r/industrialhygiene

Hi all,

I've been interested in moving into IH after working in academic biological research for about 5 years. I want to break into the career now rather than later, and have been interviewing for some entry-level positions. Though I haven't had the most success, I've been able to get a few interviews with some consulting firms or state government orgs. The jobs mainly seem to be that of an IH tech performing field surveys for asbestos/lead/mold and IAQ monitoring, filling out reports, and maintaining equipment, all while travelling as needed.

I think this would be a good first step for me as I develop my skills and narrow my exact interest in IH (I'm thinking of practicing as an IH for a university or biotech lab). I did have a few questions regarding this path into becoming a CIH (main goal) and wanted to get some opinions on this trajectory:

• Would this type of work qualify for working towards the 48-month requirement for CIH testing eligibility (says I need to work with two types of hazard categories, so I think I should be good with Asbestos and Mold)?

• To those who've worked as techs, how was the experience?

• I am interested in pursuing a master's. Aside from cutting off 1 year for the CIH test eligibility, do you think there is value in obtaining one?

• Advice to early career individuals?

I'd appreciate any insight or questions I should ask myself in considering this path. I've already talked to 5 practicing IHs and they seem to enjoy and recommend this career, but I'm always trying to gather more perspectives!

Full disclosure: I am an economist (working at a not-for-profit) without any sort of expertise in industrial hygiene or engineering.

A 2003 study (Karpinski, 'Exposure to inhalable flour dust in Canadian flour mills') concluded that a large-scale flour milling facility could not practically reduce personal flour dust exposure levels below the ACGIH threshold of 0.5 mg/m³ without forcing workers into respirators for entire shifts. At the time, standard operations like packing and sweeping routinely caused ambient dust spikes well over 5.0 to 10.0 mg/m³.

As of December 2026, Australia will have a new regulation that locks in a strict, nationwide 0.5 mg/m³ Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL) for inhalable flour dust.

I am trying to understand what sort of specific engineering, material science, automation, etc. breakthroughs have occurred over the last two decades to bridge this massive gap.

I’m a recent graduate with a B.S in chemistry and DOE + university based research internships, but nothing directly with safety. Does anyone know how I can shift my path towards occupational health and safety, EHS, or IH given my background?

A 2003 study (Karpinski, 'Exposure to inhalable flour dust in Canadian flour mills') concluded that a large-scale flour milling facility could not practically reduce personal flour dust exposure levels below 0.5 mg/m³ without forcing workers into respirators for entire shifts. At the time, standard operations like packing and sweeping routinely caused ambient dust spikes well over 5.0 to 10.0 mg/m³.

However, as of 2026, Australia is implementing a strict, nationwide 0.5 mg/m³ Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL) for inhalable flour dust.

I am trying to understand what sort of engineering, material science, automation, etc breakthroughs have occurred over the last two decades to bridge this massive gap.

​We all know the first line of defense is strict hygiene at work—changing clothes, showering before going home, leaving boots at the hangar, etc. But I am curious about the documentation side of things.

​If a worker knows they are working with, and have brought home confirmed, analyzed hazardous substances (heavy metals, epoxy, sealants), what do you usually advise regarding family documentation?

​Do you ever recommend that workers actively request to have these specific workplace substances logged directly into their spouse's and children's personal medical records (EHR/medical charts) as a precautionary measure?

​Or is there another standard method, registry, or best practice for logging potential secondary exposure for family members?

Anyone in the EHS field that has gone into insurance? I've been told to get the ARM certification since it will compliment EHS experience and the CIH. Any truth to that?

Check Dr. Daniel Farcas, CIH, CSP, CHMM new post on LinkedIn

I’m looking for some honest feedback from people working in Industrial Hygiene, Occupational Health, Safety, or EHS.
Background:
BS in Chemistry
About 6 years of laboratory and quality experience
Currently work in a refinery laboratory
Experience with analytical testing, QA/QC, investigations, documentation, CAPA, audits, and ISO 9001
Currently earning around $130k/year (some years closer to $140k depending on overtime)
One of my biggest motivations for considering a change is my schedule. I currently work a rotating 12-hour shift schedule that includes nights, weekends, holidays, and frequent disruptions to my sleep schedule. As a single parent, the schedule is becoming harder to sustain long-term even though the pay is good.
I’m considering a transition into Industrial Hygiene or Safety. I’ve been looking at the CUNY Industrial Hygiene certificate and applying for Safety Specialist/EHS roles.
My reasons are:
Better work-life balance
More predictable schedule
Interest in exposure assessment, occupational health, safety, and risk management
Long-term career growth
Moving away from rotating shift work
My concerns:
Most of the jobs I’m seeing are in the Baton Rouge/chemical plant corridor area and would require a commute
I’m a single parent, so quality of life matters as much as salary
I don’t want to make a major career change only to discover the field is shrinking, heavily outsourced, or difficult to advance in
I’m concerned about taking a significant pay cut from my current compensation
Questions:
If you work in IH, Safety, or EHS, do you enjoy it?
What does your day-to-day actually look like?
What salary range is realistic with my background?
Is CIH still worth pursuing?
Are companies still hiring IH professionals, or are these roles increasingly being contracted out?
How stable do you think the field is over the next 10–20 years?
If you were in my position making $130k+ in a refinery lab but working rotating shifts, would you make the switch?
I’d especially appreciate input from anyone working in petrochemical, refining, manufacturing, utilities, or consulting.

In the last week there have now been several posts in which an OP is clearly distressed. Buried deep in their rants (and in previous posts in other subs) were actually a few details that were easily missed. I had already been drafting my concerns at length and will post that in the first comment on this post. Most everything in the comment is superfluous and just me desperately trying to connect with them. The two big points I'd like reviewed would be the links.

I am not a CIH. I'm revisiting his issue, and posting separately for two reasons:

1. I think this is a potentially severe ventilation issue compounded by improper construction, cleaning & PPE measures in an enclosed space rather than the intentional chemical poisoning OP fears. OP's current state is hiding the important bits.
2. My family currently faces a residential issue that also includes hazardous exposure concerns. So, before I get to that I'm posting this first in order to differentiate our situations and my own approach to this kind of problem from OP's before asking for advice. I'd like to avoid our own questions getting dismissed as repetitive at best or paranoid at worst.

I'm posting again as everyone got hung up on the drama and the details of the situation. Not a single person could answer the actual question. Seeing if there is a single person with professional integrity and able to answer the question. Just for the sake of argument, assume what I say is accurate and focus on the question please. Consider it hypothetical if you have to.

If you want to comment on the drama, mock me more, or read all the drama. Then please post on the original post and not clutter this one.
https://www.reddit.com/r/industrialhygiene/comments/1u7rrw1/need_to_identify_2_unknown_industrial_chemicals/

Things escalated with my downstairs neighbor. Last November he sprayed 2 chemicals into my condo and car over the course of 6 days. The semi-volatile one was sprayed only 1 time in my kitchen through the screen door when open. The other pretty much turns to vapor instantly when sprayed, each day and in my car. Which was sprayed 1 other time 2 months prior.Tentatively think the best candidates are unmixed solvents used in auto shop painting / coatings. Not going to explain that here, no way to be sure without testing.

**I am trying to find out what would be testable so I can have a more informed conversation with consultants. And may need to check certain things ahead of time based on the answer. If I can get anyone to answer. I know it might be expensive, insurance would cover it. And I need it for insurance to begin with.

What can I test if an air sample is not likely to pick up something this long afterward?

I have some guesses but everyone gets hung up on everything else and can't be bothered to answer the actual question.

In general, any household items that are most likely to absorb chemical fumes and retain them that can be tested?

Some guesses?:

1. My P100/activated carbon cartridges on my respirator that filtered both chemicals.

2. One chemical was sprayed before the 6 days that chased me off. For 2 months anytime I left a cup of water on my coffee table in the living room. Within an hour it tasted tainted by a chemical. If I leave out distilled water and it tastes tainted. Could that then be tested?

3. Bars of bath soap in their package were softened around the outer portion. If still soft when I go back then would that be an option to be tested?

4. Have to double check but looked like my fish oil supplement had the gel caps start to leak after being exposed. Can't be sure it wasn't just my blurry eyes, but if it wasn't just my eyes, can they test that?

5. I know cardboard boxes absorbed the chemicals due to putting some in my room a month later and off gassing enough to be affected. Would a sample of cardboard be worth a try?

6. I know leather a couple months later was still tainted?

No matter what people think of me. If there is even a chance that this isn't all just in my head, then other people may be at risk. My other neighbors where fumes could have reached. My wife was out of state at the time as a live in Nanny. She has gone home a few times to bring stuff to where she is staying. Potentially exposing a 6 year old, 15 month old, and 3 month old. She doesn't understand that because she couldn't smell anything when she went back a few times starting a couple months later. That food in our kitchen is not automatically safe and had eaten some things. Would also like to know if I need to look out for other long term side effects that haven't hit me already.

Posting here because I haven’t been able to get any answers from poison control or Poland Spring. Sunday midday, I started drinking from an aluminum Poland Spring water bottle. I did not realize until halfway through the bottle that there was a strong pine needle chemical smell coming from inside the rim of the can. Upon further inspection, there’s normally a blue liner in the cap and this bottle’s liner was just white. I did have some numbness in my mouth (lips and tongue), which quickly went away and a mild headache that lasted for 4 hours. The overall exposure lasted periodically over an hour (anytime I took a sip of water).

Just hoping for any information at this point. I poured the water into a glass and the water looked normal, had no chemical smell, or taste from what I could tell. I’ve tried getting in-contact with Poland Spring, but they are “opening a quality case” and haven’t reached back out for any information. Based on the general information I can find online it’s either epoxy or VOC. Does anyone have any insight into this? And know any of the risk of exposing myself to it when pregnant?