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Career Details

19-4042.00 - Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health


Perform laboratory and field tests to monitor the environment and investigate sources of pollution, including those that affect health, under the direction of an environmental scientist, engineer, or other specialist. May collect samples of gases, soil, water, and other materials for testing.


Key Facts
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Bright Outlook
Career Details
Green Job
Career Details
Current Employment
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Forecasted Employment
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Change in Employment
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Change in Employment %
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Tasks
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Tasks
The tasks listed below can be performed to prepare you for a career in this field.
Core
  • Record test data and prepare reports, summaries, or charts that interpret test results.
  • Collect samples of gases, soils, water, industrial wastewater, or asbestos products to conduct tests on pollutant levels or identify sources of pollution.
  • Provide information or technical or program assistance to government representatives, employers, or the general public on the issues of public health, environmental protection, or workplace safety.
  • Calibrate microscopes or test instruments.
  • Make recommendations to control or eliminate unsafe conditions at workplaces or public facilities.
  • Inspect sanitary conditions at public facilities.
  • Calculate amount of pollutant in samples or compute air pollution or gas flow in industrial processes, using chemical and mathematical formulas.
  • Discuss test results and analyses with customers.
  • Maintain files, such as hazardous waste databases, chemical usage data, personnel exposure information, or diagrams showing equipment locations.
  • Perform statistical analysis of environmental data.
  • Set up equipment or stations to monitor and collect pollutants from sites, such as smoke stacks, manufacturing plants, or mechanical equipment.
  • Distribute permits, closure plans, or cleanup plans.
  • Inspect workplaces to ensure the absence of health and safety hazards, such as high noise levels, radiation, or potential lighting hazards.
  • Examine and analyze material for presence and concentration of contaminants, such as asbestos, using variety of microscopes.
  • Develop or implement programs for monitoring of environmental pollution or radiation.
  • Analyze potential environmental impacts of production process changes, and recommend steps to mitigate negative impacts.
  • Develop or implement site recycling or hazardous waste stream programs.
  • Monitor emission control devices to ensure they are operating properly and comply with state and federal regulations.
  • Investigate hazardous conditions or spills or outbreaks of disease or food poisoning, collecting samples for analysis.
Supplemental
  • Prepare samples or photomicrographs for testing and analysis.
  • Initiate procedures to close down or fine establishments violating environmental or health regulations.
  • Determine amounts and kinds of chemicals to use in destroying harmful organisms or removing impurities from purification systems.
  • Weigh, analyze, or measure collected sample particles, such as lead, coal dust, or rock, to determine concentration of pollutants.
  • Conduct standardized tests to ensure materials or supplies used throughout power supply systems meet processing and safety specifications.
  • Direct activities of workers in laboratory.
  • Develop testing procedures.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Knowledge
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Knowledge

The items listed below are organized into sections that contain knowledge useful for pursuing a career in this field. Each section also contains a "Percentage of Importance" statistic that shows how relevant an item is to the occupation.
 English Language
  • 82%
    Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
 Biology
  • 79%
    Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
 Law and Government
  • 75%
    Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
 Mathematics
  • 73%
    Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
 Chemistry
  • 72%
    Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
 Customer and Personal Service
  • 72%
    Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
 Engineering and Technology
  • 69%
    Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
 Computers and Electronics
  • 67%
    Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
 Geography
  • 65%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
 Communications and Media
  • 65%
    Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
 Administration and Management
  • 65%
    Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
 Public Safety and Security
  • 62%
    Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
 Education and Training
  • 60%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
 Building and Construction
  • 60%
    Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
 Design
  • 58%
    Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
 Physics
  • 58%
    Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.
 Clerical
  • 54%
    Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
 Mechanical
  • 52%
    Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
 Sales and Marketing
  • 52%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
 Transportation
  • 50%
    Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Tools
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Tools
The tools listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Cameras
  • 35 millimeter cameras
  • Digital cameras
  • Sewer surveillance cameras
 Liquid and gas flow measuring and observing instruments
  • Air current test kits
  • Electronic pump calibrators
  • Flow monitoring equipment
  • Pilot tubes
  • Pump flowmeters
  • Velometers
 Sampling equipment
  • Air monitoring equipment
  • Air sampling impingers
  • Air sampling primary flow calibrators
  • Area sampling pumps
  • Bioaerosol impactors
  • Digital hand meters
  • Handheld laser particle counters
  • Indoor air quality IAQ monitors
  • Lead air sampling kits
  • Lead water sampling kits
  • Particulate monitors
  • Particulate samplers
  • Sequential air samplers
  • Water sample extraction tubes
  • Water sampling augers
  • Water sampling bailers
  • Water sampling pumps
 Viewing and observing instruments and accessories
  • Binocular light compound microscopes
  • Phase contrast microscopes
  • Polarized light microscopes
 Pumps
  • Bladder water sampling pumps
  • Centrifugal water sampling pumps
  • Low-flow pumps
  • Micropurge sampling equipment
  • Purge pumps
  • Water sample extraction pumps
 Gas analyzers and monitors
  • Carbon monoxide monitors
  • Chlorinated hydrocarbon testing equipment
  • CO2 monitors
  • Detector tubes
  • Explosive gas monitors
  • Freon detectors
  • Halide meters
  • Halogen leak detectors
  • Landfill gas collection systems
  • Landfill gas detection systems
  • Passive samplers for organic vapors
  • Radon detection devices
 Humidity and moisture measuring instruments
  • Carpet sampling pump kits
  • Humidity sticks
  • Hygrometers
  • Moisture meters
 Liquid and solid and elemental analyzers
  • Chloride test kits
  • Hach field kits
  • Lead surface sampling kits
  • Water chemistry analysis equipment
 Light and wave generating and measuring equipment
  • Colorimetric field sampling devices
  • Luxmeters
 Computer data input devices
  • Digitizing tablets
  • Field data collection computers
 Chemical evaluation instruments and supplies
  • Flame ionization detectors FID
  • Nephelometers
  • Photoionization detectors PID
 Soil measuring equipment
  • Infiltrometers
  • Lead soil sampling kits
  • Soil augers
  • Soil vapor extraction units
 Hydrological instruments
  • Interface probes
  • Water level recorders
  • Water well depth meters
 Computer printers
  • Large-format plotters
  • Laser printers
 Sound generating and measuring equipment
  • Noise dosimeters
  • Noise logging analyzers
  • Noise monitoring instruments
  • Sound level meters
 Computers
  • Notebook computers
  • Personal computers
  • Pocket personal computers PC
 Spectroscopic equipment
  • Spectrophotometers
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Technology
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Technology
The technologies listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Content management software
  • Adobe Systems Adobe AcrobatHOT
 Industry specific software
  • Autodesk AutoCADHOT
  • Autodesk SoftdeskHOT
  • Computer aided design CAD softwareHOT
  • FishXing
  • Flood modeling software
  • HEC RAS
  • HEC-HMS
  • Scientific analysis software
  • Statistical software
  • Visual OTTHYMO
 Data management and query software
  • Database software
  • Microsoft AccessHOT
 Information exchange software
  • Email software
  • ESRI ArcGIS softwareHOT
  • ESRI ArcInfo
  • ESRI ArcPad
  • ESRI ArcView
  • ESRI software
  • Geomechanical design analysis GDA software
  • Microsoft OutlookHOT
  • Trimble GPS Pathfinder Office
 Content authoring and editing software
  • Graphics software
  • Microsoft ExcelHOT
  • Microsoft PowerPointHOT
  • Microsoft WordHOT
  • Spreadsheet software
  • Word processing software
  • YouTubeHOT
 Business function specific software
  • Microsoft OfficeHOT
  • Microsoft ProjectHOT
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Certifications
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Certifications
The certifications listed below are useful to pursue if you are interested in a career in this field.
No specific certifications are listed for this career
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Licensing
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Licensing
The licensing information below is organized into sections and is useful for pursuing if you are interested in a career in this field.
No specific licensing information is listed for this occupation in the area you have selected.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Related Programs
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Online Programs related to this career, offered by participating institution(s), are listed below.

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