records of mortality, dust storms and demographic/census data for the United States. This dataset is not publicly accessible because: EPA cannot release personally identifiable information regarding living individuals, according to the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This dataset contains information about human research subjects. Because there is potential to identify individual participants and disclose personal information, either alone or in combination with other datasets, individual level data are not appropriate to post for public access. Restricted access may be granted to authorized persons by contacting the party listed. It can be accessed through the following means: Data contained PII and were obtained under a licensing agreement with CDC. Data may be obtained from CDC/NCHS. Contact Tim Wade (wade.tim@epa.gov) for other access options. Format: Raw data consist of fixed delimited text files from the CDC/NCHS with data documentation provided. Data are processed and analyzed in R and stored as R data files and/or comma delimited text files. R programs fully document the processing and variable naming conventions.

This dataset is associated with the following publication: Crooks , J., W. Cascio , M. Percy, J. Reyes , L. Neas , and E. Hilborn. The Association between Dust Storms and Daily Non-Accidental Mortality in the United States, 1993-2005.. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Research Triangle Park, NC, USA, 124(11): 1735-43, (2016).