Environmental LA3S and testing services: keeping Alaskans healthy.

• Author: Anderson, Tom
• Position: ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES

It's easy to take for granted the freshness of the milk we drink at breakfast. Most of us don't give a second thought when we walk on rich Alaska soil or through verdant ecosystems. Aquifers filled with millions of gallons of unpolluted water buried beneath commercial and residential properties are expected. But does the benefit of fresh dairy, clean soil, and potable water come to fruition by happenstance or design in Alaska?

Ensuring Healthy Lab Services and Testing

Patryce McKinney isn't just the chief over a state laboratory; she's also a biologist. McKinney is in charge of the Environmental Health Laboratory (EHL) under the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) Division of Environmental Health. The lab supports state and national environmental health programs and also certifies and accredits commercial and municipal laboratories that conduct chemical and microbiological sampling of food, soil, and water.

McKinney explains there is a niche market in private lab services and testing in Alaska. Federal regulators scrutinize the process assiduously. ADEC is the state's overseer and complement to ensure compliance of federal laws like the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and Solid Waste Disposal Act. The US Environmental Protection Agency, US Food and Drug Administration, and the US Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service also work with EHL to keep consumables, vegetation, and soils clean and safe.

EHL's purview covers environmental health, so rather than things that come "out of" humans in a public health sense, the laboratory addresses everything that touches or "goes into" humans. McKinney notes there are twenty-six microbiology labs in the state that test drinking water quality. Alaska has five water chemistry labs that test parameters of chemicals like pH, arsenic, nitrates, alkalinity, and ammonia. There are three contaminated-site labs in the state measuring for petroleum and hydrocarbons in the soil, as well as two dairy producers with lab testing for milk.

McKinney enjoys her job and its functionality, thriving on the safety and protection facets of the occupation. She's worked for the state for five years and in the private lab industry for ten years. The EHL is headquartered in Anchorage with fifteen technical staff including microbiologists, chemists, and technicians.

Private Labs Making Measurable Difference

"My focus is to maintain federal dollars and retain employment of trained Alaskans so we can keep labs open and effective in the state," says Charles Homestead, general manager of SGS North America.

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