chapter 8; Environmental Health and Safety Flashcards
environment is used to imply all influences other than genetic influences, including social, economic, and cultural influences
yes
environment = physical environment
the three categories; unaltered (natural), alter, and the built environment
yes
unaltered environment are natural disasters
yes
the impact on the physical environment of so many humans take two major forms
- consumption of resources such as lang, food, water, air, fossil fuels, and minerals
- waste products as a result of consumption such as air and water pollutants, toxic materials, and greenhouse gases
altered environment is reflecting the impact of chemicals, radiation, and biological products that we introduce into the environment that we often call pollution
yes
the concept of the built environment is relatively new and includes all the inputs of the physical environment as a result of human construction
yes
the built environment influences our safety through its impact on injuries and hazardous exposures. it also influxes our activities levels and our social interactions, which impact our health.
+ affect mood, social interactions, and social attitudes
yes
when addressing environmental health, the approaches need to have a broad and long term perspective
yes
we need to be especially concerned about exposures during pregnancy, early childhood and the later years of life
yes
short term high dose impacts often will not be the same as long term low dose impacts
yes
e.g. a small number of severe episodes of sunburn during childhood have been found to greatly increase the risk of skin cancers far more than multiple milder adult sunburns
the presence of other diseases will affect how the body is impacted by an environmental exposure
yes
a few individuals will be hypersensitive to specific environmental exposures that have no measurable impact on the bast majority of individuals
yes
(concern about how to identify and protect these individuals without depriving them of rights or opportunities
a hazard indicates the inherent danger of an exposure, while a risk assessment aims to take into account not only the inherent danger, nut also the quantity, route, and timing of the exposure
yes
four step risk assessment;
- hazard identification
- dose response relationship
- exposure assessment
- risk characterization
yes
risk assessment; if a substantial risk is found to exist, the process then reviews options to protect detect, and react to the risk to minimize the burden of disease on humans
yes
interactions among exposures may produce unexpectedly large impacts
yes
the term interaction analysis implies that to understand and control the impacts of environmental exposures, it is necessary to take into account the effect of two or more exposures
yes
not all risks for environmental disease require high level or long term exposure
yes
the roles of public health have traditionally focused largely on health promotion and disease prevention.
