Laboratory Services

The Bureau of Public Health Laboratories (BPHL) primary services include support to Florida's county health departments. The Bureau also supports other Department of Health program components, physicians, hospitals, etc. by providing public health diagnostic and reference laboratory services as set forth by the Department of Health Program Office. This includes traditional clinical services, e.g., sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, rabies, parisitology and more.

The BPHL provides laboratory screening of all newborns in the state for several hereditary diseases which, without detection and early treatment, would lead to death or severe mental disabilities. More information about newborn screening is available on the BPHL Newborn Screening page as well as the Children's Medical Services Newborn Screening page.

A key primary service offered by BPHL is the certification of laboratories for microbiological and chemical testing of water by application reviews, performance evaluations and on-site inspections. Additional information concerning certification of environmental laboratories is available here.

The BPHL monitors water and food by microbiological analyses to assess such things as water potability and food poisoning for health hazards to the public as well as chemical analyses for water potability and regulatory compliance.

For a more thorough description of the services offered by BPHL, refer to the following:

• Clinical Laboratories
• Environmental Laboratories
• Biological Defense (BT) Program
• Chemical Threat (CT) Program

To learn more about each individual BPHL lab, we have provided these snapshots:

• BPHL Locations Overview