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GIS Applications in Environmental Health

Environmental Health comprises those aspects of human health, including quality of life, that are determined by interactions with physical, chemical, biological and social factors in the environment. It also refers to the theory and practice of assessing, correcting, controlling and preventing those factors in the environment that may adversely affect the health of present and future generations. The BHC Environmental Public Health Department is a regulatory agency involved in water quality, well permitting, enforcing the Iowa Food Code through establishment inspections and licensing, disease vector prevention/surveillance, nuisance control/tracking, environmental contamination monitoring. GIS has proved to be indispensable as a powerful tool in the Health Department. Spatial data has played a major role in project communication, planning for efficiency and dispersion of resources, tracking environmental activities and effectiveness of various programs, routing staff and work load balancing, modeling underground contamination as it relates to water quality regulation and well permitting, assessing need for program funding justification.