exploring the integration of satellite data with monitoring and modeling data sets to improve available air quality information. The resulting air quality estimates were provided to the CDC's Tracking Network State partners to evaluate the use of these air quality data sets in tracking potential associations between air quality and public health impacts (asthma and cardiovascular disease).