The NEHA 2025 AEC Wrap-Up provides a summary of the 88th Annual Educational Conference (AEC) & Exhibition of the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA), held on July 14–17, 2025, in Phoenix, Arizona. It highlights the education and training offered during the four days of the conference, as well as the social events, exhibition, and awards and scholarships that were awarded.

Reusable water bottles are popular nowadays due to the conveniences that they bring. Poor bacterial water quality in these bottles, however, can present risks to consumer health, as the drinking water can become a vehicle for waterborne illnesses. In this study, we aimed to investigate the bacterial water quality and its associated factors in the personal reusable bottles of medical students at our university. A survey, heterotrophic plate count (HPC), and coliform screening were used in this study. Among the 37 water samples, 46% were coliform-positive and 78% had a high HPC of >100 CFU/ml. These results are surprising considering that medical students should generally have a high level of health awareness. In addition, both bottleneck design and bottle material appeared to contribute to poor bacterial water quality, which should warrant further investigation.

In this issue’s Building Capacity column, the author explores how environmental health professionals can use Sankey diagrams to illustrate their data. The column provides a simple example of how food complaints enter a health department system to show how Sankey diagrams can tell a story with your data.

Mining and fossil fuel combustion release mercury into the environment, where it enters the food chain and can lead to adverse human health effects. Michigan began requiring clinical laboratories to report all blood and urine mercury results in 2005. For levels that exceeded the action thresholds, the source of exposure was investigated and categorized as work-related and nonwork-related exposures. Between 2006 and 2023, 398 individuals had elevated blood and/or urine mercury levels. Elevated blood levels ranged from 11 µg/L to 94 µg/L and elevated urine levels ranged from 11 µg/L to 4,813 µg/L. Among the 271 individuals with an identified exposure source, 254 (94%) were nonwork-related exposures and 17 (6%) were work-related exposures. Of the nonwork-related exposures, 229 (90%) were from the consumption of fish. Work exposures included recycling fluorescent bulbs, laboratory spills, hazardous waste disposal, and the manufacture of mercury-containing products. Laboratory tracking of elevated mercury provides a mechanism for educating the public about the recommended quantity and species of fish to eat to minimize exposure as well as a way to identify cases that could require a public health response.

Home-based interventions in children ages 0–4 years have successfully reduced environmental health problems, yet the burden persists and disproportionately affects low-income families. Our study describes the extent to which home visiting models approved for federal funding included these home-based interventions and evaluated them. A survey was administered to key representatives at each of the 21 home visiting models eligible for Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program funding that were being implemented in May 2023 in the U.S. The respondents were based across the U.S. and in other countries. All respondents returned completed surveys (n = 21, 100% response rate). Slightly more than one half (n = 12) of the respondents reported that their models included some environmental health content. Models on average covered 3 out of the 15 topics listed, with lead poisoning being the most covered (n = 11). The services used most often to address environmental health were risk assessment (n = 10) and referral to other organizations (n = 8). Only one respondent reported that their model evaluated the outcomes of their environmental health services. Home visiting programs represent a promising approach to mitigating harmful environmental exposures during early childhood but further incorporating comprehensive home assessments, safety device provision and installation, and linkages to healthy homes organizations would amplify their positive impact.

This issue’s Direct From ATSDR column explores the impact of Soil Screening, Health, Outreach, and Partnership (soilSHOP) events. The column highlights the benefits of soilSHOP events, explores some of the resources in the soilSHOP toolkit, and provides a soilSHOP success story.

This installment of the NEHA News includes: • 2024 Annual Report Now Posted Online • Your Environmental Health Network Just Got an Upgrade • Advocacy Insights Webinar Series

Climate change will likely continue to increase the number of hurricanes. After a hurricane, a wide variety of pathogens increase in the environment and disproportionately affect humans. These pathogens include respiratory fungi and viruses, bacteria that cause flesh-eating wound infections, and microorganisms that cause gastrointestinal illnesses. The diseases caused by these pathogens might be contracted from flooded houses during cleanup, spread from person-to-person due to crowded conditions, passed from mosquitoes that increase in numbers after flooding, or spread directly from floodwater. Furthermore, these pathogens harm people with underlying health disparities to a greater degree than people who are not already at risk. Therefore, planning is important to ease the burden for populations already affected by health disparities. Without proper planning, the cost is much higher and has longer-term consequences for populations with underlying illnesses and other health risks.

In this issue, President Larry Ramdin uses his first column to introduce himself, highlight his passion for environmental health, and encourage us to work together to claim our space and gain the recognition we deserve.

Environmental public health (EPH) operates at the intersection of the environment and human health. The purpose of our project was to determine the factors that governmental EPH professionals consider when making decisions about their programs and workforce, including matters of structure, staffing, and funding for local EPH departments. A survey informed by focus groups and interviews was administered to EPH professionals that showed a high proportion of respondents (76%) work in food safety or food protection programs, and at least 50% of respondents reported they spent time on duties in four other programs. Regarding the duties performed in the other EPH programs, the survey showed that 66% of staff and 73% of managers considered performing 3–4 inspections per field day to be somewhat or extremely reasonable. Across all programs—except emergency preparedness—there was general agreement among staff and managers that a bachelor’s degree in a field of science should be the minimum education necessary for staff. More than 50% of respondents recommended either state or national registration as a minimum requirement for the seven core programs. The dynamic nature of the EPH profession is demonstrated by the range of program activities that EPH professionals conduct on both a seasonal and year-round basis. The combination of a bachelor’s degree and a credential could allow for flexibility in performing duties of multiple programs and allow for transferability of skills between EPH departments. There are important commonalities across EPH programs that provide a basis for guidelines that can be widely accepted and scalable to the size and setting of EPH departments.