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Hazardous Waste

Hazardous Waste Academic Training is carried out within the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Division in the University of Illinois School of Public Health as a subspecialty of the industrial hygiene program. A concentration in hazardous waste management requires courses in ground water contamination, hazardous materials management and participation in the 40-hour General Site Worker course in addition to the general industrial hygiene program course work requirements. The goals of this program are: (1) to develop hazardous waste practitioners with as much practical experience as possible within the limits of an academic environment; and (2) to provide research opportunities in environmental and occupational health. To foster practical experience as well as research activity, all trainees participate in at least one extended field test. This field experience has included projects at steel plants, railroad repair shops, petroleum refineries, printing plants, and metal working and electronic component facilities. By requiring participation in occupational medicine clinics, hazardous waste trainees gain an understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of problem solving in occupational/environmental health.