State Hygienic Laboratory

03/30/2026

We are pleased to share that the State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa will be attending the 2026 Public Health Conference of Iowa.

We invite you to visit our exhibitor table to connect with SHL staff, learn more about our work, and explore the wide range of public health and environmental testing services we provide to communities across Iowa. We welcome the opportunity to answer questions, discuss collaborations, and highlight how our services support public health initiatives statewide.

The State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa is committed to protecting and improving quality of life by delivering reliable environmental and public health information through the collective expertise and capabilities of our organization.

03/12/2026

Check out this great resource to find out more about what a public health lab like ours does!

08/21/2025

Come visit us at the Science Thursday event today from 11am to 1pm! We are located right outside of the EMRB Cafe!

08/09/2025

Come visit us at the Iowa State Fair today, from 9-11am! We are here to answer all your questions about private well water and provide you with resources for the private well grants program!

06/12/2025

https://johnsoncountyiowa.gov/news/public-health/2025-06-11/confirmed-case-measles-johnson-county-public-exposure-notice

Johnson County, Iowa has a variety of resources available for county residents, from information about upcoming elections to places to report county road issues that need to be fixed.

03/26/2025

When a patient with a rare virus was being treated in Iowa last fall, we were fortunate to collaborate with colleagues at the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). Learn more about this team effort from the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) blog:

By Donna Campisano, specialist, Communications, APHL On Sunday, October 27, 2024, healthcare practitioners at the University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center in Iowa City suspected Lassa fever in a patient under their care. Lassa fever is caused by a virus endemic in West Africa—where the patien...

06/12/2024

04/15/2024

Happy ! April 14 - 20, 2024, is Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, an annual celebration to highlight and show appreciation for laboratory professionals, including those at the State Hygienic Laboratory (SHL) at the University of Iowa. From the Office of the Vice President for Research, learn more about Lab Week here: https://research.uiowa.edu/news/2024/04/lab-week-2024-celebrating-medical-laboratory-professionals

10/25/2023

We are now a center of excellence for wastewater-based epidemiology under the Ceres Nanosciences’ program funded by the NIH! We look forward to expanding our services in Iowa.

https://www.ceresnano.com/press-release-coe21

We are excited to announce that our wastewater-based epidemiology centers of excellence program expanded to include five new sites! Read our press release to see how Houston Health Department, Morgan State University, Nebraska Public Health Laboratory, State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa, and University of Missouri-Columbia are using the Nanotrap® technology.

03/10/2023

The State Hygienic Lab is proud to be a major sponsor of Iowa Project AWARE, which gathers hundreds of volunteers each summer to paddle down the Iowa River in canoes, picking up trash along the away. This year’s event is July 9-14. Registration will open March 13. Organizers expect a sellout, so register early!

Ankeny DMACC Campus 2220 S. Ankeny Blvd. Ankeny, IA 50023-9093 (515) 725-1600 (515) 725-1642 (fax) M - F: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Weekends by appointment

12/22/2022

SHL is collaborating with the Iowa DNR and the Iowa City Water Department following the explosion and fire at C6-Zero Remanufacturing in Marengo, Iowa on December 8, 2022. Runoff from the incident and water from the Iowa River are being tested for the possible presence of hazardous chemicals including petroleum-based compounds such as shingles. Monitoring is expected to continue for several more weeks.

Officials in Iowa City are testing to see if any runoff from the C6-Zero explosion in Marengo contaminated the river from which it draws its water