Program Activities

CDC’s Environmental Health Services Branch provides free tools and guidance, training, and research to

• Prevent foodborne illnesses and outbreaks;
• Keeping water safe, particularly recreational water and private wells; and
• Improve the performance of environmental health programs and practitioners.

Did you take a shower, drink a glass of water, eat at a restaurant, or go for a swim today? We can engage in these everyday activities without worrying about getting sick because environmental health professionals in our communities work behind the scenes to keep these activities safe. Permitting and inspection programs for drinking water and wastewater systems help to prevent outbreaks in restaurants, school cafeterias, swimming pools, and other facilities.

Environmental health practitioners also investigate outbreaks to identify their environmental causes. They often are activated during emergency responses to perform crucial functions such as assessing shelters and food establishments, testing drinking water supplies, and controlling disease-carrying organisms (vectors).

CDC’s goal is to create a strong, sustained, and prepared environmental health workforce to meet today’s challenges and improve the health and safety of all. State, local, tribal, and territorial environmental health service programs represent a key segment of the multidisciplinary approach required to ensure U.S. citizens of safe food and water.

EHSB Fact Sheet [PDF - 146 KB]

Environmental Health Workforce Development: Protecting Public Health and the Environment