Minnesota Children's Environmental Health Profile
A data set submitted to the Environmental Council of States (ECOS) and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO).
POPULATION STATISTICS
Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Center for Health Statistics 1999
| Data | Percent of Total Population | |
Total Population |
4,775,508 | 100 |
| Population Under 18 Years Old | 1,259,447 | 26.4% of total |
| Population Under 5 Years Old | 317,381 | 6.6% of total |
Urban Population(Please use Federal Census definition of Urban Population) |
2,551,375 | 100% of metro |
| Urban Population Under 18 Years Old |
656,016 | 25.7% of total metro |
| Urban Population Under 5 Years Old |
178,926 | 7% of total metro |
Rural Population(Please use Federal Census definition of Rural Population) |
2,224,133 | 100% of nonmetro |
| Rural Population Under 18 Years Old |
603,431 | 27.1% of total nonmetro |
| Rural Population Under 5 Years Old |
138,455 | 6.2% of total nonmetro |
Footnotes or Explanation of Unusual Data: See attached table for more complete
breakdown of age groups. The MDH Center for Health Statistics (CHS) provided
the most current state data broken out by metro and nonmetro region rather
than urban and rural. This break down will approximate urban and rural. The
CHS provided percentages of the breakdown totals rather than percentages of
the total population. The math is simple if you choose to use a different denominator.
CHILD HEALTH TRACKING
Childhood cancer, childhood asthma, lead poisoning, and fish consumption advisories were selected as the core programs highlighted by the ECOS/ASTHO Children's Environmental Health Profiles because enough data exist to supply meaningful indicators to provide a foundation for future data collection and tracking.
| Name of Center / Registry and Agency |
Data Source | Disease Incidence & Current Activity |
| CHILDHOOD CANCER
Minnesota Center for Health Statistics Agency: MDH Center for Health Statistics |
1998 Minnesota Health Statistics | 21 deaths in children ages 0-14, 1998 (Age-Sex-standardized mortality rate - 2.7) 4 leukemias 11 brain and CNS |
| CHILDHOOD CANCER Minnesota Cancer Surveillance System (MCSS) Agency: MDH Chronic Disease and Environmental Epidemiology |
MCSS Biennial Report, August 1999 1988 - present data available All ages available (Most recent data available upon request though unpublished) |
147 new cancers for children ages 0-14, 1997 (Age-Sex-standardized incidence rate = 14.2) 43 leukemias 29 malignant brain tumors 11 soft tissues 9 non-Hodgkin's lymphomas |
| CHILDHOOD ASTHMA Agency: MDH Chronic Disease and Environmental Epidemiology |
Minnesota Hospital and Healthcare Partnership; Hospital Discharge Data for Asthma, 1999 |
Children 0-19 years:
Number of days hospitalized due to asthma: 4339 Average length of hospital stay: 2.45 days Discharges/1000: 1.30 |
| CHILDHOOD ASTHMA Agency: MDH Center for Health Statistics |
Minnesota Center for Health Statistics
Mortality Data, 1988-1999 |
Children 0-19 years: 24 children died due to asthma (11 males, 13 females) 13/24 deaths occurred within the city limits of Minneapolis and St. Paul |
| LEAD POISONING Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program Agency: MDH Environmental Surveillance & Assessment (Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention) |
Blood Lead Surveillance System (see * below) 1995-present includes children and adults Annual data are analyzed and published for each calendar year. |
1998 Minnesota Blood Lead Surveillance Data: 48,063 test results on 42,468 children and adults including test results for 35,565 children (0-6 years) These data (children 0-72 months of age) include: Blood lead level number of children 10-14.9 ug/dL = 1,689 15-19.9 ug/dL = 313 >20 ug/dL = 279 |
| LEAD POISONING Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program Agency: MDH Environmental Surveillance & Assessment (Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention) |
Countryside Lead Poisoning Prevalence Project Data collection in progress |
A prevalence study is in progress in a high-risk rural area of Minnesota. To be completed by 2002. |
| FISH CONSUMPTION ADVISORIES Agency: MDH Health Risk Assessment |
Minnesota Fish Consumption Advisory, prepared annually and published on the internet. | Currently contains fish consumption advice for over 900 bodies of water and advice for untested lakes. |
*Blood Lead Surveillance: Statewide rates (prevalence and incidence) of blood lead poisoning cannot be estimated from the surveillance data because testing for elevated blood lead is neither random nor universal. An elevated blood lead level (blood lead level of 10 ug/dL or greater) requires some type of public health response and action. Case management and environmental risk assessment is required for venous blood lead levels of 20 ug/dL or greater, or when a blood lead level of 15 ug/dL or greater persists for three months or more.
STATE PROGRAM INFORMATION
| State Programs | Program Description | Agency |
| Childhood Cancer Cancer Surveillance |
The Minnesota Cancer Surveillance System (MCSS) is responsible for collecting
and reporting on the number of new cancers occurring in Minnesota residents.
This includes monitoring of trends occurring in childhood cancers. The MCSS responds to concerns about cancer and cancer clusters and serves an educational function in this area. The MCSS is involved with major research institutions conducting epidemiologic research on the causes of cancer, including childhood cancers. The MCSS role is usually either in case ascertainment or record linkage. The most recent study is with the Children's Cancer Group and the Pediatric Oncology Group. |
MDH Chronic Disease and Environmental Epidemiology |
| Childhood Asthma Developing a Public Health Approach to Asthma in Minnesota |
MDH received CDC funding to build capacity for asthma surveillance and intervention. An MDH epidemiologist is researching surveillance strategies. Funding staffs the Minnesota Asthma Planning Council which interacts with a coalition of community partners called the Minnesota Asthma Coalition. | MDH Chronic Disease and Environmental Epidemiology |
| Lead Poisoning Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention |
MDH maintains a database of blood lead results for Minnesota residents
and, in cooperation with local public health agencies, responds to cases
of elevated blood lead as appropriate. MDH issued new Screening Guidelines (Spring 2000) and is drafting public health case management and medical case management guidelines. MDH conducts outreach and education on health risks from lead and lead poisoning prevention. MDH coordinates with local and federal programs and other state agencies to optimize resources directed at lead poisoning prevention. MDH is evaluating the effectiveness of its test result reporting, lead education, and exposure prevention programs. |
MDH Environmental Surveillance and Assessment (Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention) |
| Lead Poisoning Reducing Lead in School Drinking Water | MDH provides information to guide the state's public and private schools in testing drinking water for the presence of lead and in taking corrective action when elevated lead levels are identified. Written guidance materials and staff consultation are provided to schools. This program is carried out in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Education. | MDH Drinking Water Protection, Minnesota Department of Education. |
| Lead Poisoning Lead Compliance Monitoring and Assurance | Issues licenses for occupations involved in performing lead investigations, abatement, and mitigation activities in dwellings and child care facilities. Permits lead training courses for individuals seeking accreditation an/or licensure and conducts lead investigations to identify and eliminate lead hazards that are sources of lead poisoning. Cooperates with local health agencies that have chosen to retain the ability to conduct lead inspections. Assists in interpreting state and federal regulations with respect to lead abatement and hazard reduction. | MDH Asbestos and Lead Compliance (EPA-authorized lead-based paint certification program) |
| Fish Consumption Advisories Fish Consumption Advisory | The MDH provides advice to the public about the amount and species of fish that is safe to eat from Minnesota lakes and streams. Children and fetuses are more sensitive to the effects of contaminants in fish. The MDH establishes meal guidelines to help ensure that exposures to methylmercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are kept at safe levels. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and the MDH collaborate in producing the advisory. | Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. |
Additional Children's
Environmental Health Programs
| Program | Program Description | Agency |
| Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) | Surveillance of non petroleum, hazardous substances released in acute, non routine events. Of the 392 victims reported in the HSEES system for 1995 to 1999, 121 (31%) were children (an additional 15 may have been children). | MDH Site Assessment and Consultation |
| Minnesota Children's Pesticide Exposure Study | Environmental exposures to pesticides, volatile organic compounds, metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were measured in the blood, urine, and hair of 102 children, in their food, beverages, and water over four days, and in the air, dust, and soil in and around their homes. Health risks were estimated. | MDH Health Risk Assessment |
| Nitrate Exposure and Infant Risk Study | A population based study of nitrates and coliform bacteria in private wells in four Minnesota counties, two rural and two suburban, and the demographic characteristics (especially age, knowledge about nitrates, socio-economic status) of the people who are served by these wells. | MDH Site Assessment and Consultation |
| Minnesota Arsenic Study | A study of the geological and geochemistry of arsenic occurrence in private drinking water wells in west central Minnesota, and of arsenic in hair and urine of people, including children, served by the wells. | MDH Site Assessment and Consultation |
| Integrated Pest Management in Schools | Minnesota Department of Agriculture provides training for school personnel on integrated pest management practices as a strategy to reduce pesticide use in schools. | Minnesota Department of Agriculture |
| Tools for Schools: Indoor Air Quality | State law requires public school districts to develop and implement Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Management Plans. MDH will collect and maintain information on: 1) The school districts' designated IAQ Coordinators; 2) Number of school districts (including school buildings) that have a fully implemented IAQ Management Plan. | MDH Indoor Air Unit |
| Mold in Schools | MDH is developing "best practices" for mold investigations and remediation in schools. MDH will maintain information on school districts that have used state monies for mold-related problems. | MDH Indoor Air Unit, Minnesota Department of Education |
| School-Based Exposure Study | Study was designed to compare the indoor air quality between two elementary schools and to measure children's exposure to multiple environmental stressors (e.g., VOCs, ETS, allergens, metals, pesticides) and explore related effects on respiratory health and learning outcomes. Data are currently being analyzed. | University of Minnesota School of Public Health, MDH Indoor Air Unit |
| Asthma and Environmental Tobacco Smoke | The goal is to reduce the number of young children exposed to ETS in the home through education of the general public, and physicians and other health care professionals. Baseline data were collected in early 2000 as part of a state-wide Adult Tobacco Telephone Survey. | Minnesota Department of Health; survey funded by Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco |
| Food Safety for Youth | The MDH developed a program "Safe or Sorry" (SOS) to place food safety education into existing school curricula of middle school classrooms. Students learn to prevent exposure to food contamination through hand washing and food preparation and cooking skills. | MDH Food, Pools and Lodging Services |
| Drinking Water Institute | The MDH, in conjunction with the MNAWWA, has designed a program to get drinking water curriculum into Minnesota classrooms. With other partners, the MDH and MNAWWA will conduct a series of Drinking Water Institutes beginning in the summer of 2001. Teachers will receive credits for attending the Institutes and will learn about various aspects of drinking water, including supply, treatment, and distribution. The Institutes will be two or three days with a follow-up session set for a later time. As part of the Institute, teachers will be writing curriculum that they will take back to their classrooms. | MDH Section of Drinking Water Protection, Education Committee of the Minnesota Section of American Water Works Association (MNAWWA), American Ground Water Trust and the Science Museum of Minnesota |
| Mercury in Schools | The program is designed to identify and properly dispose of mercury in school buildings. By removing mercury from sources such as laboratories, schools can reduce potential harm to students and liability from spills and other releases. The mercury removal activity is coupled with curricula provided to the teacher, to broaden out the educational experience. The program, which is in the initial start-up phase, also plans to use a dog trained to identify mercury by scent. After the evaluation phase, the "mercury dog" effort is also intended to help build awareness of the mercury problem. | Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance, Minnesota Department of Education |
| Household Hazardous Waste Program | This program, operated by the state and counties, focuses on safe storage and proper disposal of household chemicals. The program provides ongoing household hazardous waste collection sites. | Minnesota Pollution Control Agency |
