Centre for Health and the Environment
Head: MUDr. Helena Kazmarová
Contact: National Institute of Public Health
Šrobárova 48
100 42 Praha 10
The Czech Republic
e-mail: h.kazmarova@szu
cz
Phone: +420 26708 2555
Fax: +420 26708 2454
The activities of the Centre are generally focused on effects of the environment on human health. The expert work is aimed at monitoring and assessment of the latest knowledge in the environmental health regarding water quality and health (namely drinking water from the public supplies, bottled drinking water and bathing water), soil contamination, health risks from the waste management as well as from exposure to indoor and outdoor air pollution. The formulation and technical justification of the new requirements for those environmental elements quality and health risk assessment are performed yielding in regulation proposals. New technologies and processes, e.g. drinking water treatment, drinking water contacting materials, hazardous wastes management, sewage sludge utilization etc. are examined. The reference concentrations of environmental pollutants are set. The Centre participates in the national Environmental Health Monitoring.
Analytical determination of chemicals in air, water and wastes (mostly under the certificate of the Czech Accreditation Institute), testing of ecotoxicity and microbial contamination is performed. An important role of the Centre is to conduct the laboratory competence assessment programmes (inter-laboratory comparing tests etc.). Among other activities, indoor air sampling and measurement methods as well as guidelines for health-care waste management have been developed.
The Centre consists of three units as follows:
· Unit for air pollution and wastes
o National Reference Laboratory for outdoor air (Head: RNDr. Bohumil Kotlík, Ph.D.)
o National Reference Centre for soil and waste hygiene (Head: MUDr. Magdalena Zimová, CSc.)
· Unit for water quality
o National Reference Centre for drinking water (Head: MUDr. František Kožíšek, CSc.)
· Unit for element analysis
The Centre takes part in the international project SINPHONIE focused on the indoor air pollution in the school environment and children’s respiratory health. Its expert coordinated the development of the national goals to the Protocol on Water and Health, which was signed by the European countries in the Third Ministry Conference on Environment and Health in London 1999.
Link to the English pages Environmental Health
