 Since earliest times, man has been challenged by his environment. Nobody said it was going to be easy and it wasn't. The menace of tooth and claw and a host of other dangers was everywhere around him. Storm and flood left him isolated and helpless if he was lucky enough to survive at all. You couldn't exactly call it environmental control, but at least Noah did try to do something about it. Of course, Noah had a little advanced notice about what was going to happen to his environment. We too have some advanced warning about what is going to happen to ours. Like the weather, everybody talks about controlling modern man's environment, but how many people are doing something about it? These men are very definitely doing something about environmental control. They are engineers, scientists and technicians of the United States Army Environmental Hygiene Agency. Their job to help provide safer, healthier working conditions for military and other government personnel. Through continuous study, investigation and experiment, they work constantly toward a better environment. The U.S. Army Environmental Hygiene Agency is located at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. Its mission under the direction of the Surgeon General's office is to support the Army's preventive medicine program by providing its services wherever they are required within Army and Army-related installations. The agency was started in 1942 to provide industrial hygiene services to evaluate health hazards at Army installations and industrial type plants and to recommend control measures. Today, the original mission has been expanded to include a wide range of environmental services in medical, engineering and radiation areas. Here is an unprecedented array of scientific knowledge. Studies performed by Environmental Hygiene Agency engineers and scientists are made available not only to the U.S. Army on a worldwide basis, but to the other armed services, the academic community and to scientists of other nations. The degree of technical professional talent focused upon Army environmental health, both on the job and community-related. In today's complex industrial society, a multidisciplinary approach is essential to technical problem resolution. The agency mission is to provide specialized services through surveys and special studies in the field of environmental hygiene. Within this building are concentrated college and university-trained specialists who are experts in their fields. Any large plant or Army base presents a number of problems in engineering hygiene services. Air, water, waste disposal must be constantly under study for possible pollution and contamination. To consult and advise on these problems is the job of the engineering directorate of the agency. A mobile sanitary engineering laboratory equipped with latest scientific devices brings a team of specialists to a survey site. One of the major studies conducted by sanitary engineers is water quality in and around federal installations, including Army camps and industrial facilities. A pollution problem may involve a team of up to a dozen or more men and can call for the use of various sophisticated detection techniques. One method of pollution study is the use of remote monitoring sensors which are placed in streams or rivers. This remote system measures the characteristics of the water and telemeters the data back to the van. Here the data are analyzed and accumulated in the mobile van in preparation for computer analysis at the base laboratory. The team will measure the quality of a stream as it flows into an installation and then compare it with the quality of the water as it flows out of the area. Rainfall, drought and plant operation schedules may complicate the job of the sanitary engineering team. A water pollution field study can take more than two weeks in order to get suitable samples for analysis. At the Environmental Agency's laboratories studies are conducted in the biological treatment of industrial wastes. A scale model sewage treatment plant is used in determining the composition of compounds that will be needed to break up the various forms of waste products. Findings here will help in discovering new and more efficient methods for treatment of industrial waste water. In another type of sanitary engineering study, fish are raised in the laboratory and exposed to various concentrations of certain industrial contaminants. Study of fish survival tolerances may provide valuable data for recommending improved sanitation standards. Results of these experiments go a long way toward seeing that water resources around army facilities are kept free from pollution. This of course benefits the surrounding community. Agency's scientists conduct periodic studies in sanitary engineering at military installations and many plants involved in army activities. Air pollution has a high priority on the agency's testing schedules. Like the water studies, air pollution surveys are scheduled periodically at the industrial sites. Air samples are collected through a probe placed in the gas stream in a process exhaust system. A cable connects the probe to the meter box which registers pollutant levels. These pollution control experts are collecting an air sample from a suspected pollution source. To determine the nature of the pollutant material, air samples are returned to the agency and are carefully analyzed in a gas chromatograph. This chromatograph separates the air sample into its component pollutants for detailed study. What's in it? How bad is it? What can we recommend to clean it up? These are the simple questions that lie behind the complex investigations of the Army Environmental Hygiene Agency. They are questions that concern everyone. But to agency's scientists, they are more than questions. They are challenges, challenges that must be met with answers. To help come up with some of the answers, the scientist depends heavily on his survey equipment. A variety of highly intricate and sensitive detection devices are used by the agency's investigators. These devices must be kept in perfect working order if they are to do their job. The gas dilution board is used to create known mixtures of gases for the purpose of testing the accuracy of the detection instruments. Water and air pollution studies help the Army implement the presidential order calling for new and more stringent environmental controls at all federal installations. Personnel working in government plants come in contact with a variety of industrial materials such as paints, sprays and varnishes. When potential danger to employees from exposure in these areas is suspected, agency experts in industrial hygiene go to work on the problem. Equipment such as this atomic absorption instrument is used to check out samples taken from the environment under survey. The machine will measure concentrations of certain pollutants in the materials which might cause discomfort or danger to health. The radiation directorate of the agency is concerned with testing items which produce radiation. In the laser microwave division of the directorate, experts look for ways to prevent or reduce possible hazards in the use of laser beams for a growing variety of military purposes. The enormous power potential of the laser requires constant monitoring for burn effects and eye hazard to the operator and anyone else in the vicinity. A carbon dioxide laser can burn a hole through a brick wall. Other types of laser beams are used in artillery rangefinders. These must be checked out during development to make certain that they are not a hazard to personnel using the equipment in the field. Laser equipment is also monitored by agency laser experts at various satellite tracking facilities. Guidance in laser safety is provided to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This is not one of our moon travelers or a visitor from another planet. He is an expert in microwave radiation. Rest in protective clothing, his job is to monitor all equipment such as radar which produces radiation. By measuring the microwaves produced from the source, he can define areas within the microwave field that will be declared restricted to protect the health and safety of personnel. A hot meal for the soldier in the field has always been a concern of Army food planners. Mobile field kitchens containing high-speed microwave ovens are under development and the safety of these ovens must be thoroughly tested. Microwave ovens can leak microwave radiation if not properly constructed, maintained and cleaned. Agency experts check the construction of the ovens and develop maintenance guidance for the user. Food can be cooked in one-third the time it takes by conventional means. Monitoring of microwave oven doors and seals will be performed by medical department personnel both in the laboratory and wherever the circuits are located. Government personnel who work with radioactive materials require periodic medical observation. Wherever exposure to radiation is suspected, samples of breath or urine are tested for radiological contamination. Radiation content of the specimen is automatically printed out on teletype. A variety of sophisticated analytical equipment offers the scientist a means of evaluating radiation danger accurately and in the shortest possible time. A serious hazard to United States troops in the field is the possibility of acquiring diseases from insects. Studies in insect control are conducted by the entomological division of the agency's medical directorate, which is concerned with medical hazards to army personnel, dependents and civilian workers. Materials and equipment for insect and rodent control intended for use by the army are tested and evaluated. Close liaison is maintained with international health organizations stimulating a constant exchange of information of worldwide insect control measures. One of the great dangers in the use of insecticides and other pesticides, heavy contamination of the environment. Too much of the material may be deposited too fast in any given area. This may have a toxic effect on the environment and on people. One answer to this problem is a slow release pellet, which has been under careful experimentation by agency scientists. For use against weeds as well as insects, the pesticide is encased in a capsule which dissolves slowly over a long period of time and produces a very gradual release of the material. The release rate may be controlled and offers long-range pesticide protection. The pellets need only be dispersed once or twice a year. To protect the soldier against mosquito-borne diseases and bites, the Environmental Hygiene Agency developed this nylon and cotton mesh jacket. The garment, treated with a mosquito-resistant formula, retains its repellent qualities even after several washings. Field tests of the garment are conducted in areas with a high mosquito density. Agency scientists record the number of mosquito landings and probes per minute on the treated jacket for comparison with those on an untreated jacket exposed in the same area. In nearby water areas which contain mosquito larvae, or other insects, newly developed pesticides are tested by agency experts. The grasshopper, an airboat on loan from U.S. Army engineers, sprays test quantities of the materials. An important capability of the agency is investigation under scientifically controlled conditions in specially designed environmental chambers, combinations of time, climate, and season can be simulated for study purposes. Mosquitoes in these cages are reared under various temperatures and conditions of light and darkness. They will provide the means of determining the amount and strength of insecticides needed to eliminate them as a threat to the soldier. In certain environmental inquiries, field studies may be impractical or costly. For these situations, the control environmental test chamber offers a readily available opportunity for scientific evaluation. The search for environmental hazards extends to almost every activity in the federal service. In the toxicology division of the medical directorate, close watch is kept on the effects of potentially hazardous materials. Using specially designed equipment, experts test rocket fuels to determine possible toxic effect on personnel working in the missile and space programs. In the Occupational Health Division, optometry officers direct their efforts to the protection of eyes of service personnel and government workers. The fundist camera takes a picture of the retina of the eye. The photograph is used to ensure that no retinal damage has occurred as a result of exposure to certain occupational hazards. On the basis of agency examinations and surveys, recommendations may be made for improvement of physical surroundings, equipment, and protective materials. Among articles tested by the agency with recommendations for improvement have been such items as clothing, tropical combat boots, and personal body armor for the soldier. In the exposure of the soldier and the plant worker to high-intensity sound levels, hearing conservation becomes a critical problem. Agency scientists take their equipment into the field to make on-the-spot evaluation of noise hazards as they would affect the man on the job. In cooperation with other Army facilities, such as the Human Engineering Laboratory at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland, agency experts provide consultation and coordination in developing safe environmental noise standards. Here, data is being compiled on noise levels from helicopter engines, which may be harmful to the pilot's hearing. Experiments with various types of noise-reducing materials in the pilot's helmet are conducted to help prevent hearing damage. Noise levels are conveyed to the noise-control console. Here, the intensity of the engine sound, as it would be heard through the helmet worn by the pilot, is determined. An agency audiologist records the noise-level readings for future study. Similar tests aimed at hearing conservation are conducted at industrial plants producing equipment and materials for the U.S. Army. Using information collected in the field, audio experts plot noise contour curves which will provide guidance for future procurement of sound-reducing materials. A special environmental sciences division of the agency conducts surveys and provides guidance in housing sanitation, food services and equipment, and hospital environmental control. Family quarters, homes, barracks and recreation areas are checked for effectiveness of sanitary measures. Disposal techniques are studied and recommendations for improvement are made wherever they are necessary. No environmental problem is beyond the reach of agency scientists and technicians. The full investigative effort of the Army Environmental Hygiene Agency is available for reference in an automated information retrieval system. Reports of studies which have been performed by the agency on any environmental subject may be quickly located on computers. Photographic reproduction and a variety of coded and automated index devices provide flexible and quick access to information. The agency library has one of the most complete collections of published material on the subject of environmental control in the country. More than 20,000 volumes cover every conceivable aspect of the subject. Magazines and technical journals keep personnel of the agency up to date with latest environmental studies from all over the world. A complete library on incidents of air pollution over the past 10 years is available for study on microfilm. Field surveys, laboratory tests and recommendations by agency scientists are written up in detail and issued for guidance in environmental control action. The United States Army Environmental Hygiene Agency unique in its mission, dedicated in its effort, the only agency of its kind in the world with so many scientific disciplines working together to protect the health and safety of those who serve the nation. It is part of a continuing army effort to preserve the health of military men and their families and to improve the quality of man's environment. In keeping watch on their welfare, the neighboring community is also benefited by water that is purer, air that is cleaner and an environment that makes for healthier living.