CDC's National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program (National Tracking Program), is hosting the ninth annual Tracking Awareness Week. This year's theme is "Be a Data Explorer".

All data explorers - state and local health departments, partners, researchers, and environmental health enthusiasts - are invited to come together to highlight important environmental health issues and showcase your work!

Each year, Tracking California participates in Tracking Awareness Week to share about:

• Unique data and tools on our website
• The network of people and partners we work with
• How we use data to inform public health action

Follow us on Facebook and X (formerly twitter) using #BeADataExplorer as we and other Tracking programs across the country post about our work throughout the week!

We'll also be sending out a brief newsletter each afternoon this week at 3pm with a compilation of our day's posts.

Below is a preview of a few things we'll be sharing!

Monday: Data Discovery

Explore our environment and health data which can help you make informed decisions about public and personal health.

Our new Data Explorer allows you to search for environmental and health topics and interact with data in the form of maps, charts, time trends, and tables.



We've added new features including a split-panel to view the data side-by-side and more ways to filter and download the data.

Tuesday: Tools of the Trade

Enhance your data exploration with tools and resources designed to meet the needs of all kinds of people and projects.

Does the area you live feel congested? How many cars travel through your area each day? Every year?



Our Traffic Tool allows you to explore and query estimated traffic volume across the state for the year 2019.

Within the tool, you can search for a location to calculate traffic volumes within 1000m of the selected location.

Wednesday: Adventures in Teamwork

Discover how we work with partners to expand, improve, and use environmental health data and resources.

We partnered with Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians and California Tribal Emergency Response & Relief (CalTERRA) to lead a two-day heat simulation for the CHARM Lake County Project.

Bringing together Tribes, local and state agencies, NGOs and CBOs, the exercise helped identify resource gaps and ways to improve response to extreme heat and harmful algal bloom events in Lake County.

Thursday: Road to Success

Find out about our latest program and project success stories.

"I can see a big difference. My son's coughing problems have been decreasing because the air is cleaner. The filters that were installed also help keep out dirt and mosquitoes.

My message of hope for the community is I hope everyone will go ahead and try the air filters because they are very good for the indoor environment of our homes."

- Veronica, Coalinga, California

In the San Joaquin Valley, many low-income households have evaporative or "swamp" coolers. When used during wildfire season, indoor air becomes unbearably smoky.

The Filtration for Respiratory Exposure to Wildfire Smoke from Swamp Cooler Air (FRESSCA) project tested the use of filters on swamp coolers.

Participants have noticed a difference.

Friday: Future Directions

Learn about our program's future additions and enhancements to our data and tools.

This year, we will be updating and modernizing our Drinking Water Quality Viewer.

The updated viewer will map annual drinking water quality for community water systems (CWS) from 2000 to 2023 for eight drinking water contaminants.

Stay tuned as we announce when the updated tool becomes available!

Preview of the updated Water Quality Viewer showing Mean Arsenic Levels for all CWS in California, 2023

The National Tracking Program will be hosting daily webinars from 11am-12pm Pacific Time, highlighting data, projects, and partnerships across the country that align with Tracking Awareness Week's daily themes.

For more information and to gear up for your expedition, visit the Tracking Awareness Week Website.

For more information about our projects, visit our website.

Tracking California, is a program of the Public Health Institute in partnership with the California Department of Public Health. Tracking California is part of a national initiative coordinated by the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program. 

This publication was supported by the Cooperative Agreement Number 5U38EH000953, funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.