Environmental Health Committee

The Environmental Health Committee (EHC) advises and influences public health and environmental laboratories about ongoing and emerging chemical, environmental and public health threats that impact human health. Key activities include:

1. Responding to new and ongoing laboratory issues 
2. Developing policy 
3. Increasing awareness of environmental and public health conditions 
4. Providing education within and external to the laboratory community  
5. Coordinating response to existing and proposed legislation. 

• Expand existing resources and develop innovative approaches to outreach that assist Laboratory Response Network for Chemical Threats (LRN-C) and biomonitoring programs in building strong collaborative relationships with local, state and federal partner agencies. 
• Expand awareness of the intersection of forensic laboratory science with biomonitoring and LRN-C activities. 
• Update expiring biomonitoring position statement and develop a new toxic metals position statement. 
• Expand Chemical Threat Peer to Peer Exchange program to add biomonitoring and biosurveillance. 
• Increase visibility of challenges related to state cannabis programs and the public health issue of “smoke shop” drugs. 

• Crafting a new position statement to replace the expiring position statement on biomonitoring. 
• Collaborating with APHL’s Overdose Biosurveillance Task Force to create resources that promote awareness of and explore the public health laboratory role in addressing “gas station” or “smoke shop” drugs like kratom/7- hydroxymitragynine and tianeptine. 

The EHC Committee was instrumental in producing the materials below; within the Knowledge Retention Toolkit, they developed the template for Chemical Threat Coordinators.