UNIVERSITY CATALOG: 2024-2025

Program: Environmental and Occupational Health, B.S.

Industrial Hygiene Option

Program Description

Environmental and Occupational Health (EOH) is concerned with the biological, chemical and physical factors affecting human health and the environment. The major provides a solid science-based education with practical applications for a safer and healthier environment. As a result, graduates work in a variety of high-demand jobs, such as air quality, water quality, food safety, housing, industrial hygiene, safety, hazardous waste management, environmental consulting and radiation safety. Graduates also work in a wide range of settings, including private industry (aerospace, manufacturing, food production, biotechnology and many others), local government (city and county health departments), state government (Cal OSHA and Cal EPA), federal government (Public Health Service, EPA, OSHA, Department of Health and Human Services), unions, public interest groups, universities and lobbying organizations.

Courses are explicitly designed to give students the skills needed to succeed on the job. Local employers, many of whom have graduated from this department, routinely seek CSUN graduates as new hires. As one of the largest programs of its kind in the nation, the department has an extensive network of environmental and occupational health professionals dedicated to the protection of the environment and community as well as worker health and safety.

The B.S. degree lays the scientific and practical foundation for a career in EOH. Students are eligible for entry-level jobs in a wide range of locations at competitive salaries. The M.S. degree is designed to prepare the graduate for higher-level professional activities, including research, analysis and management of EOH systems.

Program Requirements

Note: A minimum grade of “C” is required in all courses within the major.

1. Required Courses (40-48 units)

a. Choose one of these course groups:

b. Choose one of these course groups:

c. Choose one of these course groups:

d. Take the following:

EOH 455/L Microbiological Hazards in Environmental Health and Lab (3/1)

e. Take one of the following:

HSCI 132 History of Preventive Medicine and Public Health (3)
HSCI 345 Public Health Issues (3)

f. Choose one of these course groups:

MATH 105 Pre-Calculus (5)

OR

MATH 102 College Algebra (3)
MATH 104 Trigonometry and Analytic Geometry (3)

g. Take the following:

PHYS 100A General Physics I (3)
PHYS 100AL General Physics I Lab (1)
PHYS 100B General Physics II (3)
PHYS 100BL General Physics II Lab (1)

2. Upper Division Required Courses (24 units)

EOH 352 Environmental Health Policy, Law and Administration (3)
EOH 356A Environmental Health I (3)
EOH 356B Environmental Health II (3)
EOH 456 Fundamentals of Toxicology (3)
EOH 466A The Occupational Health Environment (3)
EOH 494B Academic Internship (2)
HSCI 488 Epidemiology (3)

Choose one of the following:

HSCI 390/L Biostatistics and Lab (3/1)
MATH 140 Introductory Statistics (4)

3. Industrial Hygiene Option (16 units)

Graduates with a B.S. in Environmental and Occupational Health with the Industrial Hygiene option are prepared for entry-level work in positions such as industrial hygiene, hazardous waste management, environmental compliance and a variety of similar positions.
EOH 465 Occupational Safety (3)
EOH 466B/L Evaluating the Occupational Environment and Lab (3/1)
EOH 466C Controlling the Occupational Environment (3)

Choose two of the following:

EOH 459 Hazardous Materials and Waste Management (3)
EOH 467 Radiological Health (3)
EOH 468 Air Pollution and Health (3)
EOH 469 Environmental Risk Analysis (3)
EOH 560 EOH Epidemiology (3)
EOH 570 Occupational Ergonomics (3)

4. General Education (48 units)

Undergraduate students must complete 48 units of General Education as described in this Catalog, including 3 units of coursework meeting the Ethnic Studies (ES) graduation requirement.

18 units are satisfied by the following courses in the major: PHYS 100A satisfies B1 Physical Science; BIOL 101 or BIOL 106 satisfies B2 Life Science; PHYS 100AL satisfies B3 Science Laboratory Activity; MATH 102 or MATH 105 satisfies Basic Skills B4 Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning; EOH 456 satisfies B5 Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning; and EOH 352 and HSCI 132 or HSCI 345 satisfy D1 Social Sciences.

Total Units in the Major/Option: 80-88

General Education Units: 30

Additional Units: 2-10

Total Units Required for the B.S. Degree: 120

Contact

Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
Chair: Nola Kennedy
Jacaranda Hall (JD) 1537
(818) 677-7476

Program Learning Outcomes

Students receiving a Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Occupational Health will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of the recognition, evaluation and control of biological, chemical and physical factors that can impact human health and safety, and the environment.
  2. Demonstrate knowledge of how to work in interdisciplinary teams to promote public and private action to protect public health and the environment.
  3. Communicate environmental and occupational health concepts and programs to a variety of audiences, using both written and verbal forms of communication.
  4. Apply mathematical and critical reasoning to understand and incorporate new concepts in the field.
  5. Demonstrate knowledge of organizational management and leadership skills.
  6. Demonstrate knowledge of current regulatory and policy issues.