Transcript Environmental Health

Environmental Health
11/ 23/2010
What is Environmental Health?
• Environmental health addresses all the
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Physical
Chemical
Biological factors external to a person,
All the related factors impacting behaviors
• It encompasses the assessment and control of those
environmental factors that can potentially affect
health.
• It is targeted towards preventing disease and creating
health-supportive environments.
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World Health Organization definition
What is Environmental Health?
• Overpopulation
• Climate Change
• Toxicology
– Personal care products
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Food Safety
Pesticides
Radiation
Water Quality
Air Quality
Solid Waste
Occupational Health
Overpopulation
• The United Nations projects the world population will grow
from 7 billion in 2011 to 9.4 billion by 2050 and to 11.5 billion
by 2150.
• Although our populations are expanding exponentially,
Earth’s resources are not.
• A recent United Nations Global Environmental Outlook report
(GEO-4) states that the human population is living far beyond
its means and is inflicting damage on the environment that
may already be irreparable.
Overpopulation
Different Nations, Different
Growth Rates
• By 2050, India is projected to be the most populous
nation at 1.7 billion.
• The United States is the only industrialized country
in the world currently experiencing significant
population growth.
• The United States has the largest “ecological
footprint.”
• The United States makes up only 5 percent of the
world’s population but is responsible for nearly 25
percent of total global resource consumption.
Overpopulation
• Zero Population Growth
– Zero population growth (ZPG) proponents
believe that each couple should produce only
two offspring.
– Education may be the single biggest
contributor to promoting ZPG.
– Other contributors include access to
information about family planning and
contraception.
Climate Change
• Climate change is a significant and emerging threat
to public health, and changes the way we must
look at protecting vulnerable populations. (WHO)
• Some (not all) concerns
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Land degradation and desertification
Ocean acidification
Ozone depletion, UV radiation
Threats to biodiversity
Climate Change
Environmental Toxicology
• Science of poisons
– Study of chemicals on humans and environment
– The dose makes the poison
– Natural ≠ safe
• Natural disaster: Lake Nyos
• Man Made disaster: Bhopal, India
• Examples
– Antiquity: women & high society, Socrates
– Modern day: Ginger Jake, Minamatma
Environmental Toxicology
• Personal Care Products
– http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ campaign for safe cosmetics
– “In our every deliberation, we must consider the
impact of our decisions on the next 7
generations” ~Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy & 7 Gen.
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• Feminine Care products: chlorine-free & organic cotton
• Baby products: diapers, wipes, etc.
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Paraben: a preservative that is in everything
Fragrance: trade secret, hundreds of chemicals
Pthalates: in fragrance, phasing out
Brazilian blowout, lead in lipstick, pinkwashing
Men use products too
Food Safety
• Healthy People 2010 Goal 10: Reduce foodborne
illnesses
• 76 million illnesses annually, 5,000 deaths annually
• Threats to food safety
– Improper holding temperature
• 41F or lower, 135F or higher is optimal- between this range is
known as the “danger zone”
– Personal hygiene
• Wash your hands!!!!!
• Hep A, Typhoid Mary
– Inadequate cooking
– Food from unsafe sources
– Additives & preservatives
Pesticides
• What are pesticides?
– Pest, rodents, insects, unwanted plants & weeds, algae,
microorganisms
• Healthy People 2010 goal 10-7: reduce exposure to
organophosphate pesticides from food
• Examples
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Insect repellent for personal use
Weed killer
Flea & tick sprays and powders, personal or animal use
Disinfectants and sanitizers
Mold and mildew killers
DDT & Malathion
• National Pesticide Information Center- best
resource
Radiation
• Energy moving through space
– Thermal
– Mechanical
– Electromagnetic
• Ionizing
– Ability to remove electrons from atoms or break
apart molecular bonds
• Non-ionizing
– Energy not strong enough to ionize or break
apart molecular bonds
Radiation
• Ionizing
– X rays, gamma rays, some UV rays
• Non-ionizing
– EMF, visible light, radio, TV, cell phones
• Background or Environmental radiation
– Inhaled, cosmic rays, earth’s crust, building
materials, ingested
• Artificial
– Medical, occupational, TV
Radioactive?
Radiation
• Radon
– Radon occurs from decaying naturally occurring
Uranium found in soil/ground
– Major public health concern
• Clear causal effect between inhaled radon and lung
cancer
– increases with people who smoke
– men/women differences
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S8vr27plZs
• 4:40min
• http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/radon/usrnpot.gif
Air Quality
• NAAQS – air quality standards
• 46 million people are living in (US) counties that do
not meet air quality standards for one or more
pollutants
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Carbon Monoxide (incomplete combustion of fossil fuels)
Ozone (Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympic games)
Nitrogen oxides (smog, acid rain)
Sulfur oxides (coal)
Particulate matter
Lead
• Indoor air pollution
Adverse Health Outcomes
due to Poor Air Quality
• CO exposure associated with low birth weight
• Ozone: impairs lung function, increases asthma,
impairs ability to exercise, lung cancer
• NO2 : asthma, increased risk of bacterial infections,
bronchial constriction, and impairs respiratory
defenses
• SO2: aggravates cardiovascular diseases, breathing
impairment, impairs resp. defenses, etc.
• PM: increases mortality and hospital admissions
Indoor Air Quality
• Heating/cooling equipment, radon, VOC’s, reactive
chemicals (plastics, paints, new construction)
• Airborne infections
• Asthma
• Sick building syndrome
• Multiple chemical sensitivity
• Open your windows and ventilate
Water Quality
• 75% of the earth is water
• 1% is available for human use
• Healthy People 2010 Goal 8:
– Safe, waterborne illnesses, surface water health risks,
conservation, beach closings, fish contamination
• Threats to water quality/depletion
– Overpopulation, drought, contamination, old pipes
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Point source and non point source pollution
Surface water and ground water
Public and private water sources
What about bottled water?
Solid Waste
• Per person average= 4.62 pounds/day
• MSW: Municipal Solid Waste
• Hazardous waste
– Superfund, 1980
– Love Canal
– Disproportionately affecting people of color and lowincome (NC study, 2007)
• Landfills 55.5%
– Leachates
– Odor and air pollution
• Combustion 17.2%
• Recovery 27.3%
Solid Waste
Recycling
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
• Source Reduction
– Activities that reduce the amount and toxicity of wastes
prior to entering the waste stream
– Products packaging
– Germany’s Green Dot System
• Reusing products
• Recycle
– Compost
– Food & yard debris
– Bottle Bill
• Oregon, California, Iowa, Michigan, and others
Occupational Health
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Chemical, physical, biological, ergonomic
Chimney Sweeps
Industrial Revolution
Manufacturing watch dials
1911 Triangle Shirtwaist fire NY
1930 Gauley Bridge Disaster WV
OSHA
Occupational Health