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On September 5-8, representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services and its Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) concluded an agreement with officials from Poland’s NOFER Institute of Occupational Medicine in Lodz to set up a pilot program to collect information on the release of hazardous materials in Poland. The NOFER Institute will be the first partner in Europe for ATSDR’s Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) network.
HSEES is a web-based surveillance system, which maintains a database of releases of hazardous substances into the environment and the impact of hazardous substances on human health. By consulting the HSEES network, local health and emergency officials can respond appropriately should an accident occur, better protecting the lives of those in their communities. HSEES has been operating for ten years in 15 American states through an extensive network of local partners.
The NOFER Institute will serve as the lead agency for a pilot partnership program in Poland. HSEES will spend up to $150,000 to install the necessary equipment to connect NOFER to the network, enabling Polish officials to obtain real-time information about the consequences of releases of hazardous chemicals.
Polish partners will also contribute information about releases in Poland, providing HSEES with a larger database from which to draw. Installation of the equipment is expected to be complete by the end of November.
Over the next year, NOFER will work with several Polish Ministries and local partners to get them familiar with the HSEES network. Based on the results of the first year of operation, the parties may decide to broaden the program in future years.
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