Dennis L. Dobson, Interim Director
Forbes Field, Building 740
Topeka, Ks. 66620-0001
Phone: (785) 291-3162  FAX: (785) 296-1641

The Kansas Health and Environmental Laboratories (KHEL) mission is to provide timely and accurate analytical information for public health benefit in Kansas and to assure the quality of statewide laboratory services through certification and improvement programs.

Click here for a Kansas Health and Environmental Laboratories Brochure (.pdf)

KHEL information is used to diagnose and prevent diseases of public health interest which range from AIDS to childhood lead toxicity. KHEL surveillance information also guards the safety of public drinking water as well as ambient air and water quality. 

Staff perform certification site visits at more than 2000 health, environmental, and breath alcohol organizations throughout Kansas. This enforcement and training effort ensures the quality of laboratory data which touches the lives of each Kansas citizen. 

Health and environmental analytical operations are performed in accordance with rigid scientific standards. The KHEL is inspected and approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and is certified under the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment of 1988. The first biological and chemical analyses were performed at the Kansas Board of Health in 1886. Environmental laboratory analyses of water and wastewater began in 1907.

The Kansas Health and Environmental Laboratories is an integral and important part of the Kansas public health system. The one million chemical and microbiological analyses produced in this Division each year constitute the primary assessment tool in public health issues ranging from detection of environmental contaminants to the control of infectious diseases. In addition, laboratory certification and improvement programs work to ensure the quality of several hundred million test results produced by more than two thousand regulated medical, environmental, and law enforcement laboratories located throughout the state. The Division is characterized by modern instrumentation and data management together with a strong professional staff and a firm commitment to analytical excellence.