EPA Tools and Resources Webinar: Environmental Quality Index (EQI)

The difficulties in examining the many broad-based environmental factors impacting human health outcomes are increasingly recognized, with exposures to harmful and benign substances occurring simultaneously.  Yet, it is unlikely that any single exposure alone is responsible for good or poor health.  Each exposure estimated in epidemiologic models accounts for a relatively small proportion of observed variance in health outcomes.  Clearly, it is not just good-quality air or high income that produces health but, rather, the combination of these and other various exposures or health-related variables.  One limitation to current approaches in environmental research is their focus on single exposure categories.
 
A scale or index produced through data reduction approaches could be used to help improve statistical efficiency, while simultaneously summarizing information on the wider environment humans are exposed to.  An EQI for all counties in the United States for the time period 2000-2005 was developed, which incorporated data for five environmental domains: air, water, land, built, and socio-demographic. The primary goal in creating the EQI is to use it as a composite environmental indicator for research on human health.  The following webinar will explore these various EQI considerations:
Date and Time:  January 18, 2017; 3:00-4:00 PM ET
Who should attend?  State environmental and health agencies, tribes, local governments, communities and others interested in learning about their environment’s quality at the county level.
To join the webinar, please register:
http://epawebconferencing.acms.com/eqiwebinar/event/registration.html
In addition to webinar audio, you my dial: 1-866-299-3188 Access Code: 2025646669. Please note telephone lines are limited and muted during the webinar. If you are unable to connect via phone during the webinar, you will be able listen through computer speakers.
Additional information and webinar recordings can be found:
https://www.epa.gov/research/epa-tools-and-resources-webinar-series
Please contact Lisa Matthews matthews.lisa@epa.gov for more information or Amy Scheuer scheuer.amy@epa.gov with registration questions!
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