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Halaco, Oxnard - Public Health Activities (edited 07/05/08)
California Environmental Health Tracking Program (CEHTP) (edited 07/01/08)
Electric and Magnetic Fields (edited 06/30/08)
From exposure to illness: community health studies and environmental contamination (edited 06/11/08)

Frequently-Asked Questions

What does statistically significant mean? -- In epidemiological studies, there is a need to quantify the extent to which random variability could produce results like those observed in a given study....
What is a biologic mark of exposure? -- A biologic marker of exposure is a chemical or its metabolite measured in human body fluids or tissues that can be used to validate human exposure to a hazardous substance.
What is a cancer cluster investigation? -- A cluster study (most often a cancer study) is a descriptive study involving a review of an unusual number, real or perceived, of health events (for example, reports of cancer) grouped together in time...
What is a case report or case series? -- A case report is a descriptive study of a single individual (case report) or small group (case series) in which the possibility of an association between an observed effect and a specific environmental...
What is a case-control study? -- A case-control study is an analytical study which compares individuals who have a specific disease ("cases") with a group of individuals without the disease ("controls")....
What is a chemical substance? -- A chemical substance is a material defined in the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 to be any organic or inorganic substance of a particular molecular identity.
What is a cohort study? -- A cohort study is an analytical study in which individuals with differing exposures to a suspected factor are identified and then observed for the occurrence of certain health effects over some period,...
What is a community health study and potential challenges of conducting one? -- A community health study can help suggest a link between an environmental exposure and illness....
What is a confounding factor? -- Epidemiological studies search for the causes of diseases, based on associations with various risk factors that are measured in the study....
What is a correlational study? -- Correlational (sometimes called ecologic) studies explore the statistical connection between disease in different population groups and estimated exposures in groups rather than individuals....
What is a cross-sectional study? -- A cross-sectional study is a descriptive study in which disease and exposure status are measured simultaneously in a given population....
What is a descriptive study? -- Descriptive epidemiologic studies examine differences in disease rates among populations in relation to age, gender, race, and differences in temporal or environmental conditions....
What is a Geographic Information System (GIS)? -- A Geographic Information System (GIS) is computer software mapping technology....
What is a hazardous waste? -- A hazardous waste is a material defined in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 to be in solid, liquid, semisolid, or gaseous form, that "may......
What is a health consultation? -- A health consultation is a written report that provides advice on a specific public health issue related to real or possible human exposure to toxic material....
What is a public health assessment? -- A public health assessment is a written report that reviews available information about hazardous substances at a site and evaluates whether exposure to them might cause any harm to people....
What is a site team? -- The site team is a work group of individuals with environmental, health, and community expertise who can contribute to the public health assessment process....
What is a superfund site? -- A hazardous waste site becomes a Superfund site when it is placed on the U.S....
What is a surveillance system? -- Surveillance systems are generally designed to attain complete or nearly complete coverage of every identified instance of a defined condition in a specific population (for instance, a cancer registry)....
What is an analytical study? -- Analytical epidemiologic studies are most useful for testing an hypothesized association between human exposure and adverse health effects....
What is an exposure assessment? -- Exposure assessment is the process to ascertain the total exposure to individuals from a given source of living or working in a certain area....
What is ATSDR? -- The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a federal public health agency whose mission is to prevent exposure and adverse human health effects and diminished quality of life associated...
What is community involvement? -- Community involvement is a component of environmental health investigations (public health assessments, exposure assessments, epidemiological studies) which identifies community health concerns and provides...
What is environmental community health education? -- Environmental community health education is aimed at promoting health and providing information and training to a community about hazardous substances that may exist in their community, and exposure and...
What is environmental health? -- Different agencies define "environmental health" in different ways....
What is environmental justice? -- Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement...
What is epidemiology? -- Epidemiology is the study of the occurrence and causes of health effects in human populations....
What is health professional education? -- Health professional education in environmental health is aimed an improving the knowledge, skill, and behavior of health professionals concerning taking an exposure history, understanding the geographical...
What is risk assessment? -- The process of assessing the likelihood that a given hazardous material may contribute to a particular disease or ill health....