What We Do
The Alberta Environmental Public Health Information Network (AEPHIN) provides user-friendly and interactive presentations of various types of environmental health and public health data that may (directly or indirectly) impact the health of Albertans. It also presents information on some public health data such as risk factors, demographics, and socioeconomics.
AEPHIN can be used to support policy development and actions related to public health and serve to educate Albertans about public health and environmental health information. This website is available to public health professionals, research communities, governments and the general public.
This project is the result of collaboration between Alberta Health and the University of Alberta. Alberta Health provided the University of Alberta with a grant to develop the website. The website has been further updated by Alberta Health in partnerships with other ministries such as Alberta Environment and Parks and is supported by contractors.
Our Objectives
The Objectives of the Alberta Environmental Public Health Information Network are to:
Our Data
Environmental Health
Domestic Well Water Quality in Alberta
Data generated from private well owners who voluntarily submit water samples to the Alberta Centre for Toxicology for routine chemistry and trace elements testing. Results and interpretations are communicated back to the well owners by mail or phone and well owners can follow up with local Alberta Health Services Public Health Inspectors.
Fish Consumption Advice – “Should I Eat this Fish?” App
Users can find out if the fish they have caught has a consumption advisory by selecting from a list of fish species and waterbodies in Alberta. Users may also be asked to provide the weight of the fish caught. Based on these selections, the app will inform users if they should limit the amount of fish they eat and what those limits are. Information in the app is based on the table of Recommended Fish Consumption Limits in Alberta, posted on the My Wild Alberta website.
Chemical Monitoring in Local Foods: Mercury in Fish
Collected in collaboration with Alberta Environment and Parks, this data is used for monitoring of mercury levels in fish and for issuing local fish consumption advisories.
Cyanobacterial Blooms in Alberta Recreational Waters
Collected through AHS’ routine recreational water monitoring program, this data is used for issuing health advisories in lakes or water bodies.
Public Health
Risk Factors in Alberta
This data is based on data from the Canadian Community Health Survey, exploring changes over time and across geographies in Alberta. The Canadian Community Health Survey is a national cross-sectional survey carried out by Statistics Canada to provide estimates of health status, health care utilization, and determinants of health at the provincial health region level.
Socioeconomic and Public Health Information
This data includes information from several census periods and provides context about socioeconomic differences in Alberta’s population. Examples of data include housing availability, employment levels, income, education and languages spoken. More detail can be found in the Alberta Health Primary Health Care Community Profiles.
Demographic data - Population Pyramid
The proportions of the population are broken into gender and age. Several years of data are available for every local geographical area in the province.
Other Resources
Users of AEPHIN are encouraged to visit the Alberta Health Interactive Health Data Application to obtain more information about human health outcome and chronic disease data.