Minn. launches health, environment public database

Officials in Minnesota have launched the Minnesota Public Health Data Access system, joining 22 states and New York City in taking part in a surveillance system that tracks the effects of environmental hazards on public health.

Minnesota's data-access system tracks information on 10 topics: air quality, asthma, birth defects, cancer, carbon monoxide poisoning, childhood lead poisoning, chronic pulmonary obstructive disease, drinking water quality, heart attacks and reproductive outcomes.

Mapping technology and additional data will be added this summer, according to a news release from the Minnesota Health Department.

The information is available to the public and public health professionals through funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.