The two-volume Handbook of Environmental Health, Fourth Edition provides a comprehensive but concise discussion of important environmental health areas, including energy, ecology and people, environmental epidemiology, risk assessment and risk management, environmental law, air quality management, food protection, insect control, rodent control, pesticides, chemical environment, environmental economics, human disease and injury, occupational health and safety, noise, radiation, recreational environment, indoor environments, medical care institutions, schools and universities, prisons, solid and hazardous waste management, water supply, plumbing, swimming areas, sewage disposal, soils, water pollution control, environmental health emergencies, and nuisance complaints.

The handbook presents background material that gives students and professionals an understanding of the areas under discussion and describes common problems and potential solutions. Each volume includes illustrative graphs, graphs, computerized drawings, inspection sheets, and flowcharts that consolidate or clarify textual material. These books are neither engineering texts nor comprehensive texts in each area of study. Their purpose is to provide a solid working knowledge of each environmental health area with sufficient detail for practitioners and students. The text can be used in basic courses in environmental health, environmental pollution, and ecology. For general areas of study, the instructor can omit specific details, such as resources, standards, practices and techniques, and modes of surveillance and evaluation.

Practitioners in a variety of environmental health and occupational health and safety fields will find these volumes handy references for resolving current problems and for obtaining a better understanding of unfamiliar areas. Practitioners and administrators in other areas, such as food processing, water-quality control, occupational health and safety, and solid and hazardous waste management, will also find these reference books useful. High school teachers often must introduce environmental health topics in their classes and yet have no specific background in this area. They can be used as a text in graduate education courses for high school teachers as well as a reference, the material divides easily into two separate courses.
In Volume I readers are introduced to the underlying problems, basic concerns, and basic philosophy of environmental health. The ecological, economic, and energy bases provided help individuals understand their relationship to the ecosystem and to the real world of economic and energy concerns. It also provides an understanding of the role of government and the environmental health practitioner in helping to resolve environmental and ecological dilemmas created by humans. Chapter 2 on human health helps the reader understand the relationship between biological, physical, and chemical agents, and disease and injury causation.
Volume II discusses the many varied facets of terrorism and environmental emergencies, nuisances, and special problems. Students may refer to other chapters of the text to obtain a complete idea of each of the problems and the potential solutions.