Topic 1.2 Overview of the Public Health Assessment Process

Types of Assessments

ATSDR prepares different types of written reports to document public health assessment activities, results of evaluations, recommendations, and public health action plans. Following are descriptions of the four main types of these reports.

Public Health Assessment
A public health assessment document is written to report on the results of evaluation of all available information about a site and the communities that may be affected by it.

Health Consultation
A health consultation is written to respond to a specific question or request. The health consultation provides the results of data evaluation that answer the specific question.

Health Advisory
A health advisory is written to alert government agencies and the public about an immediate and significant danger to human health from the release of hazardous chemicals.

Exposure Investigation
An exposure investigation is written to report the results of analysis of environmental and biological samples that ATSDR has collected to verify human contact with a chemical. Exposure investigations are conducted when contact is suspected but no data are available to verify human contact.

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View a sample public health assessment document.

Example of a health consultation document.