Environmental Health Division
Highlights
Environmental Health Division
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Keep food safe this summer
Bacteria flourish in the heat and humidity of the summertime. Make sure your summer gatherings don't go rotten by following some rules when preparing and cooking food. Wash your hands often and pack cleaning supplies for hands and surfaces, separate your foods (especially your meats) from each other and ready-to-eat foods, wash your fruits and vegetables, and always cook meats to their proper temperatures (160°F for hamburger, 165°F for chicken and turkey) to kill harmful bacteria. Learn more at Food Safety.
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Natural Disasters and Severe Weather
Disasters can happen anywhere, at any time, often with little or no warning.
Wildfires are becoming larger and more frequent in the United States and Canada, in part due to the influence of climate change. Not only are we seeing hazier skies in Minnesota, we’re experiencing more unhealthy air from wildfire smoke.
Knowing what to do when you see a tornado, or when you hear a tornado warning, can help protect you and your family. More information can be found at Tornadoes.
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Minnesota Drinking Water
Action Plan
At the recommendation of the Clean Water Council and the direction of the Minnesota Legislature, Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) coordinated with state agencies and partners across the state to develop the Minnesota Drinking Water Action Plan. Learn about the plan at Future of Drinking Water.
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Drinking Water Annual Report highlights last year’s successes
Each year, during Drinking Water Week, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) releases its annual report on how well Minnesota’s 6,500-plus water systems are meeting federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) standards. The Minnesota Drinking Water Annual Report for 2024 (PDF), just released, notes that all federal health-based standards were met by over 97% of systems throughout 2024, according to the results of monitoring done in the past year.
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Mold and Moisture
Mold can start to grow on interior building surfaces and furnishings if there is too much moisture. Eventually, the mold will damage the materials it is growing on and may cause health effects to occupants. Learn how mold can affect your health, how to control moisture and find mold inside your home, and how to remove mold at Mold and Moisture.
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Health officials update fish consumption guidance in some waterbodies due to PFAS
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has updated its fish consumption guidance due to per-and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS) found in fish from some waterbodies in 10 Minnesota counties. In the Twin Cities metro area, some waterbodies in Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey and Washington counties are impacted. In Greater Minnesota, some waterbodies in Douglas, Martin, McLeod and St. Louis counties are impacted. More information can be found on the April 17, 2025 news release.
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Test to be sure all’s well with your water well
More than 4 million Minnesotans rely on groundwater for their drinking water, and 1.1 million of them get that groundwater from a private well.
Wells can be a source of high-quality drinking water, but they require regular maintenance. If groundwater becomes contaminated, it can affect the health of those who drink it. More information can be found at Water Quality and Testing.
The Minnesota Department of Health and Tap-In Collaborative are offering free water test kits for private well households in eight southeast Minnesota counties in response to requests from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The eight counties eligible for these test kits are: Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha, or Winona counties. Test kits will include analysis for five common contaminants in well water including: coliform bacteria, nitrate, arsenic, lead, and manganese. Funding for the test kits is provided by the Clean Water Fund.
MDH is currently providing free well water testing kits and possibly bottled water to homes in eight southeast Minnesota counties who have nitrate concentrations high than 10 parts per million and a pregnant person or baby under 1 year of age in the home. More information can be found at Response to Nitrate in Southeast Minnesota.
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Lead in drinking water in early care and education facilities map
Child care centers, public and charter schools are required to report lead in drinking water results and remediation actions. Results by facility or address can viewed on the interactive map tool located on the Results and Metrics webpage.
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PFAS and products
Per- and polyfluoroalkyls (PFAS) are a family of human-made chemicals that have been widely used since the 1950s in consumer products and are a public and environmental health concern. There is a risk of PFAS exposure and pollution whenever a product containing PFAS is made, used, or disposed of. To find out more about PFAS and products, how to reduce your exposure, and what Minnesota is doing to help, visit the PFAS and Products page.
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Licensing System
Minnesota Department of Health Licensing System is available for Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM), Registered Environmental Health Specialists/Registered Sanitarians (REHS/RS), Lead and Asbestos.
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New District Office locations
The Rochester District Office and the St. Cloud District Office moved to new locations.
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EH topics
The Environmental Health Division (EH) works on multiple topics to support the health of all Minnesotans. You can search these topics on the Topic Index webpage.
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Minnesota Office of Accessibility
State of Minnesota’s free e-Learning program on how to create accessible documents.
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