Internet of Things (IoT) in environmental public health: Monitoring environmental hazards and supporting public health action
MD. Nahid Hassan NishanBackground
IoT-enabled environmental sensing can extend conventional monitoring by increasing spatial and temporal resolution, but greater data volume does not automatically produce reliable exposure estimates or better health outcomes.
Aim
To synthesize evidence on IoT for environmental public health while distinguishing sensor performance, exposure characterization, early warning, decision support, and demonstrated public-health impact.
Methods
This structured narrative review used PubMed/PMC, IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, backward citation tracking, and selected authoritative guidance. The documented source set comprised 49 candidates; four were excluded for lack of environmental-IoT relevance, leaving 45 sources. Evidence was classified by maturity and appraised across technical validity, data quality, interoperability, cybersecurity, privacy, equity, cost, scalability, and public-health utility.
Results
Evidence is strongest for field-validated air-quality sensing and exposure characterization, particularly for PM2.5. Machine-learning calibration can reduce drift when models are updated across seasons or networks, although transferability remains pollutant- and site-dependent. Water-sensor networks are useful for anomaly detection but do not replace microbiological or chemical confirmation. Hyperspectral methods, interoperable metadata, cybersecurity controls, and governance frameworks broaden the technical toolkit, while evidence that automated sensor alerts produce measurable population-health gains remains limited.
Conclusion
IoT is best treated as a complementary environmental public-health intelligence layer. Its value depends on reference-based validation, transparent uncertainty, interoperable data, equitable deployment, sustainable ownership, and predefined response pathways evaluated against exposure or health outcomes.