A key component of public health, environmental public health focuses on preventing and controlling human diseases caused or impacted by our environment. Many aspects of our environment, both built (pools, sidewalk, and park access) and natural (water, air, soil, and food), can impact our health.
Environmental public health professionals work to prevent disease and create healthy environments that promote well-being, fostering healthy, and safe communities by ensuring the safety of what we eat, breathe, touch, and drink.
Statewide activities focus on prevention, preparedness, and education through routine monitoring, outreach, surveillance, and sampling of facilities and other environments that may contribute to injuries and the occurrence or transmission of disease
Florida’s Water Quality
Protecting Florida Together map delivers statewide water quality information for blue-green algae and red tide (harmful algal blooms). You can sign-up to receive notifications when water quality changes in your area.
Environmental public health is the area of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural and built (man-made) environment that may affect human health. DOH-Sarasota’s Environmental Public Health division protects health in the community by:
- Inspecting and licensing facilities that may impact health
- Monitoring and/or improving environmental hazards, which may be biological (like red tide or bacteria in water) or chemical (like pollution)
- Promoting healthy living spaces that encourage people to live healthier lives.
Questions? Contact the Sarasota Environmental Health Office or the Venice Environmental Health Office.