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Tracking Pollution in the Community

Pollution poses a significant public health risk to Americans. For instance, from 2004 to 2009, more than 20 percent of water-treatment systems in the U.S. violated critical provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act, according to The New York Times. The contaminants consumed as a result of these violations have been linked to millions of instances of illness. It is possible to track pollution in your community by taking advantage of numerous resources, including several provided by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

  1. AirCompare

    • AirCompare is an online resource that allows you to compare air quality in different counties and states, as well as find monthly averages for air-based health concerns in specific locations. Results are based on the Air Quality Index, a 500-point scale that enables comparisons of air quality in different areas. AirCompare is hosted by the EPA and produced by federal, state and local government agencies, including the National Weather Service and National Park Service.

    Scorecard -- The Pollution Information Site

    • Scorecard is a non-government site that collects pollution-related information from hundreds of government databases. It provides information on toxic chemicals, air quality and water quality for communities across the United States, such as Clean Water Act compliance and the number of Superfund sites in the area. Scorecard also provides comparisons between communities.

    EPA - Search Your Environment

    • The EPA offers an online resources for tracking a variety of potential pollutants in your community. At the EPA's "Search Your Environment" site, you can find such information as toxic chemical releases, Superfund sites, air emissions and lists of EPA-regulated facilities in a given ZIP code.

    TOXMAP

    • TOXMAP provides tracking of Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and Superfund sites through an interactive map and location-specific searching. The TRI lists facilities that process particularly high amounts of certain chemicals per year. Superfund sites are those identified as candidates for environmental cleanup because of risks posed to human health or the environment. TOXMAP is provided by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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