: Environmental Public Health Home

Environmental Public Health Home Welcome to the Environmental Public Health Web Site

The Environmental Public Health Division mission is the prevention and control of environmentally related injuries and communicable diseases through the minimization of exposure to environmental health and safety hazards.

Program Overview

The Environmental Public Health Division is in the Public Health and Preparedness Commission, Indiana State Department of Health. The Environmental Public Health Division inspects and licenses mobile home parks and agricultural labor camps. They also inspect campgrounds, youth camps, and schools. The staff consults and provides technical assistance to local health departments on a variety of environmental health issues, including swimming pool sanitation. And they assist county sheriffs with licensing pursuant to the Mass Gathering Licensing Law, IC 16-41.22.

The Environmental Health Division also includes the onsite sewage program and the water fluoridation program. The onsite sewage program sets minimum State-wide standards for residential onsite sewage disposal systems. The staff also conducts workshops and seminars on soils analysis and residential sewage disposal, and provides consultation and technical assistance to local health departments on the operation of their sewage disposal programs. The onsite sewage program also reviews and approves plans and specifications for commercial onsite sewage disposal systems.

When tornadoes, flooding or other disaster strikes a community, Environmental Public Health staff provides direct assistance to local health departments upon request. We disseminate information about disinfection of wells and drinking water, and how to handle food, furniture, etc., that has been inundated during flooding. Our engineers also cooperate with State and federal emergency management agencies to assess the cost of repairs to any public works that might qualify for federal disaster assistance.

Announcements / Current News

Lead in Private Drinking Water Wells
Quick Facts

Testing Your Private Well
Knowing your water is safe for the whole family is as simple as 1-2-3. An ISDH brochure on private well testing.

New Residential Onsite Sewage Systems Rule
Rule 410 IAC 6-8.3, which became effective November 19, 2012, was most recently updated effective May 9, 2014. To view the new rule click here.

EPA's Climate Change Basic Information Page
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has posted four two-page fact sheets on climate change based on recent scientific findings and released a new report entitled Climate Change Indicators in the United States. The two page facts sheets may be useful to state and local governments looking for public outreach materials on climate change. The four new fact sheets are (1) Climate Change Science Facts, (2) Climate Change and Ecosystems, (3) Climate Change and Health Effects, and (4) Climate Change and Society. The Climate Change Indictors in the United States report will help readers interpret a set of important indicators to better understand climate change. Both the new fact sheets and report are available on EPA's website. The four new fact sheets and the climate change indicators report, as well as other resources, are available on https://www.epa.gov/climatechange/climate-change-basic-information

Fact Sheet on Blue-green Algae
Blue-green algae, also known as Cyanobacteria, are a group of bacteria found in a wide range of water bodies throughout Indiana, the United States, and the world. Read this fact sheet from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management on Blue-green algae. For additional information, please visit http://www.algae.in.gov/,
or view a poster on blue-green algae.
For information from CDC visit Algal Bloom–Associated Disease Outbreaks Among Users of Freshwater Lakes.
For Information from WHO visit Toxic Cyanobacteria in Water:A guide to their public health consequences, monitoring and management.

Unwanted Medicines
Keeping prescription and over-the-counter medicines out of the environment is an important way to prevent pollution. This Department of Environmental Management Fact Sheet details the environmental impact of disposing of unwanted medicines. It discusses what actions every citizen can take to reduce the amount of unwanted medicines in the environment.