In July 1974, the State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa became one of the first 26 laboratories accredited by the new American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) accreditation program. In 2014, the Lab joins AIHA-LAP, LLC in celebrating 40 continuous years of accreditation at both its Coralville and Ankeny sites.

AIHA Laboratory Accreditation Programs, LLC certifies nearly 300 labs through its industrial hygiene, environmental microbiology, environmental lead, food and “unique” categories. These programs establish high standards of performance “for laboratories that promote the production of quality data for use in evaluating exposures that impact public health, the environment and natural resources,” according to AIHA-LAP, LLC.

“Maintaining accreditation can be challenging, but also provides an opportunity for all staff to be engaged in evaluating processes and procedures to produce data of the highest and defensible quality," explained Michael Wichman, Ph.D., Environmental Health Division director for the Hygienic Laboratory. “As we expand our analytical services into other areas such as processed food testing, we are working toward attaining ISO 17025 accreditation, also through AIHA-LAP, LLC.”

In their early years, the accreditation programs worked closely with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Today they also meet requirements of EPA and the National Lead Laboratory Accreditation Program as well as international program requirements.