Environmental health professionals investigate potential exposures from environmental contaminants at inactive hazardous waste sites and from petroleum and chemical spills, fires and other environmental incidents. Annually, the Westchester County Department of Health responded to hundreds of chemical and toxic spills.
The Chemical Emergency Response van enables the Westchester County Department of Health to respond on a 24-hour basis to numerous chemical emergencies and hazardous spills, making available a high level of technology.
The Office of Emergency Services is the lead agency for Westchester's Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). The LEPC is responsible for developing emergency response plans for chemical emergencies within Westchester County.
Committee members gather and maintain information from facilities that store, use or manufacture specially designated chemicals. Based on the types and qualities of chemicals being reported, the LEPC develops site-specific plans for each facility and the surrounding area.
Members of Westchester's LEPC also respond to inquires from the public regarding chemicals in the community and work with local emergency responders.
Resources:
- Choosing Toxicology Tests and Treatments Wisely
- How to access the Toxnet: Toxicology Data Network
- Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) (CDC)
For further information, check the following links:
- Asbestos information
- Arsenic in ground water (USGS)
- Cadmium FAQ's (CDC)
- Household Poisons (NIH)
- Mercury FAQ's (CDC)
- Mercury and your health (WCDOH)
- MTBE gasoline additive (methyl tertiary-butyl ether) (EPA)
- PERC dry-cleaning fluid (Perchloroethylene)
- Radon (EPA)
- Solvents (OSHA)