AI exposure: Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health
Perform laboratory and field tests to monitor the environment and investigate sources of pollution, including those that affect health, under the direction of an environmental scientist, engineer, or other specialist. May collect samples of gases, soil, water, and other materials for testing.
Reading this score
computed30.3% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health at the 54th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.1 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.
What holds the line here is verification cost. Across this occupation's 25 tasks it averages 1.90 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, checking the output costs more than producing it. Where an undetected error is expensive, dangerous or irreversible, the economics change. Someone has to verify the work, and verifying can cost as much as doing it. This is the friction most likely to fall as tools for checking improve.
The most exposed thing this job does is Perform statistical analysis of environmental data, at 73.3%. The least is Set up equipment or stations to monitor and collect pollutants from sites, at 0.0%. A gap of 73.3% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within life, physical and social science occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 36.3% across the group's 60 roles, with 39 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 25 tasks, 13 are currently banded exposed, 3 assisted and 9 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take cheaper ways to verify output, since the cost of checking is currently doing more to hold this work in place than the cost of producing it. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Task by task
25 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perform statistical analysis of environmental data. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.28 | exposed |
| Distribute permits, closure plans, or cleanup plans. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 2.88 | exposed |
| Record test data and prepare reports, summaries, or charts that interpret test results. | 58.3% | 29.2% | 12.5% | 4.00 | exposed |
| Discuss test results and analyses with customers. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.75 | exposed |
| Provide information or technical or program assistance to government representatives, employers, or the general public on the issues of public health, environmental protection, or workplace safety. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.65 | exposed |
| Maintain files, such as hazardous waste databases, chemical usage data, personnel exposure information, or diagrams showing equipment locations. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.60 | exposed |
| Make recommendations to control or eliminate unsafe conditions at workplaces or public facilities. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.44 | exposed |
| Analyze potential environmental impacts of production process changes, and recommend steps to mitigate negative impacts. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.00 | exposed |
| Determine amounts and kinds of chemicals to use in destroying harmful organisms or removing impurities from purification systems. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.15 | exposed |
| Calculate amount of pollutant in samples or compute air pollution or gas flow in industrial processes, using chemical and mathematical formulas. | 43.8% | 18.8% | 37.5% | 3.38 | exposed |
| Develop or implement programs for monitoring of environmental pollution or radiation. | 33.3% | 29.2% | 37.5% | 3.50 | exposed |
| Develop or implement site recycling or hazardous waste stream programs. | 33.3% | 29.2% | 37.5% | 3.07 | exposed |
| Develop testing procedures. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.29 | exposed |
| Monitor emission control devices to ensure they are operating properly and comply with state and federal regulations. | 25.0% | 25.0% | 50.0% | 3.50 | assisted |
| Weigh, analyze, or measure collected sample particles, such as lead, coal dust, or rock, to determine concentration of pollutants. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 3.69 | assisted |
| Examine and analyze material for presence and concentration of contaminants, such as asbestos, using variety of microscopes. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 3.00 | assisted |
| Collect samples of gases, soils, water, industrial wastewater, or asbestos products to conduct tests on pollutant levels or identify sources of pollution. | 11.7% | 13.3% | 75.0% | 4.10 | untouched |
| Investigate hazardous conditions or spills or outbreaks of disease or food poisoning, collecting samples for analysis. | 11.7% | 13.3% | 75.0% | 4.07 | untouched |
| Calibrate microscopes or test instruments. | 11.7% | 13.3% | 75.0% | 3.67 | untouched |
| Prepare samples or photomicrographs for testing and analysis. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 3.89 | untouched |
| Direct activities of workers in laboratory. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 3.00 | untouched |
| Inspect sanitary conditions at public facilities. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 3.54 | untouched |
| Initiate procedures to close down or fine establishments violating environmental or health regulations. | 5.8% | 19.2% | 75.0% | 3.71 | untouched |
| Inspect workplaces to ensure the absence of health and safety hazards, such as high noise levels, radiation, or potential lighting hazards. | 5.0% | 20.0% | 75.0% | 3.74 | untouched |
| Set up equipment or stations to monitor and collect pollutants from sites, such as smoke stacks, manufacturing plants, or mechanical equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.53 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 2.12 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.48 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.96 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.30 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.70 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.90 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.