Pollution Control Technician

A Pollution Control Technician keeps the air, water, and soil clean through testing and investigation. Often working with federal, state, and local governments, Pollution Control Technicians oversee tests and field investigations that determine the best ways to control pollutants coming from manufacturing and the general population. Think of a Pollution Control Technician as part Investigator and all Scientist.

Using the basic principles of agriculture, chemistry, meteorology, and engineering, you conduct tests and experiments to determine the pollution levels in the surrounding environment. Say, you need to know whether a particular river is being contaminated by the nearby pharmaceutical company. After collecting a water sample, you conduct a series of tests to determine if chemicals are leaching into the water supply. If your testing shows a chemical presence, you may then continue your studies to find out how contaminated the water is, how it may impact the community, and what the possible solutions are.

Superior written and verbal communication skills are required, as you’re likely to interact with a wide variety of people in this position. Whether talking with employees on a job site or delivering the results of your testing to superiors and government officials, you must be able to accurately convey your message.

A familiarity and comfort with computers and electronic testing equipment such as autoclaves, centrifuges, microscopes, spectrophotometers, and other laboratory equipment are also required. And don’t forget the importance of details and data collection; after all, if you can’t document your findings or if you’re even once decimal place off, your results could be false.