The need to restore the public health base for environmental control

Restoration of the public health base for local, national, and international efforts aimed at protection against adverse health consequences of environmental degradation should be of prime concern for today and the future. Wherever possible, whether it be a mission statement for a cabinet-level EPA or the training and composition of the environmental health work force, we must reinvigorate the public health mission of our environmental protection activities. This cannot be accomplished without recognition by the public health community that environmental health is a central public health concern. As we move toward facing the initially more subtle, but eventually more consequential, global environmental health challenges, it will become even more important for the public health profession to respond.