Using tracking infrastructure to support public health programs, policies, and emergency response in New York City.

Objective: To describe how the New York City (NYC) Tracking Program has used nationally mandated Secure Portal infrastructure and staff analytical expertise to support programs and inform policy.

Setting: The NYC Health Department assesses, investigates, and acts on a wide range of environmental concerns to protect the health of New Yorkers.

Design: Specific examples of highly effective policies or initiatives that relied on the NYC Tracking Program are described, including restaurant sanitary grade posting, rat indexing, converting boilers to cleaner-burning fuels, reducing exposure to mercury from fish and contaminated products, and responding to Superstorm Sandy.

Developing a comprehensive pesticide health effects tracking system for an urban setting: New York City's approach.

In recent years, there have been substantial investments and improvements in federal and state surveillance systems to track the health effects from pesticide exposure. These surveillance systems help to identify risk factors for occupational exposure to pesticides, patterns in poisonings, clusters of disease, and populations at risk of exposure from pesticide use. Data from pesticide use registries and recent epidemiologic evidence pointing to health risks from urban residential pesticide use make a strong case for understanding better the sale, application, and use of pesticides in cities.