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About ATSDR

Vision, Mission, Goals, & Core Values

Vision


Safer, healthier people in a safer, healthier environment.

Mission


Serve the public through responsive public health actions to promote healthy and safe environments and prevent harmful exposures.

Goals


  1. Protect the public from environmental hazards and toxic exposures
    • Investigate and prevent health effects related to human exposures to environmental hazards.
    • Prepare for and respond to emergencies, man-made disasters, and natural disasters.
    • Investigate and respond to acute hazards and exposures.
    • Promote prevention, control and elimination of long-term hazardous exposures.

  2. Promote healthy environments
    • Promote safe and healthy environments in homes, schools, communities, and transportation means, through best practices, technical assistance, education, partnerships, and other approaches.
    • Promote safe air, water, food, waste management, and energy production to improve human health.

  3. Advance the science of environmental public health
    • Collect, analyze, and summarize data on environmental exposures and health.
    • Develop analytical methods that identify, monitor and address environmental public health threats.
    • Conduct research to identify associations between environmental exposures and health risks.
    • Undertake translational research to study the effectiveness of interventions to minimize hazardous exposures and promote healthy environments.

  4. Support environmental public health practice
    • Develop, implement, and evaluate environmental public health programs.
    • Expand collaborations to build environmental public health capacity nationwide.
    • Provide technical assistance to state and local health departments, communities and other partners.
    • Strengthen the environmental public health workforce through training and other capacity building efforts.

  5. Educate communities, partners, and policy makers about environmental health risks and protective measures
    • Develop proactive communication and education products to reach a variety of audiences.
    • Respond to inquiries on environmental health topics from the public, partners, the media, and policy makers.
    • Promote behaviors and practices that enhance healthy environments and reduce environmental health risks.

  6. Promote environmental justice and reduce health disparities associated with environmental exposures.
    • Identify populations that are particularly vulnerable to environmental exposures.
    • Ensure that environmental public health programs address environmental justice principles.
    • Build partnerships with organizations focused on reduction of health disparities.

  7. Provide unique scientific and technical expertise to advance public health science and practice. 
    • Conduct collaborative laboratory research that yields critical population-level data, contributes to greater understanding of adverse health outcomes, and provides information to evaluate public health interventions.
    • Assure quality laboratory analyses for priority public health programs. 
    • Provide public health and epidemiologic expertise to the aid of populations affected by complex humanitarian emergencies.   

Core Values and Guiding Principles


Accountability — As diligent stewards of public trust and public funds, we act decisively and compassionately in service to the people’s health. We ensure that our research and our services are based on sound science and meet real public needs to achieve our public health goals.

Collaboration - We share a common purpose.  We work cooperatively to leverage our resources and achieve our goals.   We place benefits to society above benefits to the institution.

Innovation – We encourage creativity and innovative thinking.  We provide national leadership as we focus on solutions to the most important environmental health problems.  Our work environment fosters intellectual and personal growth.

Integrity — We are honest and ethical in all we do. We will do what we say. We prize scientific integrity and professional excellence.

Respect — We respect and understand our interdependence with all people, both inside the agency and throughout the world, treating them and their contributions with dignity and valuing individual and cultural diversity. We are committed to achieving a diverse workforce at all levels of the organization.



Contact Us:
  • Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
    4770 Buford Hwy NE
    Atlanta, GA 30341
  • 800-CDC-INFO
    (800-232-4636)
    TTY: (888) 232-6348
    Contact CDC-INFO
  • New Hours of Operation
    8am-8pm ET/Monday-Friday
    Closed Holidays
USA.gov: The U.S. Government's Official Web PortalDepartment of Health and Human Services
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 4770 Buford Hwy NE, Atlanta, GA 30341
Contact CDC: 800-232-4636 / TTY: 888-232-6348

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