Trends in University Environmental Health Research and Training DADE W. MOELLER, PHD, HERBERT B. PAHL, PHD, AND PAUL B. HAMMOND, DVM, PHD
Abstract: A survey of 157 college and university programs in the United States indicates that, during the ten-year period from 1967 through 1976, the number of people completing graduate programs in environmental health specialties at the master's, doctoral, and post-doctoral levels doubled. In 1974-75, 75 per cent of those completing master's degree programs were in the specialty areas of water pollution, air pollution, and occupational health; 76 per cent of those completing doctoral programs were in water pollution, toxicology, radiation protection, air pollution, and cancer research; and 61 per cent of those completing post-doctoral programs were in cancer research and toxicology. Including those whose current positions could not be ascertained, less than 10 per cent of all graduates accepted employment outside the field of
environmental health. Funding for university environmental health research continued to increase throughout this ten-year period. The sources of this funding, however, changed dramatically, with the relative contributions from the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare decreasing significantly, while those from industry and other federal agencies increased. In contrast, funding for university environmental health training increased significantly between 1966 and 1971, but showed no increase from 1971 to 1975. During this latter period, training support provided by HEW remained essentially constant, that by the Environmental Protection Agency decreased to less than half, while that from the universities approximately tripled. (Am. J. Public Health 69:125-129, 1979.)
Introduction
sponse to public concerns about the environment. These actions on the part of the U.S. Congress have created new demands for professional environmental health personnel, ranging from the practitioner who conducts field assessments, to the laboratory worker who analyzes samples, and finally to the highly skilled scientist who performs environmental health research. While the needs for the practitioner and the laboratory worker can largely be met through master's degree programs, the skills demanded of the research scientist almost without exception require training through the doctoral or post-doctoral level. Unfortunately, the legislation that has mandated the establishment of research and control programs within various federal, state and local agencies has frequently carried with it no provision for meeting the associated environmental health manpower requirements. Further complicating the situation is the fact that today there is no single federal agency responsible for keeping abreast of environmental health manpower development as a totality. As a result, little information is available on either the supply or demand for such personnel, particularly when one deals with individual subspecialties.
Public concern about environmental health problems has increased markedly in the past decade. This is reflected in part by landmark legislation, including the Occupational Safety and Health Act,' the Safe Drinking Water Act,2 the Toxic Substances Control Act,3 and the Clean Air Act.4 The creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act,5 which led to the establishment of the Council on Environmental Quality, are other examples of Congressional reAddress reprint requests to Dr. Dade W. Moeller, Chairman, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115. Dr. Pahl is Staff Director, Committee on a Study of National Needs for Biomedical and Behavioral Research Personnel, National Research Council, Washington, DC; Dr. Hammond is Professor of Environmental Health, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati. This paper, submitted to the Journal May 2, 1978, was revised and accepted for publication June 27, 1978. AJPH February 1979, Vol. 69, No. 2
125
MOELLER, ET AL
Survey of University Environmental Health Programs In an effort to develop quantitative data on one aspect of this subject-namely, trends in the numbers of people completing environmental health programs at the master's, doctoral and post-doctoral levels-as well as to obtain data on the sizes of the staffs and the sources and levels of funding for environmental health teaching and research activities, a comprehensive questionnaire was developed and distributed to approximately 350 colleges and universities in the United States known or understood to be conducting such programs. The questionnaire, which was prepared under the auspices of the Second Task Force for Research Planning in Environmental Health Science,6 also solicited for three academic years, 1966-67, 1971-72, and 1975-76, data on the percentage of graduates who accepted research positions, the percentage who pursued additional graduate training, and the percentage who accepted employment outside the field of environmental health. Information for academic years 196-67 through 1975-76 was requested on each of the 15 environmental health specialty areas listed below. Although some of the specialty areas, such as "cancer research" and "multidisciplinary training," may seem broad, only data pertaining to programs that were specifically directed to the field of environmental health were solicited and included in the final tabulations. Air Pollution Water Pollution Soil Pollution Solid Wastes Pesticides Food Radiation Protection Toxicology
Cancer Research Epidemiology Environmental Physiology Occupational Health Ergonomics Accidental Injury Multidisciplinary Training
The initial mailing of the questionnaires was followed by reminders through letters and telephone calls, particularly to research and training personnel known to have active programs. In total, approximately 200 responses were received of which 157 were considered satisfactory for analysis. The incomplete response is believed to be primarily due to the fact that, in an effort to assure complete coverage, questionnaires were sent to a large number of programs that were either inactive or had been terminated. A careful follow-up review showed that responses were received from all universities having major programs, based on a comparison of the respondents to lists of schools that have received federal research and training grants in environmental health. A further analysis showed that the responses included coverage of the programs at a majority of the existing Schools of Public Health. For these reasons, it is believed that the survey provided sufficient data to indicate overall trends and relationships. At the same time, however, the authors caution that the totals obtained from the data do not represent all such activities within the United States, and thus no more implications should be read into the survey results than stated herein.
126
Trends in Numbers of Graduates For purposes of data tabulation, students specializing in environmental health who were granted the MPH degree were included within the MS degree category. The total numbers of students completing master of science and doctoral degrees, as well as post-doctoral training, for all of the 15 specialty areas previously cited are presented in Figure 1. Similar data for each of the seven specialty areas having the largest number of graduates at the M.S. degree level during the past decade are presented in Figure 2.
Master of Science Degree Recipients The data show that the total number of Master of Science degrees (650) awarded in academic year 1974-75 (the latest year for which complete data were available), was two and one-half times the number (260) awarded in 1966-67. Although the annual number of graduates increased steadily from 1966 through 1973, the number then leveled off and declined in 1975. Of the MS degree graduates for academic year 1974-75, over one-half (53 per cent) were in the specialty area of water pollution; an additional 12 per cent were in air pollution and 11 per cent were in occupational health. These three specialty areas thus accounted for 76 per cent of the total. Training in radiation protection accounted for nearly 6 per cent, with epidemiology, toxicology and cancer research each accounting for 2 to 3 per cent. A rapid buildup occurred in most training areas during the period 1966-67 to 1972-73 or 1973-74, but most programs have shown a leveling off or slight decline since that time. In radiation protection, however, there was a gradual decline throughout the period surveyed, and in toxicology and epidemiology, MS completions have increased steadily in recent years (Figure 2). With respect to initial job placement, the data show that for the last two years an average of about 25 per cent of all MS graduates accepted research positions or remained in school for additional training. This percentage, however, varied markedly with specialty area from virtually 100 per cent of the MS graduates in toxicology and pesticides to about 15 per cent for water pollution. Less than 5 per cent of the MS graduates accepted employment outside the field of environmental health, attesting to the strong demand for personnel. Doctoral Degree Recipients For purposes of the survey, students receiving the PhD, ScD, or DPH in any one of the specialized areas of environmental health were grouped within the category of doctoral recipients and were listed as having received a PhD. The data show that the total number of doctoral degrees (164) awarded in academic year 1974-75 was almost double the number (86) awarded in 1966-67. Except for a small decrease in 1967-68, the annual number of graduates showed a steady increase through academic year 1974-75. Of the doctoral degree recipients during the period 1966-67 to 1975-76, 26 per cent were in the specialty area of water pollution, 17 per cent
AJPH February 1979, Vol. 69, No. 2
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH AND TRAINING
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ergonomics, and solid wastes accounted for an additional 10 per cent. Occupational health and pesticides each had approximately 5 per cent. With respect to initial job placement, the data show that, for 1973-74 and 1974-75, an average of about 75 per cent of all people completing post-doctoral training accepted research positions. Less than 15 per cent of those completing post-doctoral training accepted positions outside the field of environmental health.
14
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were in toxicology, 17 per cent were in the field of radiation protection, and 11 per cent each were in the areas of air pollution and cancer research. These five specialty areas accounted for 80 per cent of the total. During the period 196-67 through 1971-72, the numbers of doctoral degrees awarded in air pollution, water pollution, and toxicology increased markedly, and those in radiation protection and occupational health remained unchanged. Subsequent to 1971-72 the number of doctorates awarded in each one of the specialized areas either has not increased or has declined (Figure 2). With respect to initial job placement, the data show that, for the last two years, an average of about 65 per cent of all doctoral graduates accepted research positions or continued additional training, varying from 80 per cent for toxicology, environmental physiology, occupational health, and accidental injury, to 50 per cent for water pollution and radiation protection. Less than 10 per cent of all the doctoral graduates accepted employment outside the field of environmental health. Trainees Completing Post-doctoral Programs The number of people completing post-doctoral training (67) in academic year 1974-75 was almost double the number (37) completing such training in 1966-67. Year-by-year data show that the annual number of people completing such training was fairly steady for the five-year period 1966-67 to 1970-71, increased sharply in 1971-72, but then remained unchanged through 1974-75. Of those completing post-doctoral training during the period 1966-67 through 1975-76, 37 per cent were in cancer research, 19 per cent were in toxicology, and 12 per cent were in epidemiology. These three programs thus accounted for 66 per cent of the total number of people completing such training. Slightly less than 10 per cent were in environmental physiology, while the combined fields of air pollution, water pollution, radiation protection, AJPH February 1979, Vol. 69, No. 2
Among all specialty areas, water pollution control programs accounted for the greatest number of both master's and doctoral graduates. Air pollution control and occupational health (industrial hygiene) programs accounted for the second and third largest numbers of master's degree graduates, respectively. The temporal pattern of training in radiation protection differed significantly from that in the other major specialty areas: while the number of master's degree recipients has been on the decline since the 1966-67 academic year, the doctoral output in this field has remained relatively constant. As a result, the ratio of doctoral to master's degree graduates has increased two-fold over this same time span and is now close to unity. Within the field of toxicology, training has been primarily at the doctoral level. In contrast, training in cancer research and environmental epidemiology has been primarily at the post-doctoral level. The number of graduates from programs in ergonomics, pesticides, food, accidental injury, solid wastes, and those identified as "other" constituted only a very small portion of the total.
Trends in Staff and Research and Teaching Support Because of the extensive effort involved, data on sizes of the staffs and the sources and levels of funding for environmental research and teaching activities were requested for only three academic years: 1966-67, 1971-72, and 197576. These represent the same three periods covered in those sections of the questionnaire dealing with the types of positions accepted by graduates from the various programs. The data show that the total number of staff members within the 157 programs surveyed increased steadily from 503 in 1966-67 to 810 in 1971-72 to 1,099 in 1975-76 (Figure 3). During this same time period, the total size of the teaching staffs doubled while that of the research staffs almost tripled. Nonetheless, the size of the research staffs remained relatively small, constituting about 17 per cent of the total in 1966-67 to about 23 per cent of the total in 1975-76. The data show that while various federal agencies have continued to be major sources of research support, the relative amounts contributed by individual agencies have varied widely. Initially, during the 1966-67 academic year, almost 80 per cent of the research support was provided by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). By contrast, HEW contributed only 54 per cent in 1971-72, and only 50 per cent in 1975-76. The other 50 per cent reflects the 127
MOELLER, ET AL
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FIGURE 2-Numbers of Students Completing Training in Different Environmental Health Specialty Areas and Total Training Support, 1966-67 through 1975-76. (Note that the ordinate scales for the graph on "Water Pollution" are a factor of five to ten greater than those for the other
graphs.)
growing reliance of newer federal agencies, e.g., the Atomic Energy Commission-Department of Energy (AEC-DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), on universities for fulfillment of national needs in environmental health research. It is also of interest to note that during this period industry turned more to university laboratories for fulfillment of its research needs. Industry's contribution to the research support in training institutions was only about 5 per cent of the total in 1966-67 and 6 per cent in 1971-72. By 1975-76, its share of the total support had increased to 10 per cent. To some extent this increase probably reflects the shortage of trained manpower available to industry for inhouse research. During the period from 1966-67 to 1971-72, the rapid growth in teaching staffs and their research support was
matched by a corresponding increase in training support (Figure 3). During the period from 1971-72 to 1975-76, however, the support for training showed no significant increase while both the numbers of staff and their research support continued to increase at a rapid rate. In actuality, the lack of dollar growth in teaching support translates into a decrease in real dollars expended since inflationary erosions were substantial during this period. At the same time that there was a stagnation in training support, the number of graduates grew only at the very modest rate of 1 per cent annually. The close relationship between the levels of total training support and the numbers of students completing training is graphically illustrated by the data for each of the specialty areas shown in Figure 2. Concurrent with the decrease in total training support, AJPH February 1979, Vol. 69, No. 2
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH AND TRAINING
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necessary for the establishment of meaningful environmental standards, requires staffs and facilities that take years to assemble, develop, and place on an efficiently operating basis. 30 Unfortunately, the results of this survey show that the types of long-term sustained funding necessary to develop and maintain college and university programs for training 25 cn cc. such people are not being made available. In fact, the data show that, in recent years, the amount of federal funds being 20i made available for graduate environmental health training C programs has been decreasing. This has led to a correspond-
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FIGURE 3-Number of Training Staff and Sources of Research and Training Support, 1966-67, 1971-72, and 1975-76.
there was a decrease in the portion of the support provided by federal agencies. Much of this decline was due to a 50 per cent reduction between 1971-72 and 1975-76 in training grant funds provided by EPA. The only reason the total funding for training did not decrease during this same time period was that the decrease in funds from EPA was replaced by university sources (Figure 3). In view of these reductions, it is not surprising that the data revealed that the 157 program directors responding to the survey considered the lack of training support to be the most serious limitation on the overall development of their environmental health programs. While the data show that the total funding available through research contracts and grants increased at an annual rate of 12 per cent during the period from 1971-72 to 1975-76, the growth in training support during that same period was precisely the same as the increase in student output (1 per cent annually). This further confirms the earlier observation that there is a close relationship between the number of graduates and the amount of training funds available.
Discussion Demands for professional personnel in the field of environmental health are heavily influenced by federal legislation. Control programs, such as those required by the Occupational Safety and Health Act,' the Clean Air Act,4 and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act,7 have caused a tremendous increase in the need for practitioners such as industrial hygienists and air and water pollution control specialists. Assurance of an adequate supply of well-trained people to implement these programs and to develop the basic data AJPH February 1979, Vol. 69, No. 2
ing decrease in the rate of production of the types of skilled manpower needed, and supplementary data indicate that there are shortages of skilled professionals in many environmental specialty areas. This is particularly true with respect to highly trained research specialists. That this situation has been permitted to develop is due to several factors. As mentioned previously, undoubtedly a major factor is that federal legislation that mandates various regulatory practices too often omits any means of assurance that the associated manpower requirements will be met. Notable exceptions are the Clean Air Act Amendments of 19774 and the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974.8 The latter legislation provides specific authority to the Energy Research and Development Administration (now the U.S. Department of Energy) to help "assure an adequate supply of manpower for the accomplishment of energy research and development programs, by sponsoring and assisting in education and training activities in institutions of higher education, vocational schools, and other institutions, and by assuring the collection, analysis, and dissemination of necessary manpower supply and demand data." People in positions of leadership should take steps to assure that a similar statement is incorporated into all legislation having a potential for increasing the need for professional environmental health personnel.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors gratefully acknowledge the encouragement and support of Dr. Norton Nelson, Dr. James L. Whittenberger, and Mr. Porter Coggeshall in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data reported in this paper. This study was supported, in part, through the Occupational and Environmental Health Center Grant (ES-00002) from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
REFERENCES 1. U.S. Congress. Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Public Law 91-596, Washington, D.C., December 29, 1970. 2. U.S. Congress. Safe Drinking Water Act. Public Law 93-523, Washington, D.C., December 16, 1974. 3. U.S. Congress. Toxic Substances Control Act. Public Law 94469, Washington, D.C., October 11, 1976. 4. U.S. Congress. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977. Public Law
95-95, Washington, D.C., August 7, 1977. 5. U.S. Congress. National Environmental Policy Act. Public Law 91-190, Washington, D.C., January 1, 1970. 6. Nelson N and Whittenberger JL: Human Health and the Environment-Some Research Needs. DHEW Publication No. (NIH) 77-1277, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Washington, D.C., 1977. 7. U.S. Congress. Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Public Law
92-500, Washington, D.C., October 24, 1972. 8. U.S. Congress. Energy Reorganization Act of 1974. Public Law 93-438, Washington, D.C., October 11, 1974. 129
Abstract: A survey of 157 college and university programs in the United States indicates that, during the ten-year period from 1967 through 1976, the number of people completing graduate programs in environmental health specialties at the master's, doctoral, and post-doctoral levels doubled. In 1974-75, 75 per cent of those completing master's degree programs were in the specialty areas of water pollution, air pollution, and occupational health; 76 per cent of those completing doctoral programs were in water pollution, toxicology, radiation protection, air pollution, and cancer research; and 61 per cent of those completing post-doctoral programs were in cancer research and toxicology. Including those whose current positions could not be ascertained, less than 10 per cent of all graduates accepted employment outside the field of
environmental health. Funding for university environmental health research continued to increase throughout this ten-year period. The sources of this funding, however, changed dramatically, with the relative contributions from the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare decreasing significantly, while those from industry and other federal agencies increased. In contrast, funding for university environmental health training increased significantly between 1966 and 1971, but showed no increase from 1971 to 1975. During this latter period, training support provided by HEW remained essentially constant, that by the Environmental Protection Agency decreased to less than half, while that from the universities approximately tripled. (Am. J. Public Health 69:125-129, 1979.)
Introduction
sponse to public concerns about the environment. These actions on the part of the U.S. Congress have created new demands for professional environmental health personnel, ranging from the practitioner who conducts field assessments, to the laboratory worker who analyzes samples, and finally to the highly skilled scientist who performs environmental health research. While the needs for the practitioner and the laboratory worker can largely be met through master's degree programs, the skills demanded of the research scientist almost without exception require training through the doctoral or post-doctoral level. Unfortunately, the legislation that has mandated the establishment of research and control programs within various federal, state and local agencies has frequently carried with it no provision for meeting the associated environmental health manpower requirements. Further complicating the situation is the fact that today there is no single federal agency responsible for keeping abreast of environmental health manpower development as a totality. As a result, little information is available on either the supply or demand for such personnel, particularly when one deals with individual subspecialties.
Public concern about environmental health problems has increased markedly in the past decade. This is reflected in part by landmark legislation, including the Occupational Safety and Health Act,' the Safe Drinking Water Act,2 the Toxic Substances Control Act,3 and the Clean Air Act.4 The creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act,5 which led to the establishment of the Council on Environmental Quality, are other examples of Congressional reAddress reprint requests to Dr. Dade W. Moeller, Chairman, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115. Dr. Pahl is Staff Director, Committee on a Study of National Needs for Biomedical and Behavioral Research Personnel, National Research Council, Washington, DC; Dr. Hammond is Professor of Environmental Health, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati. This paper, submitted to the Journal May 2, 1978, was revised and accepted for publication June 27, 1978. AJPH February 1979, Vol. 69, No. 2
125
MOELLER, ET AL
Survey of University Environmental Health Programs In an effort to develop quantitative data on one aspect of this subject-namely, trends in the numbers of people completing environmental health programs at the master's, doctoral and post-doctoral levels-as well as to obtain data on the sizes of the staffs and the sources and levels of funding for environmental health teaching and research activities, a comprehensive questionnaire was developed and distributed to approximately 350 colleges and universities in the United States known or understood to be conducting such programs. The questionnaire, which was prepared under the auspices of the Second Task Force for Research Planning in Environmental Health Science,6 also solicited for three academic years, 1966-67, 1971-72, and 1975-76, data on the percentage of graduates who accepted research positions, the percentage who pursued additional graduate training, and the percentage who accepted employment outside the field of environmental health. Information for academic years 196-67 through 1975-76 was requested on each of the 15 environmental health specialty areas listed below. Although some of the specialty areas, such as "cancer research" and "multidisciplinary training," may seem broad, only data pertaining to programs that were specifically directed to the field of environmental health were solicited and included in the final tabulations. Air Pollution Water Pollution Soil Pollution Solid Wastes Pesticides Food Radiation Protection Toxicology
Cancer Research Epidemiology Environmental Physiology Occupational Health Ergonomics Accidental Injury Multidisciplinary Training
The initial mailing of the questionnaires was followed by reminders through letters and telephone calls, particularly to research and training personnel known to have active programs. In total, approximately 200 responses were received of which 157 were considered satisfactory for analysis. The incomplete response is believed to be primarily due to the fact that, in an effort to assure complete coverage, questionnaires were sent to a large number of programs that were either inactive or had been terminated. A careful follow-up review showed that responses were received from all universities having major programs, based on a comparison of the respondents to lists of schools that have received federal research and training grants in environmental health. A further analysis showed that the responses included coverage of the programs at a majority of the existing Schools of Public Health. For these reasons, it is believed that the survey provided sufficient data to indicate overall trends and relationships. At the same time, however, the authors caution that the totals obtained from the data do not represent all such activities within the United States, and thus no more implications should be read into the survey results than stated herein.
126
Trends in Numbers of Graduates For purposes of data tabulation, students specializing in environmental health who were granted the MPH degree were included within the MS degree category. The total numbers of students completing master of science and doctoral degrees, as well as post-doctoral training, for all of the 15 specialty areas previously cited are presented in Figure 1. Similar data for each of the seven specialty areas having the largest number of graduates at the M.S. degree level during the past decade are presented in Figure 2.
Master of Science Degree Recipients The data show that the total number of Master of Science degrees (650) awarded in academic year 1974-75 (the latest year for which complete data were available), was two and one-half times the number (260) awarded in 1966-67. Although the annual number of graduates increased steadily from 1966 through 1973, the number then leveled off and declined in 1975. Of the MS degree graduates for academic year 1974-75, over one-half (53 per cent) were in the specialty area of water pollution; an additional 12 per cent were in air pollution and 11 per cent were in occupational health. These three specialty areas thus accounted for 76 per cent of the total. Training in radiation protection accounted for nearly 6 per cent, with epidemiology, toxicology and cancer research each accounting for 2 to 3 per cent. A rapid buildup occurred in most training areas during the period 1966-67 to 1972-73 or 1973-74, but most programs have shown a leveling off or slight decline since that time. In radiation protection, however, there was a gradual decline throughout the period surveyed, and in toxicology and epidemiology, MS completions have increased steadily in recent years (Figure 2). With respect to initial job placement, the data show that for the last two years an average of about 25 per cent of all MS graduates accepted research positions or remained in school for additional training. This percentage, however, varied markedly with specialty area from virtually 100 per cent of the MS graduates in toxicology and pesticides to about 15 per cent for water pollution. Less than 5 per cent of the MS graduates accepted employment outside the field of environmental health, attesting to the strong demand for personnel. Doctoral Degree Recipients For purposes of the survey, students receiving the PhD, ScD, or DPH in any one of the specialized areas of environmental health were grouped within the category of doctoral recipients and were listed as having received a PhD. The data show that the total number of doctoral degrees (164) awarded in academic year 1974-75 was almost double the number (86) awarded in 1966-67. Except for a small decrease in 1967-68, the annual number of graduates showed a steady increase through academic year 1974-75. Of the doctoral degree recipients during the period 1966-67 to 1975-76, 26 per cent were in the specialty area of water pollution, 17 per cent
AJPH February 1979, Vol. 69, No. 2
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH AND TRAINING
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ergonomics, and solid wastes accounted for an additional 10 per cent. Occupational health and pesticides each had approximately 5 per cent. With respect to initial job placement, the data show that, for 1973-74 and 1974-75, an average of about 75 per cent of all people completing post-doctoral training accepted research positions. Less than 15 per cent of those completing post-doctoral training accepted positions outside the field of environmental health.
14
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were in toxicology, 17 per cent were in the field of radiation protection, and 11 per cent each were in the areas of air pollution and cancer research. These five specialty areas accounted for 80 per cent of the total. During the period 196-67 through 1971-72, the numbers of doctoral degrees awarded in air pollution, water pollution, and toxicology increased markedly, and those in radiation protection and occupational health remained unchanged. Subsequent to 1971-72 the number of doctorates awarded in each one of the specialized areas either has not increased or has declined (Figure 2). With respect to initial job placement, the data show that, for the last two years, an average of about 65 per cent of all doctoral graduates accepted research positions or continued additional training, varying from 80 per cent for toxicology, environmental physiology, occupational health, and accidental injury, to 50 per cent for water pollution and radiation protection. Less than 10 per cent of all the doctoral graduates accepted employment outside the field of environmental health. Trainees Completing Post-doctoral Programs The number of people completing post-doctoral training (67) in academic year 1974-75 was almost double the number (37) completing such training in 1966-67. Year-by-year data show that the annual number of people completing such training was fairly steady for the five-year period 1966-67 to 1970-71, increased sharply in 1971-72, but then remained unchanged through 1974-75. Of those completing post-doctoral training during the period 1966-67 through 1975-76, 37 per cent were in cancer research, 19 per cent were in toxicology, and 12 per cent were in epidemiology. These three programs thus accounted for 66 per cent of the total number of people completing such training. Slightly less than 10 per cent were in environmental physiology, while the combined fields of air pollution, water pollution, radiation protection, AJPH February 1979, Vol. 69, No. 2
Among all specialty areas, water pollution control programs accounted for the greatest number of both master's and doctoral graduates. Air pollution control and occupational health (industrial hygiene) programs accounted for the second and third largest numbers of master's degree graduates, respectively. The temporal pattern of training in radiation protection differed significantly from that in the other major specialty areas: while the number of master's degree recipients has been on the decline since the 1966-67 academic year, the doctoral output in this field has remained relatively constant. As a result, the ratio of doctoral to master's degree graduates has increased two-fold over this same time span and is now close to unity. Within the field of toxicology, training has been primarily at the doctoral level. In contrast, training in cancer research and environmental epidemiology has been primarily at the post-doctoral level. The number of graduates from programs in ergonomics, pesticides, food, accidental injury, solid wastes, and those identified as "other" constituted only a very small portion of the total.
Trends in Staff and Research and Teaching Support Because of the extensive effort involved, data on sizes of the staffs and the sources and levels of funding for environmental research and teaching activities were requested for only three academic years: 1966-67, 1971-72, and 197576. These represent the same three periods covered in those sections of the questionnaire dealing with the types of positions accepted by graduates from the various programs. The data show that the total number of staff members within the 157 programs surveyed increased steadily from 503 in 1966-67 to 810 in 1971-72 to 1,099 in 1975-76 (Figure 3). During this same time period, the total size of the teaching staffs doubled while that of the research staffs almost tripled. Nonetheless, the size of the research staffs remained relatively small, constituting about 17 per cent of the total in 1966-67 to about 23 per cent of the total in 1975-76. The data show that while various federal agencies have continued to be major sources of research support, the relative amounts contributed by individual agencies have varied widely. Initially, during the 1966-67 academic year, almost 80 per cent of the research support was provided by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). By contrast, HEW contributed only 54 per cent in 1971-72, and only 50 per cent in 1975-76. The other 50 per cent reflects the 127
MOELLER, ET AL
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FIGURE 2-Numbers of Students Completing Training in Different Environmental Health Specialty Areas and Total Training Support, 1966-67 through 1975-76. (Note that the ordinate scales for the graph on "Water Pollution" are a factor of five to ten greater than those for the other
graphs.)
growing reliance of newer federal agencies, e.g., the Atomic Energy Commission-Department of Energy (AEC-DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), on universities for fulfillment of national needs in environmental health research. It is also of interest to note that during this period industry turned more to university laboratories for fulfillment of its research needs. Industry's contribution to the research support in training institutions was only about 5 per cent of the total in 1966-67 and 6 per cent in 1971-72. By 1975-76, its share of the total support had increased to 10 per cent. To some extent this increase probably reflects the shortage of trained manpower available to industry for inhouse research. During the period from 1966-67 to 1971-72, the rapid growth in teaching staffs and their research support was
matched by a corresponding increase in training support (Figure 3). During the period from 1971-72 to 1975-76, however, the support for training showed no significant increase while both the numbers of staff and their research support continued to increase at a rapid rate. In actuality, the lack of dollar growth in teaching support translates into a decrease in real dollars expended since inflationary erosions were substantial during this period. At the same time that there was a stagnation in training support, the number of graduates grew only at the very modest rate of 1 per cent annually. The close relationship between the levels of total training support and the numbers of students completing training is graphically illustrated by the data for each of the specialty areas shown in Figure 2. Concurrent with the decrease in total training support, AJPH February 1979, Vol. 69, No. 2
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH AND TRAINING
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necessary for the establishment of meaningful environmental standards, requires staffs and facilities that take years to assemble, develop, and place on an efficiently operating basis. 30 Unfortunately, the results of this survey show that the types of long-term sustained funding necessary to develop and maintain college and university programs for training 25 cn cc. such people are not being made available. In fact, the data show that, in recent years, the amount of federal funds being 20i made available for graduate environmental health training C programs has been decreasing. This has led to a correspond-
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FIGURE 3-Number of Training Staff and Sources of Research and Training Support, 1966-67, 1971-72, and 1975-76.
there was a decrease in the portion of the support provided by federal agencies. Much of this decline was due to a 50 per cent reduction between 1971-72 and 1975-76 in training grant funds provided by EPA. The only reason the total funding for training did not decrease during this same time period was that the decrease in funds from EPA was replaced by university sources (Figure 3). In view of these reductions, it is not surprising that the data revealed that the 157 program directors responding to the survey considered the lack of training support to be the most serious limitation on the overall development of their environmental health programs. While the data show that the total funding available through research contracts and grants increased at an annual rate of 12 per cent during the period from 1971-72 to 1975-76, the growth in training support during that same period was precisely the same as the increase in student output (1 per cent annually). This further confirms the earlier observation that there is a close relationship between the number of graduates and the amount of training funds available.
Discussion Demands for professional personnel in the field of environmental health are heavily influenced by federal legislation. Control programs, such as those required by the Occupational Safety and Health Act,' the Clean Air Act,4 and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act,7 have caused a tremendous increase in the need for practitioners such as industrial hygienists and air and water pollution control specialists. Assurance of an adequate supply of well-trained people to implement these programs and to develop the basic data AJPH February 1979, Vol. 69, No. 2
ing decrease in the rate of production of the types of skilled manpower needed, and supplementary data indicate that there are shortages of skilled professionals in many environmental specialty areas. This is particularly true with respect to highly trained research specialists. That this situation has been permitted to develop is due to several factors. As mentioned previously, undoubtedly a major factor is that federal legislation that mandates various regulatory practices too often omits any means of assurance that the associated manpower requirements will be met. Notable exceptions are the Clean Air Act Amendments of 19774 and the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974.8 The latter legislation provides specific authority to the Energy Research and Development Administration (now the U.S. Department of Energy) to help "assure an adequate supply of manpower for the accomplishment of energy research and development programs, by sponsoring and assisting in education and training activities in institutions of higher education, vocational schools, and other institutions, and by assuring the collection, analysis, and dissemination of necessary manpower supply and demand data." People in positions of leadership should take steps to assure that a similar statement is incorporated into all legislation having a potential for increasing the need for professional environmental health personnel.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors gratefully acknowledge the encouragement and support of Dr. Norton Nelson, Dr. James L. Whittenberger, and Mr. Porter Coggeshall in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data reported in this paper. This study was supported, in part, through the Occupational and Environmental Health Center Grant (ES-00002) from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
REFERENCES 1. U.S. Congress. Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Public Law 91-596, Washington, D.C., December 29, 1970. 2. U.S. Congress. Safe Drinking Water Act. Public Law 93-523, Washington, D.C., December 16, 1974. 3. U.S. Congress. Toxic Substances Control Act. Public Law 94469, Washington, D.C., October 11, 1976. 4. U.S. Congress. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977. Public Law
95-95, Washington, D.C., August 7, 1977. 5. U.S. Congress. National Environmental Policy Act. Public Law 91-190, Washington, D.C., January 1, 1970. 6. Nelson N and Whittenberger JL: Human Health and the Environment-Some Research Needs. DHEW Publication No. (NIH) 77-1277, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Washington, D.C., 1977. 7. U.S. Congress. Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Public Law
92-500, Washington, D.C., October 24, 1972. 8. U.S. Congress. Energy Reorganization Act of 1974. Public Law 93-438, Washington, D.C., October 11, 1974. 129
