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.