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WATER G'R.EMLIN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSESSMENT <br />Appendix G - Community Health Studies and Environmental <br />Contamination <br />DEPARTMENT <br />OF HEALTH <br />Community Health Studies and <br />Environmental Contamination <br />Comm unities.may.want or request health studies from their local ❑rstate.health departments in <br />response: to news of environmental contamination and/or percelved high rates of disease. <br />What is a health study? <br />A health study is a.study that can potentially inform you and your community about health risks and <br />outcomes that are related to:enviironmental exposures —Health studies look for evidence of a shared <br />experience (exposure to a chemical) that is capable of causing a. disease of concern, <br />Challenges to Conducting Health Studies <br />Health studies -are not commonly carried out. They are only worthwhile if there is a strong possib.ility. <br />that the study could find a link between exposure and. illness.. There are many challenges to conducting <br />health studies; including, but not. limited to: <br />Information needed is unavailable <br />The amount of contaminants. people. are exposed to is hard.to know; exposures can <br />be short-term -arid intermittent. <br />Because surveillance data doesn't exist for most chronic diseases, it is difficult to <br />determine the expected rate of health conditions for comparison to determine <br />whether the. rate in a:particular.area is increased. <br />HeaIfh. studies may be unable to produce results <br />Environmental exposures are often too low to cause observable health effects. <br />Elevated rates of health effects are very hard to identify unless very high exposures <br />occurred., similarto occupational exposures. <br />Diseases typically have multiple causes. Health studies are not able to identify or <br />establish the cause of any individuals. illness: At best, they would only be able to find <br />a correlation lassociationj between and exposure and an outcome -this is not the <br />same as proof of cause and effect. <br />A study that is unable to demonstratea link.between exposures and disease can <br />be frustrating and disappointing and may be viewed as evidence of no <br />88 <br />