Environmental Health

Tools for New Jersey Schools, Child Care Centers, Residents, and Businesses

Maintaining a healthy environment begins at home. This practice is helpful for everyday choices in ensuring a healthier lifestyle, and especially useful in times of a public health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This webpage provides access to resources for New Jersey residents, schools, child care centers, and communities to assist in reducing exposures to hazardous substances and thus maintain healthier environments.

Drinking Water:

• Lead in Drinking Water [English pdf 193k] [Español pdf 201k] [Portugués pdf 327k]
• Private Wells -- Frequently Asked Questions [pdf 290k]
• Private Well Water and Your Baby’s Health [pdf 1.5m]
• Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)[pdf 253k] 
• Other Resources

Mercury:

• Hazard Alert to Healthcare Providers: Cultural Uses of Mercury
• How to Clean Up Mercury Spills in Your Home

Radon:

• Radon and Smoking: A Risky Combination [pdf 290k]
• New Jersey Radon Potential Map (NJDEP) 

Storm-Related Hazards:

• Carbon Monoxide Gas Can Kill Quickly -- Knowing the facts can save your life! [English] [Español]
• Post-Storm Tree Hazard
• Making Water Safe in an Emeregency (CDC): [English] [Español]
• Mold

Contaminated Soil:

• Pica Behaviors and Exposures to Contaminated Soil 
• Reducing Your Exposure to Lead in Soil [English] [Español]
• Safe Gardening -- How to Handle Produce Grown in Contaminated Soil [English] [Español]

Sites in Your Community:

• This Clearinghouse, organized by county, contains final reports on completed investigations, public health assessments, public health consultations, and exposure assessments from a wide variety of health study activities conducted by the New Jersey Department of Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).
• Other Resources:
  • Hydrogen Sulfide in Landfills
  • Safe Gardening -- How to Handle Produce Grown in Contaminated Soil
  • Reducing Your Exposure to Lead in Soil
  • Possible Health Risk Associated with Short-Term Exposure to Trichloroethylene (TCE) in Indoor Air
  • Pica Behaviors and Exposures to Contaminated Soil

Climate:

• Information on how to protect health from climate-realted impacts

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)

• Fact Sheet on Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in School Buildings 
• USEPA's Information about PCBs in Building Materials for School Administrators, Building Owners and Managers

Keeping a Healthy Indoor Environment

• Disinfectant Use -- Do It Right!
• Air Cleaning Devices and Ozone-What Schools Need to Know
• Tips to Improve Indoor Ventilation 
• What’s the Difference Between Cleaners, Sanitizers, and Disinfectants?
• Safe Cleaning -- What’s Wrong with Using Bleach?
• Safe Cleaning with Microfiber Cloths and Mops
• Air Fresheners -- What You Need to Know
• Maintaining Healthy Indoor Air Quality in Public School Buildings

Mercury Flooring:

• NJDOH Guidance for School Districts and their Environmental Consultants [pdf 318k]
• NJDOH FAQs for Parents [pdf 330k]
• Information for Parents from Environmental Physicians [pdf 884k]
• Information for Clinicians from Environmental Physicians [pdf 963k]

Drinking Water:

• Lead in Drinking Water at Schools and Child Care Centers: [English pdf 501k] [Español pdf 548k]

School Laboratory Chemicals:

• NJDOH Guidance for Teachers and School Administrators on Safe Chemical Management
• NJDOH Surveillance Findings on School Laboratory Chemical Inventories 

Toolkit for Keeping Your Child Care Center Healthy:

• What’s the Difference Between Cleaners, Sanitizers, and Disinfectants? [pdf 526k]
• Safe Cleaning -- What’s Wrong with Using Bleach? [pdf 333k]
• Safe Cleaning with Microfiber Cloths and Mops [pdf 393k]
• Pesticides Fact Sheet [pdf 526k]
• Integrated Pesticide Management Manual [pdf 521k]
• Air Fresheners -- What You Need to Know [pdf 1.3m]

Drinking Water:

• Lead in Drinking Water at Schools and Child Care Centers: [English pdf 501k] [Español pdf 548k]

Keeping a Healthy Indoor Environment:

• Tips to Improve Ventilation in Childcare Centers
• Guidance on Air Cleaning Devices for Indoor Spaces
• Disinfectant Use in Childcare Centers -- Do It Right!

Improving the Indoor Environment:

• Guidance on Air Cleaning Devices for Indoor Spaces
• Tips to Improve Indoor Ventilation
• Disinfectant Use in Indoor Spaces

• The Potential Lead Exposure Mapping (PLEM) website provides a publicly available mapping tool to show potential sources of lead exposure. Currently the tool looks at lead-based paint in housing as a potential source, provides information on distribution of one and two-family rental units built prior to 1980, and details the applicable lead-based paint inspection methodology per the requirements of P.L.2021, c.182.  The tool can be used by local health officers, community groups and other members of the public to help identify potential environmental sources of a child’s lead exposure.
  
  
• Health Community Planning New Jersey (HCP-NJ) is a website jointly developed by the NJ Departments of Health (NJDOH) and Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to assist local community planning activities. The site provides individual, municipal-level reports that offer a snapshot of a municipality’s health and environmental data to help promote a healthy and safe environment. HCP-NJ was developed by NJDOH and NJDEP working in partnership as part of the New Jersey Environmental Public Health Tracking (NJ EPHT) project, with funding from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.