Farming and Agriculture:
Sunday, April 14, 2024
Summary
Summary
Environmental health refers to aspects of human health (including quality of life) that are determined by physical, chemical, biological, social, and psychosocial factors in the environment. The environment affects our health in a variety of ways. The interaction between human health and the environment has been extensively studied, and environmental risks have been proven to significantly impact human health, either directly by exposing people to harmful agents or indirectly by disrupting life-sustaining ecosystems. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that preventable environmental causes account for thirteen million deaths annually, despite the inability to precisely determine the exact contribution of environmental factors to the development of death and disease (WHO, 2009).
Environmental hazards refer to the external physical,
chemical, biological, and work-related factors that affect a person’s health
and cause an estimated 12.6 million deaths globally. Environmental hazards—the
external physical, chemical, biological, and work-related factors that affect a
person’s health—cause an estimated 12.6 million deaths globally. They are key
drivers of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases,
cancers, diabetes, and chronic lung diseases that kill nearly 41 million people
each year.
Environment factors that are important to health include harmful substances,
such as air pollution or proximity to toxic sites (the focus of classic
environmental epidemiology); access to various health-related resources (e.g.,
healthy or unhealthy foods, recreational resources, medical care); and
community design and the “built environment” (e.g., land use mix, street
connectivity, transportation systems) (OECD, 2012). It is plausible to
hypothesize that factors in the built environment related to low-density land
development and high reliance on automobile transportation; environmental
factors related to the wide availability, distribution, and marketing of
unhealthy foods; and residential segregation by income and race (with its
social and economic correlates) may be important contributors to the United
States health disadvantage in many domains (American Journal of Public Health,
2010). Maintaining a healthy environment is essential for helping people live
longer and enhancing their quality of life. Consider a sobering statistic from
Healthy People, which notes that 23% of all deaths (and 26% of deaths among
children ages 5 and younger) result from entirely preventable environmental
health problems (Healthy People, 2020).
Environmental risk factors have a highly diverse and intricate influence on
health, encompassing a wide range of relevance and severity. With the ongoing
increase in the global population, environmental hazards will persist as a
significant threat to public health. However, there are proactive steps that
can be taken, and we will continue to support the implementation of effective
environmental solutions to promote a healthier environment. There is also a
pressing demand for enhanced investment in policies and measures targeted at
mitigating environmental hazards. It is imperative to mitigate the burden on
global healthcare systems resulting from these hazards. When developing
environmental policies, it is critical to consider both the health and
environmental benefits associated with these interventions.
Environmental Health Resources
- World Health Organization, Environmental Health — Overview of environmental health issues.
- Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health — Resources related to environmental health.
World Health Organization Preventing disease through healthy environments: Towards
an estimate of the environmental burden of disease. 2009.
http://www.who.int/quantifying_ehimpacts/publications/preventingdisease/en/index.html
OECD. Paris: OECD; OECD environmental outlook to 2050: Consequences of
inaction. 2012.
Hruschka DJ, Brewis AA, Wutich A,
Morin B. Shared norms and their explanation for the social clustering of
obesity. American Journal of Public Health. 2011;101(Suppl 1): S295–S300.
Food Protection
Food safety deals with safeguarding the food supply chain from the introduction, growth, or survival of hazardous microbial and chemical agents. To maximize public health gains and environmental benefits, we should produce food safely. Ensuring food safety in the food market is an essential component of public health, as it has a global impact on individuals of all demographics, including age, race, gender, and income level. To safeguard the public's and individuals' health, government agencies must enforce food safety laws. In order to address the issue of foodborne illness, numerous governments have implemented health protection procedures and established regulatory systems to ensure food safety. Food safety regulators around the globe use food safety inspection as a method to protect populations by preventing potential public health hazards. Traditionally, food safety inspection entails evaluating food handling practices and the state of food production environments. Food safety inspection entails the direct examination of a food sample to determine its composition, degree of contamination, or quality. Establishing regulations and protocols based on reliable scientific evidence is essential to ensuring fair and just enforcement of food safety laws. We use these regulations and protocols to inform, enforce, and eliminate any food products that pose a risk to the environmental health and safety of the public.
General Environmental Health Information
General Environmental Health
Environmental public health focuses on protecting groups of individuals from
threats and hazards to their health and safety posed by their dynamic environments.
Environmental health also refers to the assessment and control of environmental
factors that can potentially affect human health and safety. A key part of any
comprehensive public health system involves environmental health, which ensures
everyone has a safe place to live, learn, work, and play. As a result,
environmental health research necessitates concerted multidisciplinary
approaches to understanding and addressing environmentally influenced health
outcomes. Environmental health professionals work to improve public
health by identifying, tracking, and addressing environmental risk factors.
Environmental health professionals, policymakers, and government officials use
the outcome of risk assessments for risk communication and risk management.
Environmental health professionals employ epidemiology to address environmental
health issues. Environmental health specialists use epidemiology, a discipline
that studies the occurrence and course of illnesses in populations, to assess
the health consequences of environmental agents. The system utilizes
environmental monitoring data to enhance its analysis and interpretation,
aiming to gain a more thorough comprehension of the environmental factors
contributing to diseases and disorders. Preventing environmental change-related
health risks will constitute the most significant public health concern of our
time.
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Approaches to Mitigate Environmental Hazards (Video)
Approaches for Assessing, Preventing, and Controlling Environmental Hazards (see link below): https://youtu.be/bCY33hK7nPw
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General Environmental Health Environmental public health focuses on protecting groups of individuals from threats and hazards to their h...
