Government Environmental Health Resources

Federal The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a federal public health agency responsible for determining whether exposure to hazardous substances from a waste site or environmental spill or release might cause harm to people. This includes providing emergency care and testing of persons exposed to toxic chemicals, maintaining registries (or long-term health records) of these exposed persons, and maintaining a data bank of the hundreds of known toxic materials. The ATSDR is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Its headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and it has 10 regional offices and an office in Washington, DC.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the lead federal agency for developing and applying methods for disease prevention and control. It also develops environmental health and education activities to improve the health of the people of the United States. Located in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the CDC is an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The National Center for Environmental Health is a component of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Center's goal is preventing disability, disease, and death due to non-occupational environmental factors.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is one of 25 institutes and centers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is a component of the Department of Health and Human Services. NIEHS is the primary institute within the NIH that deals with toxicology and environmental health issues.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established in 1970 to act as an autonomous federal regulatory body to oversee the enforcement of environmental policy. The EPA's mission is to establish and enforce environmental protection standards, conduct research on the effects and control of pollution, strengthen environmental protection programs, advise on policy and assist in halting environmental pollution.

The United States Geological Survey is an independent fact-finding agency that collects, monitors, analyzes, and provides scientific understanding about natural resource conditions, issues, and problems. Created by an act of Congress in 1879, the USGS is today the sole science agency for the Department of the Interior.