Environmental Health & Safety Teaching Laboratory
The Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Environmental Health has a complete EHS Teaching Laboratory stocked with meters, sampling devices, and training aids. This laboratory is used by students and instructors for the Industrial Hygiene Sampling Methods course and by students for special projects. Students can conduct respirator fit testing, prepare for in-class demonstrations of safety and industrial hygiene equipment, and learn air sampling pump and sound level meter calibration. This Teaching Laboratory allows students to get real-world familiarity with the equipment and measurement devices they will encounter on the job. Whether it is safety climbing harnesses, microwave oven radiation detectors, octave band analysis meters, or air pollution particulate sampling equipment, students get hands-on experience. The EHS Teaching Laboratory is just another way we prepare our students for their future careers.
Research Laboratory
The laboratory has supported biological and environmental health research projects in assessing the effects of volatile organic compounds and metals on oxidative stress responses, molecular damage and reproductive health. The projects include Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Male Reproductive Health, Bio-monitoring of PAHs and VOCs from Coke-Oven Emissions; Ambient Ultrafine Particles, Oxidative Stress, and Mitochondria Dysfunction; Effects of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons on Male Sperm Quality; Heavy Metals in Welding Fume and Oxidative Stress; Heavy Metals and Reproductive Health Effect. Cellular/animal models have been utilized in the laboratory. Also, the laboratory has equipment for analysis of biological (urine, semen, and blood) and environmental samples and for procedures on metal and organic compounds digestion and extraction.