Health and the environment in NSW: A small area (ecological) study of relationships between some health and environmental variables in NSW

Publicly available spatial data for human health will be compared with geoscientific data sets held, and publicly available through Geoscience Australia to identify potential ecological correlations between environmental factors and human health issues. The project initially will involve using appropriate statistical means of viewing the geoscientific data (such that it truly reflects the geological variables) ina way that is compatible with the health data available from various agencies. Subsequent to that, the avaiable data sets will be analysed using standard spatial epidemiological and small area statistical methods for any potential corralations between environmental factors and health issues. It is important to mention that any correlations diecovered will be kept confidential in the first instance to allow assessment of the social implications of the release of these data before publication of results. Spatial correlations identified will be the subject of external grant applications (eg. NHMRC, ARC, Cancer Council) for closer analysis using more detailed healthand geological data.