A Brief History of NCEH

In 1980, as an expression of its commitment to solving health problems related to the environment, CDC established the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) to focus on preventing disability, disease, and death due to environmental factors. In 1987, CEH was given responsibility for nonoccupational injury control programs and renamed the Center for Environmental Health and Injury Control (CEHIC). In 1991, National was added to the center’s name to reflect the breadth of its activities.

By 1992, the injury program had grown so much that CDC decided to reorganize NCEHIC into two centers: the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) and the National Center for Environmental Health. NCEH retained the mission to carry out a national environmental health program and is now a leader in determining the health effects on humans of numerous environmental hazards both technologic and natural.

NCEH has had many successes. Among them are its achievements in focusing national attention on the problem of childhood lead poisoning, in developing guidelines for preventing spina bifida, and in devising new methods for measuring toxins in humans. In this section we list some of the highlights.