EPA Tools and Resources Webinar: ?Environmental Quality Index (EQI)

The Environmental Quality Index (EQI) is an estimate of U.S. county ambient environmental quality across five domains: air, water, land, sociodemographic, and built environment. The EQI helps researchers better understand how health outcomes relate to cumulative environmental exposures that typically are viewed in isolation. Because the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the buildings around us all play a part in our overall wellbeing, researchers can use the EQI to investigate and highlight associations between environmental quality and a given health concern. By expanding research beyond singular routes of exposure and pollutants, the EQI helps provide a clearer picture of the relationship between the environment and health.   This presentation will provide an overview of the EQI methodology, including information on rural/urban differences, as well as a summary of the health outcome research that has been conducted to date.   Learn more: https://www.epa.gov/healthresearch/environmental-quality-index-eqi

Impact/Purpose

This presentation of the Environmental Quality Index is for the SHC Tools and Resources Webinar. The Environmental Quality Index was developed to explore: 1.) associations with adverse health effects; 2.) How various environmental factors contribute in concert to health disparities in low-income, underrepresented minority and vulnerable populations. Results from studies can be used for hypothesis generating studies to explore cumulative exposures in communities.   

Citation

Lobdell, D. AND A. Krajewski. EPA Tools and Resources Webinar: ?Environmental Quality Index (EQI). EPA Tools and Resources Webinar, RTP, NC, August 16, 2023.