The Division of Environmental Health Sciences (DEHS) is comprised of three environmental testing laboratories:

  • Organic Analytical Chemistry
  • Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry
  • Environmental Biology

These laboratories provide routine public health testing and collectively serve as New York's Principle Laboratory under the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Act. Public health testing must be pre-approved and may only be accessed by NY State Agencies; testing is not offered to the general public.

The Wadsworth Center's DEHS also produces and validates proficiency testing samples for the Center’s Environmental Laboratory Approval Program (ELAP) and Clinical Laboratory Evaluation Program (CLEP) and engages in applied research to support the Wadsworth Center’s public health mission.

Department of Health Units, please use the forms below when submitting environmental samples to the Division of Environmental Health Sciences.

Program Updates

CLEP Releases LDT Review Data

The Department of Environmental Conservation and the Wadsworth Center Work Together to Measure Cyanotoxin Levels in New York’s Lakes and Build the Infrastructure Necessary to Benefit Water Managers and New Yorkers

Across the globe, harmful algal blooms caused by cyanobacteria, also known as CyanoHABs, are increasing in frequency, intensity and duration, impacting drinking and recreational waters. In New York State (NYS), they have been reported in >200 lakes, and are responsible for increasing beach closures over the past decade, prompting the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to expand lake monitoring programs to include CyanoHAB monitoring.
HHEAR Award

Wadsworth Center’s Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource (HHEAR) Laboratory Hub Awarded $2.4 Million in NIH Funding for 2023

Established by NIH in 2019, the goal of HHEAR is to promote the characterization of the totality of human environmental exposures called the "exposome". The exposome includes chemical, physical, and biological stressors as well as lifestyle and social environments that affect a person.
NYS DOH image https://www.flickr.com/photos/nysdoh/48682896723/in/album-72157710703391248/

Wadsworth Center’s Laboratory of Organic Analytical Chemistry Continues to Test Vaping Fluids Suspected of Causing Illness From New York State

In 2019, cases of a mysterious illness related to vaping, formally referred to as “e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury” (EVALI), were identified across the United States.  A significant number of cases affected young New Yorkers.  In association with NY Regional Poison Control Centers and medical facilities from around the state, Wadsworth Center’s Laboratory of Organic Analytical Chemistry analyzed vape fluid samples from suspected cases for cannabinoids, pesticides, synthetic cannabinoids, opioids, illicit drugs, an
Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) Exercise

Wadsworth Center Laboratories Participate in Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) Exercise

FERN was formed in response to the anthrax attacks that followed 9/11. It was then and is now a network of local, state and federal laboratories which contributes testing capability and capacity, relieving the burden to other agencies that also test food samples. Over time, the mission of FERN has broadened to include food safety and public health emergency and outbreak testing.Because food could be contaminated, intentionally or not, by many types of agents, there are FERN microbiology, chemical, and radiation laboratories. Wadsworth Center is home to all three.
National Institutes of Health

Wadsworth Center Receives Award From NIH

NYSDOH Lab Part of a Consortium to Investigate Effects of Environmental Factors During Early Development on the Health of Children and Adolescents ALBANY, N.Y. (September 23, 2016) - New York State Department of Health today announced that its renowned laboratory, Wadsworth Center, has been awarded $1.2 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as part of the launch of a seven-year initiative called Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO).
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