Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health
In short: today's best AI models could do about 34% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 65% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 35% of the time, stays with people.
Perform laboratory and field tests to monitor the environment and investigate sources of pollution, including those that affect health, under the direction of an environmental scientist, engineer, or other specialist. May collect samples of gases, soil, water, and other materials for testing.
34,670 people do this job in the US. $55,090 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on14 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet12 h
- Stays with people14 h
Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 14 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 12 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 14 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Develop or implement programs for monitoring of environmental pollution or radiation (about 3 h); Develop or implement site recycling or hazardous waste stream programs (about 2 h); Analyze potential environmental impacts of production process changes, and recommend steps to mitigate negative impacts (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 65%
- 1%
- 34%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 8%. Today's estimate: 34%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 25 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.037% to 0.047% (released February and March 2025); 0.02% to 0.0083% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.037% | 324 of 708 | 7 of 25 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.047% | 282 of 703 | 7 of 25 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.02% | 373 of 655 | 5 of 25 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0081% | 509 of 672 | 2 of 25 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0083% | 518 of 677 | 3 of 25 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 25 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 25 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 54% of this job's working time as physical work. For 41% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 21% in a purpose-built cell, 20% in a structured facility. 0.61 of 3, the 281st highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 46%
- No robot shown 13%
- In a purpose-built cell 21%
- In a structured facility 20%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 25 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop or implement programs for monitoring of environmental pollution or radiation.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Teledyne ISCO automatic/refrigerated water samplers (6712, 5800) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 25% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Develop or implement site recycling or hazardous waste stream programs.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 19% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Set up equipment or stations to monitor and collect pollutants from sites, such as smoke stacks, manufacturing plants, or mechanical equipment.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 3.3 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Collect samples of gases, soils, water, industrial wastewater, or asbestos products to conduct tests on pollutant levels or identify sources of pollution.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, OceanAlpha ESM30 autonomous water sampling and monitoring USV (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 2.5 h50 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Analyze potential environmental impacts of production process changes, and recommend steps to mitigate negative impacts.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 6.7 h3.3 h to 2.1 work days | 86%Half by now | |
| Weigh, analyze, or measure collected sample particles, such as lead, coal dust, or rock, to determine concentration of pollutants.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, PFS-ONE Filter Robot (Mettler Toledo XPR2U ultra-microbalance) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Prepare samples or photomicrographs for testing and analysis.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, SPE-DEX 3000XL Extractor (Horizon Technology) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 1.7 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Develop testing procedures.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 6.7 h3.3 h to 2.1 work days | 86%Half by now | |
| Record test data and prepare reports, summaries, or charts that interpret test results.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 3% | 1.7 h38 min to 5 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Inspect workplaces to ensure the absence of health and safety hazards, such as high noise levels, radiation, or potential lighting hazards.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Spot with FLIR MUVE C360 gas sensor and Spot CAM+IR (Boston Dynamics) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Inspect sanitary conditions at public facilities.Done more than monthly by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Investigate hazardous conditions or spills or outbreaks of disease or food poisoning, collecting samples for analysis.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Environmental Engineering Technologists and Technicians40% now, 64% by 2028
- Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health21% now, 68% by 2028
- Environmental Compliance Inspectors58% now, 63% by 2028
- Environmental Engineers31% now, 58% by 2028
- Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators33% now, 33% by 2028
- Brownfield Redevelopment Specialists and Site Managers18% now, 61% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 34% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 65% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (60% to 65% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Develop or implement programs for monitoring of environmental pollution or radiation (31% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Develop or implement site recycling or hazardous waste stream programs (31% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Analyze potential environmental impacts of production process changes, and recommend steps to mitigate negative impacts (86% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Set up equipment or stations to monitor and collect pollutants from sites, such as smoke stacks, manufacturing plants, or mechanical equipment; Collect samples of gases, soils, water, industrial wastewater, or asbestos products to conduct tests on pollutant levels or identify sources of pollution; and Weigh, analyze, or measure collected sample particles, such as lead, coal dust, or rock, to determine concentration of pollutants. Together such tasks are about 35% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 14%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 54% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 41% of the working time, 20% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.61 of 3. One example: OceanAlpha ESM30 autonomous water sampling and monitoring USV for "collect samples of gases, soils, water, industrial wastewater, or asbestos products to conduct tests on pollutant levels or identify sources of pollution". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 25 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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