Since its first publication in 1933, Clay’s Handbook of Environmental Health (under its different names) has provided a definitive guide for the environmental health practitioner (EHP), and an essential reference for the consultant and student. This 22nd edition continues with its more recent successful structure, reviewing the core principles, techniques, competencies and skills required of an EHP, and then outlining the specialist subjects without getting bogged down in a legalistic approach, seeking to broaden the content for a more global audience.

This new edition seeks to educate the EHP on the public health impacts of global heating and the climate emergency and also reflects the COVID-19 pandemic, as might be expected. Although seeking to have global appeal, the impact of the UK leaving the EU is also addressed. The book examines environmental health in different settings, including in the military, working in both conflict and natural disaster settings, and environmental health at sea and airports. In line with previous editions, case studies are used to illustrate how EH problems have been resolved. This new edition includes guidance on key issues in public and environmental health including air pollution, contaminated land, housing and health, noise, water, food safety, pests and vector control, chemicals in the environment and radiation, as well as sustainability and public health and humanitarian crises.

This handbook aims to give a basic understanding of the philosophical basis of environmental health, as well as the required technical aspects and an understanding of environmental health in different settings. All chapters have sections on further reading and sources of information. Clay’s Handbook is essential reading for all practitioners, students and researchers in environmental and public health wherever they are working.

Stephen Battersby is a Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner and has been an independent environmental health and housing consultant for 32 years. His first degree was in chemistry and applied zoology, before he trained as a public health inspector, qualifying in 1974. He was awarded his PhD from the University of Surrey in 2002. After working for a number of local authorities in England, he was employed by the environmental health professional body (now the CIEH) from 1980 to 1988. Since then, he has been associated with both Warwick and Surrey Universities. As a freelance consultant he has also been an expert witness in housing litigation. At Warwick University, among other research projects he was part of the team that developed the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, the basis for assessing housing conditions under the Housing Act 2004. He has undertaken research (including on the public health implications of urban rat infestations) and lectured on environmental health at the University of Surrey. He has also been a visiting lecturer at King's College London and Kingston University. He also helped establish RHE Global as a resource for those working in housing. He remains a Visiting Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Surrey . He chaired the CIEH Council in 2005 and was President from 2008 to 2011 and is currently a Vice President. He was awarded an MBE for services to Environmental Health in the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours List. He is the series editor of Routledge’s Focus on Environmental Health series and has also contributed to publications in the series. He has written and spoken extensively on environmental health and housing matters.