The overall environmental health conditions in Dane County have seen improvement throughout the past several years,  a report released by a county agency said on Monday. 

The Environmental Health Report Card, which assesses the county’s environmental health for the last decade until 2010, came from Public Health Madison and Dane County.

According to a statement from the office of Dane County Executive Joe Parisi, the report card offers a body of data and exploration of the quality of the air and water, as well as the safety of food and homes.

This report was developed through a process which incorporated experts and specialists in environmental organizations and state, city and county governments.

Jeffery Lafferty, an environmental epidemiologist at Public Health Madison and Dane County, said the environmental Health Report Card is separated into five distinct sections, namely air quality, water quality, healthy homes and communities, food protection and sustainability.

“A variety of variables are evaluated in each of these sections to provide the reader with a broad outlook concerning environmental challenges facing Dane County and the City of Madison, as well as the progress – or not – that has been made,” Lafferty said.

The statement said the county faces the challenge of “the amount of small particulate matter in the air.” Although Dane County remains in compliance with federal air quality standards, there were several days in the past few years when the average daily level of particulates was unhealthy for citizens.

Lafferty said this report intends to provide an informational resource which may be used by certain health professionals, academia and the general public for their knowledge.

There are several noted improvements in the environment, Lafferty said, including consistent air quality over the past decade, with the majority of days having reached the highest quality rating by the Environmental Protection Agency air quality index.

The statement pointed to drinking water quality as an issue the county has been examining. 

“Per capita usage of municipal drinking water usage has steadily decreased since 2005 at both the city and county level,” the statement said.

Single sources of air toxins also have continued to decrease. The percentage of childhood lead poisonings remains low at both the city and county level, the statement said.

Lafferty also noted improvement areas include the levels of chloride, which continue to increase in Dane County surface and ground waters and the use of road salt.

“The report provides an informational resource that may be used to better understand these issues and to demonstrate the issues that have improved and issues that need further improvement,” Lafferty said.

Lafferty also said Dane County residents could play an important role in improving the community’s health quality. 

He said each environmental issue has a “local response” section from which citizens could get information and examples of how to make a difference environmentally in their communities.

“Although these objectives are not always measurable at the local level, they provide a solid foundation to effectively assess the environmental issues that impact public health in Dane County,” the statement said.