Welcome to the Environmental Health Concentration!
Professionals trained in Environmental Health study the impact of our surroundings on our health. They understand how environmental risk factors can cause diseases like asthma, cancer, and food poisoning. Environmental Health professionals make up approximately half of public health personnel and the field accounts for about half of public health expenditures.
Students interested in Environmental Health typically have a background in biological or physical sciences, engineering, nursing, medicine, and veterinary medicine. Prior experience in chemistry, biology, statistics, and Microsoft excel software is desirable.
Those who graduate with an MPH in Environmental Health find challenging positions in federal, state and county departments of health and environmental protection, other federal agencies, consulting and research companies, and industry. They work as environmental health specialists, risk assessors, and project managers. Recent graduates from UF are employed for a major environmental consulting firm and a research consulting firm.
The Environmental Health concentration in our MPH Program is offered through the College of Public Health and Health Professions. Faculty in the Division are also appointed in the Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology in the College of Veterinary Medicine. The Environmental Health curriculum addresses a diverse range of environmental issues that concern individuals and communities. Courses and other educational experiences are carefully structured to enable students to develop competence in very specific environmental health skills. The program offers particular depth in the effects of hazardous materials on human health and the environment through courses in toxicology and risk assessment. Required courses include general toxicology, toxic substances, human health risk assessment, risk communication, and exposure assessment. Included in the concentration core are courses on air pollution, water pollution and wastewater management, and food sanitation and safety where public health activities are guided by federal and state laws and regulations. Additional elective courses are available in a wide variety of topics, drawing on the extensive expertise of University of Florida faculty and the unique ecology of our state.
Click below to view curricula for the 48-credit and accelerated 42-credit MPH programs.
- Standard 48-credit MPH Curriculum, Environmental Health Concentration
- Accelerated 42-credit MPH Curriculum, Environmental Health Concentration
Click below for descriptions of the environmental health concentration core courses.
- EES 5245 Water Quality Analysis
- ENV 5105 Foundations of Air Pollution
- FOS 5205 Current Issues in Food Safety and Sanitation
- PHC 6702 Exposure Measurement and Assessment
- PHC 6937 Special Topics: Risk Communication for Environmental Health and Risk Assessment
- PHC 6937 Special Topics: Water Biology
- SOS 6932 Soils, Water, and Public Health
- VME 6602 General Toxicology
- VME 6603 Advanced Toxicology
- VME 6605 Toxic Substances
- VME 6607 Human Health Risk Assessment
View the matrix of environmental health concentration competencies and courses designed to achieve them.
EES 5245—Water Quality
Analysis (3) Prereq: CHM 2046, EES 4201, or 6208 or consent
of instructor
Principles of analytical chemistry applied to the determination of chemical
composition of natural waters and wastewaters. Emphasis on methods used
in routine determinations of water and wastewater quality and interpretation
of data. Click
here for a full syllabus
ENV 5105—Foundations of
Air Pollution (3)
Principal types, sources, dispersion, effects, and physical, economic and
legal aspects of control of atmospheric pollutants. Click
here for a full syllabus
FOS 5205—Current Issues
in Food Safety and Sanitation (3)
Microbial, chemical, and biological safety in food; principles of sanitation
for food processing and retail food industries. Click
here for a full syllabus
PHC 6702—Exposure Measurement
and Assessment (3) Prereq: One undergraduate course in statistics
or a course in biostatistics.
This course will develop the skills for designing exposure studies applicable
to public health investigations, veterinary health investigations, and health
risk assessments. Exposure to chemical, physical or biological hazardous
agents can occur through inhalation, ingestion, and dermal contact with
air, water and other fluids, foods, objects, and surfaces. The course will
teach a variety of techniques that can be used to measure or estimate human
or animal exposures to hazardous agents, both on an individual and population
basis. Click here
for a full syllabus
PHC 6937—Risk Communication
for Environmental Health and Risk Assessment(2) Prereq: None.
Successful risk communication is important in many disciplines in which
information is shared with study participants, the public, government agencies,
and the press. The objective of this course is to help students identify
and develop successful techniques for effective and productive risk communication
within the context of environmental health, risk assessment, and regulatory
activities. This course will focus of issues relevant for environmental
health, toxicology, and environmental engineering. The students will identify
successful strategies, problems and pitfalls through the review of examples
and through role playing activities. The course outline lists specific topics
for exercises. Others may be used if approved by the instructors. Click
here for a full syllabus
PHC 6937--Special Topics: Water
Biology
Click here
for a full syllabus
SOS 6932—Soils, Water,
and Public Health (3)
The intersection of public health and soil science is bustling with real
world examples of how the two disciplines are inextricably connected. From
agriculture to constructed wetlands; dust storms to bioremediation, soil
science has enormous implications for the protection and promotion of public
health. Similarly, countless critical public health issues including asbestos
exposure, drinking water contamination, and heavy metal poisoning have serious
consequences in terms of soil quality and soil management. This course is
designed to highlight important instances where soil science and public
health merge, and to develop skills required for efficacy in both disciplines.
The unique perspective gained through combination of soil science and pubic
health methods will enable students to take an integrative approach to identification,
evaluation, and management of relevant environmental health problems. The
course is open to all students, but is particularly pertinent for individuals
wishing to pursue a career in soil science and/or public health. Click
here for full syllabus
VME 6602—General Toxicology
(3) Prereq: background in biochemistry, physiology, and pharmacology.
This course covers basic principles of toxicology and toxi effects of drugs
and chemicals from an organ/system perspective. The general principles are
broadly applicable; the organ/system discussion is applicable principally
to mammalian (including human) toxicology and includes dose-response relationships,
biotransformation, mechanisms of toxicity and means of assessing toxicity
for various organs. The course is offered in a distance-learning format.
The student is to complete 15 modules, each coving a different topic.
Click here for
a full syllabus
VME 6603—Advanced Toxicology
(3) Prereq: VME 6602
Survey of the health effects of each major class of toxicants. Click
here for a full syllabus
VME 6605—Toxic Substances
(3) Prereq: VME 6602.
This course covers the toxicity of selected chemicals in humans. Examples
from the most important classes of drugs and environmental agents, from
a clinical toxicology perspective, are included. For each agent, sources
of contact/exposure, signs and symptioms of poisoning, mechanisms of toxicity,
laboratory tools for diagnosis, medical management, and potential long-term
consequences of toxicity are discussed. The course is presented as a series
of web-based modules with tests at the end of each module. The student is
required to complete 15 modules, each covering a different topic. Completion
of the module includes taking a time-limited quiz on-line and submitting
answers to one or more essay questions.
Click here for
a full syllabus
VME 6607—Human Health
Risk Assessment (4)
This course covers conceptual approaches, data sources and computational
methods for quantitative human health risk assessment. Click
here for a full syllabus
