Department of Health and Human Services

Toxic Substances

National Toxic Substance Incidents Program

The National Toxic Substance Incidents Program (NTSIP) is a state-based surveillance system of toxic substance releases funded by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). This new program builds on the data previously collected in North Carolina’s Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) program. Currently the program is funded in seven states: Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.

The goal of the program is to reduce illnesses and deaths from acute toxic substance incidents. In order to meet this goal the program objectives include: (1) maximizing coordination among federal, state, and local agencies involved in toxic substance activities, (2) incorporating multiple levels of surveillance and outreach, (3) conducting public health investigations of highly significant incidents, (4) generating maps to identify chemical vulnerabilities in communities, and (5) promoting green chemistry. To achieve these objectives program staff will interact with stakeholders including, but not limited to, government officials, responders, and industry personnel who are working to achieve a safer environment for the people of North Carolina.

NTSIP case definition

Data is collected using the following definition: uncontrolled or illegal acute release of any toxic substance meeting predetermined criteria. For the purposes of NTSIP, a substance is considered toxic if it can reasonably be expected to cause adverse human health effects.

Predetermined criteria
Petroleum only, stack or flare incidents are included only when there is a public health action (including evacuation, health advisory, well survey, alternate water, fishing ban, prohibit consumption of livestock/produce, health investigation, shutdown of water intakes, or environmental sampling), a major response, or an injury caused by the chemical. Petroleum is not included if being used to fuel a vehicle at the time of the incident.

Link to HSEES Data

Access historical HSEES data