Environmental health specialists are responsible for education, consultation, and enforcement relating to local, state and federal laws, regulations, and standards governing the safety and sanitation of air, water, milk, food, solid, hazardous and infectious wastes, sewage, housing, institutional environments, and other health hazards. They are actively involved in the overall environmental quality within a community and prevention of diseases associated with environmental factors. Industrial hygienists conduct health hazard evaluations, perform health effects/risk assessment research, and manage health programs in industries or governmental organizations. They anticipate, recognize, evaluate, control, and eliminate health hazards in industry, the community, or the environment. Occupational safety professionals similarly anticipate, identify and evaluate hazardous conditions and practices in the workplace. They develop, implement, administer, measure and evaluate the effectiveness of hazard control programs.

A broad spectrum of employment opportunities is available to graduates whose employment success has been outstanding. Graduates have found positions in local, state, and federal health and environmental agencies such as the FDA, USDA, EPA, OSHA, NASA, and DOD. Many work in hospitals, industries, insurance companies, laboratories, consulting firms, waste and wastewater plants, and other organizations, agencies and firms.

Environmental engineers conduct hazardous-waste management studies to evaluate the significance of such hazards, advise on treatment and containment, and develop regulations to prevent mishaps. Environmental engineers also design municipal water supply and industrial wastewater treatment systems as well as address local and worldwide environmental issues such as the effects of acid rain, global warming, ozone depletion, water pollution and air pollution from automobile exhausts and industrial sources.