National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH)

The National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) plans, directs, and coordinates a national program to maintain and improve the health of the American people by promoting a healthy environment and by preventing premature death and avoidable illness and disability caused by non-infectious, non-occupational environmental and related factors.

NCEH’s Water-Related Activities

Division of Emergency and Environmental Health Services

• Developing environmental health policy and prevention programs to improve environmental public health practice nationwide;
• Providing resources and technical assistance on water-related environmental health issues (e.g., drinking water, wastewater, natural bodies of water, etc);
• Providing guidance and offering technical support on environmental health issues during the response to public health emergencies within the U.S. and internationally to:
  • state and local public health agencies; and
  • U.N. and non-governmental organizations providing humanitarian assistance to displaced populations or those affected by natural disasters or civil strife.

Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects

• Providing science-based information to public health decision-makers with the aim of improving their communities’ health.
• Conducting surveillance and epidemiologic investigations that increase knowledge about the relationships between human health and the environment in order to prevent environmental hazard exposures and minimize the effects of such exposures when they do occur.
• Developing public health programs and policies to prevent and control health problems associated with harmful environmental exposures, such as harmful algal blooms (Harmful Algal Bloom-related Illness Surveillance System (HABISS)) and other contaminants in drinking and recreational waters.
• Providing guidance and oversight for the Safe Water program, including providing funding for projects initiated by CDC investigators and for projects best executed at the Federal Agency level.
• Collecting, integrating, analyzing, and interpreting data about environmental hazards, exposure to environmental hazards, and health effects related to this exposure. This information is collected through CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network, in order to gather data and develop programs to prevent and control environmentally related diseases.

Division of Laboratory Sciences

• Develops and applies advanced laboratory technology to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of water-related disease resulting from exposure to toxic substances.

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