Kansas Tracking Program

Website: https://keap.kdhe.ks.gov/Ephtm/Default
Email: kdhe.ksepht@ks.gov

Goal:

The goal of the Kansas Tracking Program is to protect and improve the health and environment of all Kansans. The Kansas Tracking Program’s overall purpose is to conduct environmental health surveillance to guide public health action to prevent or lessen effects of environmental hazards.

Quick Stats:

• Kansas is the geographical center of the United States and known as the Wheat State or breadbasket of the country, growing more wheat than any other state.
• It is home to more than 2.8 million people with over half of the 105 counties designated as rural or frontier.
• Kansas is known for its agriculture and ranching heritage, and also has an aircraft-manufacturing center, mining industry, and is a petroleum producer. Processes from these industries can effect environmental health, and environmental contaminants and drinking water quality are of particular concern in Kansas.

Milestones:

Important events and achievements of the tracking program

Unique Data:

In addition to the set of standard data collected and displayed by all state and local tracking programs, individual programs may host data that are important to their populations. Kansas Tracking has unique data on:

• Kansas Background Radiation
• Harmful Algal Bloom
• Prescribed Burning
• Rabies Surveillance
• Tickborne Disease

Accomplishments:

• Harmful Algal Blooms: Kansas Tracking initiated Harmful Algal Bloom surveillance in the state and continues to conduct investigations
• Background Radiation: Kansas Tracking has collaborated with the Kansas Radiation Control program on a statewide soil sampling project to establish background radiation levels for Kansas. The data will help to identify areas of uranium, thorium, and radium concentration and correlate those levels with other sources of data related to Kansas geology.