Methodology
How the score works
The Envyrofax score runs from 0 to 100. It is a weighted average of nine category scores. Each category starts at 100, and every record found near the property adds penalty points based on what the record is, how severe it is and how far away it is. Penalty points convert to a score with diminishing returns (100 × e-P/50), so one Superfund site next door weighs more than a street full of small permit holders.
Principles
- Missing data is never scored as safe. A category without data is left out of the score and lowers Data Completeness instead.
- Every finding shows its source agency and the date of the data, so you can check it yourself.
- Distance matters. A site next door counts far more than the same site five miles away.
- Not every record is equal. A Superfund site is weighted far above a small shop that files hazardous waste paperwork.
- Envyrofax reports what is around a property. It is not a health diagnosis, an inspection, or a guarantee that a home is safe.
The nine categories
| Category | Weight | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Water Quality | 20% | Drinking water violations, PFAS testing, lead rule violations, wastewater and sewer overflow outfalls nearby. |
| Air Quality | 15% | Measured PM2.5 and ozone, unhealthy air days, major air permits, power plants and highway traffic nearby. |
| Toxic & Industrial | 15% | Superfund sites, toxic chemical releases, hazardous waste handlers and brownfields. |
| Flood & Water Risk | 15% | FEMA flood zone, recorded floods and flash floods, wetlands and elevation. |
| Natural Hazards | 10% | Wildfire hazard, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and hail history. |
| Soil & Ground | 10% | Drainage, hydric soils, flooding and ponding frequency, shrink-swell and septic limits. |
| Radon | 5% | EPA radon zone for the county. Only a test shows a home's actual level. |
| Infrastructure Exposure | 5% | Airports, active rail lines and crossings, interstates and large energy facilities. |
| Environmental Amenities | 5% | Parks, protected land and open water nearby. This category can only add to the picture. |
Distance bands and penalty points
Points per record by distance from the property. Records other than Superfund sites and airports are then multiplied by a severity modifier from 0.5 to 2 (compliance history, releases, penalties), and each record type has a cap so volume alone cannot dominate.
Scroll table horizontally to view all distance bands →
| Record | <1/4 mi | 1/4-1/2 | 1/2-1 | 1-3 | 3-5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Superfund (NPL) site | -30 | -25 | -18 | -8 | -3 |
| Proposed Superfund site | -25 | -20 | -14 | -6 | -2 |
| Former Superfund site (cleanup completed) | -6 | -4 | -2 | 0 | 0 |
| Toxic chemical release facility (TRI) | -12 | -8 | -5 | -2 | 0 |
| Large hazardous waste generator | -8 | -5 | -3 | -1 | 0 |
| Small hazardous waste generator | -3 | -2 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
| Hazardous waste transporter | -2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brownfield property | -8 | -5 | -3 | -1 | 0 |
| Dry cleaner (mapped facility) | -8 | -4 | -2 | 0 | 0 |
| Gas station (mapped facility) | -4 | -2 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
| Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility) | -2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Crematorium (mapped facility) | -5 | -3 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
| Scrapyard (mapped facility) | -5 | -3 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
| Landfill (mapped facility) | -10 | -6 | -3 | -1 | 0 |
| Wastewater plant (mapped facility) | -6 | -4 | -2 | 0 | 0 |
| Combined sewer overflow outfall | -8 | -6 | -4 | -1 | 0 |
| Sewage treatment discharge | -5 | -3 | -2 | 0 | 0 |
| Industrial wastewater discharge | -5 | -3 | -2 | 0 | 0 |
| Major air pollution source | -10 | -7 | -4 | -1 | 0 |
| Large greenhouse gas emitter | -5 | -3 | -2 | -1 | 0 |
| Coal power plant | -15 | -12 | -8 | -4 | -2 |
| Oil-fired power plant | -6 | -4 | -2 | -1 | 0 |
| Gas power plant | -6 | -4 | -2 | -1 | 0 |
| Biomass power plant | -5 | -3 | -2 | 0 | 0 |
| Nuclear power plant | -20 | -15 | -10 | -5 | -2 |
| Commercial airport | -40 | -30 | -20 | -8 | -2 |
| Public airport | -12 | -8 | -4 | -1 | 0 |
| Rail grade crossing | -3 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Correctional facility (prison or jail) | -6 | -4 | -3 | -1 | 0 |
Body Scan
The Body Scan maps each exposure found near an address to the organ systems that public health agencies link it to: fine particles and ozone to the lungs and heart (EPA Integrated Science Assessments), radon to lung cancer (EPA, IARC Group 1), PFAS in tap water to the kidneys, liver, thyroid and child development (EPA, ATSDR), lead to the brain and kidneys (CDC, ATSDR), and industrial chemicals from Toxics Release Inventory reports to the organs named in ATSDR and IARC assessments (for example benzene and leukemia). Each link is weighted by distance and severity and rolled up to a Clear, Low, Elevated or High level per organ system.
Next to it, the Body Scan shows the census tract's chronic disease rates from CDC PLACES (asthma, COPD, cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and more) against the population-weighted national average, and the county's modeled air toxics cancer risk from EPA AirToxScreen. These are community-level associations, not a diagnosis. Smoking, age, genetics and access to care all matter, and conditions you select are never sent or stored.
Grades
90+
Excellent
80+
Very Good
70+
Good
60+
Fair
50+
Elevated Concern
0+
Significant Concern
Questions
- What is Envyrofax?
- Envyrofax is an environmental report for any U.S. address. Enter an address and it checks the surrounding area against millions of government records, including Superfund sites, toxic chemical releases, hazardous waste handlers, drinking water violations and PFAS tests, measured air quality, FEMA flood zones, soil conditions, radon zones, earthquakes, storms and nearby infrastructure. You get an overall score from 0 to 100, a score for each category and every underlying fact with its source.
- Where does the data come from?
- Every record comes from a U.S. government source: the EPA (ECHO, Toxics Release Inventory, Superfund, Brownfields, SDWIS drinking water, UCMR 5 PFAS testing, AirData, ATTAINS, radon zones), FEMA (National Flood Hazard Layer and National Risk Index), NOAA (Storm Events Database), USGS (earthquakes and elevation), USDA (SSURGO soils), the Department of Transportation and the Energy Information Administration. The Data Sources page lists each dataset, its agency, its record count and the date of the data.
- Can Envyrofax tell me if my environment made me sick?
- No. The Body Scan shows which organ systems government and scientific agencies (EPA, CDC, ATSDR, IARC, WHO) link to the exposures found near an address, and compares the neighborhood's chronic disease rates from CDC PLACES with the national average. Those are associations and community-level rates, not a diagnosis, and many other factors such as smoking, age and genetics matter. Share the report with a doctor if you have concerns.
- Does a good score mean a home is safe?
- No. Envyrofax reports what public records show around a property. It is not a home inspection, a Phase I environmental site assessment, legal advice or a health diagnosis. A lack of records is reported as "no adverse records found in the datasets searched", never as proof that a location is free of problems. Radon, lead paint and private well water can only be confirmed by testing the home itself.
- How is the Envyrofax score calculated?
- Nine categories are scored separately: Water Quality (20%), Air Quality (15%), Toxic and Industrial (15%), Flood and Water Risk (15%), Natural Hazards (10%), Soil and Ground (10%), Radon (5%), Infrastructure Exposure (5%) and Environmental Amenities (5%). Each record adds penalty points based on what it is and how far away it is, so a Superfund site next door counts far more than a small hazardous waste generator five miles away. Categories without data are left out and lower the Data Completeness figure instead of counting as safe.
- How far around a property does Envyrofax look?
- Facilities and sites are searched out to 5 miles and reported in distance bands: within 500 feet, 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile, 1 mile, 3 miles and 5 miles. Earthquakes are counted within 50 miles, highways and railroads within 1 mile, and the flood zone, soil and elevation are read at the exact property location.
- Is Envyrofax free?
- Yes. Envyrofax is free and supported by ads, so a report costs nothing. Scanning an address shows the score, category scores and a map right away. The heat map, the disease overlay and the county pages are open to everyone. A free account verified by email and phone unlocks every finding in a report, the full Body Scan, cancer signals and the printable records request worksheet.
- Can attorneys use Envyrofax for discovery?
- Attorneys, paralegals and investigators use Envyrofax to find out which public records exist near a property or in a county and who holds them. Every report has a printable records request worksheet that lists each facility, water system and disease signal with its agency identifiers (such as the EPA FRS registry ID, TRI facility ID, NPDES permit or public water system ID), the records custodian and what to ask for in a public records request, subpoena or discovery request. Envyrofax shows where to look. It does not prove exposure or causation, it is not legal advice, and every identifier should be confirmed with the agency before a request is served.
- What is the county disease overlay?
- The heat map can paint every U.S. county by a health outcome underneath the pollution hexagons, so illness and polluters read on one map. You can choose cancer deaths or new cancer cases by type (all cancers, lung, liver, pancreas, leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, brain, kidney, bladder, thyroid, childhood and more) from the National Cancer Institute and CDC, life expectancy, premature death, child and infant mortality from County Health Rankings, or the EPA AirToxScreen air toxics cancer risk. Each view compares the county with the U.S. rate, and the map view can be shared as a link. A county rate above the national rate is a reason to look closer, not proof that a nearby facility caused it.
- How do I find cancer rates for my county?
- Open the county directory at envyrofax.com/county, pick your state and then your county. The county page lists cancer death and new case rates by type next to the U.S. rate and marks which differences are statistically significant, then adds mortality measures, the EPA air toxics cancer risk, counts of regulated facilities, the top facilities with their agency IDs, correctional facilities and the records to request. Rates for very small counties are sometimes suppressed by the agencies to protect privacy; the page says so when that happens.
- Does a nearby dry cleaner or gas station mean contamination?
- No. Dry cleaners, gas stations, auto shops, crematories, scrapyards, landfills and wastewater plants come from OpenStreetMap, which records that a business is there, not what it uses, releases or has been cited for. These mapped facilities add a small, distance-based amount to the score and point to where records may exist, such as state underground storage tank files or dry cleaner solvent programs. Only testing and agency records can show whether contamination actually occurred.
- Are prison water violations included?
- Yes. Prisons, jails and detention centers are matched to EPA ECHO facility records and to the SDWIS drinking water system that serves them, so the map, reports and county pages show a facility's health-based drinking water violations and wastewater permit compliance where the agencies have them. A violation on record means the water system broke a federal rule at some point; it does not by itself show that anyone was harmed.
- How current is the data?
- Each dataset refreshes on its agency's schedule: EPA ECHO facility and compliance data weekly, drinking water data quarterly, Toxics Release Inventory and air quality data annually, earthquakes weekly, storm events monthly. Flood zones, soils and hazard ratings are read live from the agency services when you scan. The Data Sources page shows the as-of date for each one.
- Which addresses does Envyrofax cover?
- All 50 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. Coverage is national because the underlying datasets are national. A few layers, such as FEMA flood maps and USDA soil surveys, have gaps in some rural areas; when a layer has no data for an address, the report says so and the Data Completeness figure drops.