Environmental Monitoring

Environmental health testing typically falls under two categories—regulatory testing and non-regulatory testing—as needed to address community environmental health questions.

Environmental health laboratories are typically responsible for testing at least some contaminants that indicate if their jurisdiction is complying with federal regulations (such as the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), or specific state or local regulations. When testing for federal regulations, in particular, environmental health laboratories likely need to use standard methods to ensure test results are consistent between laboratories across the US. In addition to these standard methods, environmental health laboratories employ quality management systems that ensure test results can be defended in the court of law.

Environmental health laboratories may also provide testing to help address important community health concerns, such as unregulated contamination levels in drinking water, ensuring well water meets federal standards and potential recreational water contamination. Investigating these questions provides invaluable benefits to the communities they serve. Given sufficient resources, and in collaboration with other governmental environmental health agencies, these laboratories can invest time to explore issues that don't guarantee a monetary gain but may result in high public health costs if left unaddressed.

Contaminants of emerging concern are typically unregulated chemicals or organisms that can potentially cause harm to the public. Environmental health laboratories monitor these threats to protect public health.

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals produced around the world since the 1940s. PFAS are resistant to heat, water and oil, making them a useful material in many products such as carpeting, waterproof clothing, upholstery, food packaging and fire-fighting foam.

Their resistant nature can also make them a human and environmental health risk. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has named PFAS emerging contaminants of concern due to their ability to persist in the environment for an extended period of time and bioaccumulate in animals and humans with prolonged exposure.

The historic use of PFAS has led to pervasive, low levels of the compounds in people, food and the environment throughout the United States and the world. While the impacts of PFAS on human health are not yet fully understood, exposures must be limited whenever possible.

Cyanotoxins are produced by a variety of Cyanobacteria genera—including Microcystis, Anabaena, Cylindrospermopsis and Planktothrix, among others—and are currently divided into three main classes based upon their effects on humans or animals, including pets, livestock and wildlife:

• Neurotoxins (e.g., anatoxins, saxitoxins) affect the nervous system
• Hepatotoxins (e.g., microcystins, cylindrospermopsin, nodularins) affect the liver
• Dermatoxins affect the skin

Other possible health effects from lifetime exposure to toxins—such as cancer—are being researched. The primary exposure route is ingestion of contaminated water, but skin contact and inhalation may also occur through recreational activities.

To assist environmental health laboratories as they face evolving cyanotoxin challenges in their jurisdictions, APHL's Environmental Laboratory Science Committee developed a cyanotoxin guide and continue to monitor this issue:

Microplastics—plastic fragments less than 5mm in length—pollute the environment from a variety of sources, including cosmetics, clothing and industrial processes. These plastics can absorb and release toxic chemicals into the surrounding environment; the chemicals bioaccumulate in the environment and marine life which can then cause harm to people.

APHL Environmental Laboratory Science Committee members and their laboratories are monitoring the state of microplastics science. View our webinar for more information: 

Microplastics: The Current State of the Regulations and Science

Microbes are present in all environmental matrices, including air, water, soil, dust, and built environments. While mostly harmless, some microbes in these environments are pathogenic or can be used as indicators of potential contamination (e.g., fecal indicators in water). Environmental microbiology testing is needed to ensure that environmental matrices such as drinking water, recreational waters, private well water and building air are safe for human exposure. Many environmental health laboratories conduct regulatory and/or non-regulatory environmental microbiological testing to meet these needs. 

For more information on outbreak responses related to environmental microbiology:

Visit the Environmental Microbiology Outbreak Response Page

APHL is awarding travel and training scholarships to help public health professionals build their skills and expand their environmental health knowledge by attending relevant training sessions and non-APHL conferences.

These awards are for permanent employees at APHL member environmental or public health laboratories testing environmental matrices (e.g., air, water, soil) or clinical specimens (e.g., blood, urine). Eligible training areas include human biomonitoring, environmental chemistry, Laboratory Response Network for Chemical Threats (LRN-C) and overdose biosurveillance (OD2A-S).

Apply for a 2026 award