This intramural research effort involves a number of pilot projects related to primary prevention of environmental disease including the following: 1) Mapping of environmental exposures using a Geographic Information System (GIS) - Initially this project is primarily focusing on North Carolina. The purpose of the project is to graphically display a variety of environmental databases and relate this data to demographic and geographic characteristics. This type of analysis is useful for examining issues related to environmental equity, for targeting prevention programs, and for environmental epidemiology. GIS program (Arclnfor) has been purchased, and is up and running with data from the toxic release inventory and census data from the state of North Carolina. Other related projects supported by the Office of Disease Prevention include, the use of a GIS to identify high risk areas for childhood lead poisoning, being done by NC Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources (NCDEHNR); and an environmental epidemiology study of asthma related air pollutants being conducted by the Medical College of Wisconsin. 2) Prevention of childhood lead poisoning - two projects involving an evaluation of prevention strategies within the NCDEHNR were conducted. One project examined the sources of lead exposure among children with moderate blood lead levels (15-25 ug/dl) and the other study attempted to identify prevention strategies that were successful in lowering blood lead levels in children with exposure levels greater than 25 ug/dl. Other efforts will continue to identify and characterize populations at risk for environmental disease and to evaluate primary prevention strategies, including environmental education.
