College Life

Private Schools That Are Well Known for This Major

• Rochester Institute of Technology
• University of New Haven
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Marshall University
• Southwest Baptist University

State Schools That Are Well Known for This Major

• University of Connecticut (UConn)
• Indiana University—Bloomington
• Iowa State University
• University of Minnesota—Duluth
• Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania

Classes in the Major

Toxic Chemicals and Human Health. You're probably not surprised to know that toxic chemicals are generally bad for human health. It's right there in the name. Did you know that the specific effects of different chemicals is important? And where they can be found in the workplace is even more so? That's what you're learning here.

Technical Writing in Environmental Health. This doesn't sound like much fun, and we're going to level with you: it's probably not. This is the skill of writing with clarity for other professionals. You have to describe exactly what's going on with a specific problem in precise terms. After this, you'll know how to do just that. It might not be fun, but it's very necessary.

Water, Wastewater, and Health. Did you know that people need water to live? Probably. Considering you've survived long enough to learn to read and use the Internet. Water is the most vital of all humanity's requirements, but it has to be clean. We humans are such prima donnas that way. A lot of very bad contagions can pass through water. That's how Typhoid Mary became a household name: she was a cook who didn't wash her hands and spread typhoid fever. Way to go, Mary. By the way, this was before occupational health and safety specialists, which is exactly why we need them.

Community Air Pollution. Air pollution might be the most famous kind because if you live in a big city, you can just step out your front door and see it. There it is, hanging like a brown curtain over the skyline. As we have come to understand that breathing visible air may not be the best thing for our lungs, we've been finding out new ways to reduce it. This is one of the hazards you're dealing with, and while you might not fight it on a large scale, you can help specific people.

Industrial Hygiene. Did you just picture a factory brushing its teeth? We did, too. This is actually not about the factory's bedtime regimen. This is the innocuously named focus of your major. This is where you learn to spot all the ways a worker could hurt themselves on the job and how you can do your best to make certain no one will. This can be as obvious as putting a railing up next to a vat of acid to noting that the air conditioning filters need to be changed more often. We're not sure why an office has a vat of acid, though. Maybe don't work there.