Evolution of Environmental Health Flashcards
What was Hippocrates’ contribution?
- Father of Medicine
- hygiene
- emphasis on external factors influencing health; what’s happening outside –> our health
What were things that were issues in the early ages?
- weather
- poisonous food
- pathogens
- shelter
- wild animals
What are the four humors of the body?
- Yellow bile: aggression & anger
- Black bile: melancholy
- Phlegm: apathetic behavior
- Blood: good humor, lively (rosy cheeks)
What were issues during the Ancient Origins?
- Food safety
- Clean water
- Air pollution
- Mold, parasites pests
How did ancient origins address food safety?
preservation (salting, smoking, pickling, fermentation, etc)
Why was clean water an issue during the ancient origins?
lead was a bitch
* aqueducts from romans that were used to direct water from place to another were made with lead –> poisonous water
* lead was also used in older engines (reduced nocking sound)
- general sanitation issues
- solution: Hippocrates’ sleeve
Where was indoor air pollution coming from?
- indoor fires
- modern sources (pets, heaters, house cleaners, smoking)
Why are rats bad?
carry diseases through human wounds & their droppings/urine/saliva also have bad stuff
What are some characteristics of the Industrial Awakenings environment?
6
- Crowded, dark, unventilated housing → one bad envi component impacted a lot of people
- Ill functioning open sewers
- Noise poll
- Smell poll
- inadequent/non-existent water supply (beer > water)
- Streets covered in horse manure & refuse
- Factories would run 24/7, workers had shifts, kids would wake them up
How was clean water a pressing need during the Industrial Awakenings?
- Greater pop density → higher prob of water contamination & disease outbreakes
- Regular outbreaks of cholera and yellow fever (due to dirty water)
- Contamination from nearby industries
- Used rudimentary GIS for cholera, found a location, people who drank from that pipe were getting sick
How was sewage management a pressing need during the Industrial Awakenings?
- Provision for piped water & indoor toilet
- They had to go to the pipes and remove the nasty shit themselves YIKES
- Large volumes of liquid waste generated
How did Radical tech advancement negatively impact 3 P’s during the Industrial Awakenings?
How did new and dangerous machines deployed in the industry affect this?
- tech advancement needed more employment (bad working conditions, hiring kids)
machines
* no knowledge on long term impacts
* improper training
* machines break easily → can cause hazards depending on machine
Explain how coal mining was an envi health issue
By nature, disturbing rock & carving into mountain is unsafe: you dk what’s above/below it
* added poles for stability
* needed canary in mines as indicators for CO2 levels (or running out of oxygen)
Workers were also fatigued
* respiratory health: soot is small and can build up in lungs
What did these people do?
1. John Graunt
1. William Farr
1. Edwin Chadwick
1. John Snow
- John Graunt: census
- William Farr: rural vs urban, chronic vs acute diseases
- Edwin Chadwick: sanitation laws, social epidemiology & envi health
- John Snow: GIS king, broad street pump
How did lit, art and design react to envi during Industrial Awakenings?
- Celebrating nature & forms of nature
- Led to idea of pristine environments being wholesome, healthful, and restorative
- Romantic Movement: envi was seen as romantic, where you can relax
What were the main developments during the 20th century for environmental health?
4
- looking into Chemical hazards (bodily function & organ devt)
- Growth of Environmental Psychology (envi x human wellbeing)
- Ecohealth (Planetary Health) (ecology x human health)
- Health care services for environmental exposure (Occupational medicine)
Why are persistent organic pollutants persistent?
- Synthetic, so environment doesn’t know how to deal w/ them and break the bonds
- Harder for it to decompose in the environment
- Starts chain reaction
However, DDT and other chemicals can be processed to be sequestered (NOT degraded)
* Sequester in fat of organisms (very ideal actually), or an organism that isn’t mobile
* when doing this, POP is still in the environment, but not degraded
* But it becomes a problem for the food chain, and therefore for people also
How is DDT a chemical hazard
dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane
* POP (mostly carbon)
* Toxicity is chronic (over a long period of time)
* Was marketed as non-toxic <3 wow silent spring! Not the person drinking a glass of ddt
* Downstream: impact on humans (reproductive), impact on birds (thinner egg shells :()
* Birds’ eggs are semi-permeable enough, but doesnt let important things leave
* If bird ingests worms or whatever na may DDT, thinner shells → not viable for incubation
How is Tetraethyllead a chemical hazard
used to be in our gasoline; impacts children
* Bc it attacks cognitive function
Lead deposits on bones & fat :( bc bodies are trying to grow so they deposit
* Body doesnt know what to do, so they store it in fat/bones
* If it affects fat, it affects brain bc brain is fat!
How is radiation a chemical hazard
- Due to nuclear technology
- Storage and disposal of nuclear waste; they store in lead
- Lead blocks gamma radiation from nuclear, gamma radiation can alter human DNA
How is solar radiation a problem
How does Vitamin D solve the problem
UVB - causes sunburn; UVA - aging (breaks down collagen)
Sunburn
* When Skin cells are exposed to UVB, DNA starts being altered
* Skin cells are aware of alteration → let’s all kill each other so that mutation doesn’t spread to body
* Sunscreen saves skin cells
How do we get Vitamin D?
* A cholesterol in your body reacts with solar radiation, produces Vitamin D
* Reaction that happens when you’re exposed to the sun
* Good for calcium
* Immune system
* Fatty fish also!!
How is the theory of biophilia important in envi psychology
Theory of Biophilia
* Affiliation with nature comes from constant interaction with it
* Become an innate part of humanity
Studies how changes in the environment affects human well-being
What’s the point of ecohealth?
ecology x human health
- Carrying capacity: Helped clarify human impact on ecosystems
- Understanding links bet biodiversity and human health
- Better understanding foundations of envi health
- Ex. Vets are worried abt Swine Flu bc Pigs have similar systems with us
health services for envi exposure i give up
- Occupational medicine: preventing hazard exposure
- Broadened to gen envi exposure
- Taking envi history & identifying at-risk grps
- Providing treatment & preventive measures
- Work ethics = interests of workers as well as employers
- Clinical ecology treatments
- Detoxification
- Antifungal mediation
- Dietary changes to help in effects of envi exposure
- Problem: technically everything has risk
- Cortisol: trending topic now
- Hard to analyze(??) stress
- Diff ppl handle stress differently, being exposed to same work can impact the 2 ppl differently
What are the pros and cons of the dolomite beach?
Pros
1. Aesthetic reasons, recreational activities (White: bring boracay to Manila Bay)
1. Less stress for small businesses → can sell stuff sa Manila Bay
1. Tried to salvage reputation of Manila Bay
1. Making green spaces more accessible
Cons
1. Dolomite the mineral itself
1. Had to extract dolomite from somewhere else (Cebu), fucked the envi there just for Manila Bay
1. Heavy machinery operated on the beach
1. Mangroves in manila bay
* no mangroves = Erosion
* Mangrove holds soil
* Replacing with looser materials increases erosion
1. Coastal erosion also needs to consider natural flow of the ocean
What are Emerging Issues in Environmental Health?
3
- Environmental Justice
- Focus on Susceptible Groups
- Global Change
How is environmental justice an important issue?
Environmentalism + public health + civil rights movement
* Constitutional right to good environment
Disproportionate exposure to hazards
* Marginalized are more exposed
Disparities in enforcement of environmental regulations
* We have good laws on paper, problem is enforcement
Which susceptible groups should we target?
4
- Poor and minority populations
- Children
- Women
- Elderly
Why should we focus on 1. Poor and minority populations
1. Children
1. Women
1. Elderly
Why should we focus on
Envi psychology & Theory of Biophilia
- Affiliation with nature comes from constant interaction with it
- Become an innate part of humanity
Studies how changes in the environment affects human well-being
Ecohealth
Ecology x human health
* Carrying capacity
* Helped clarify human impact on ecosystems
* Understanding links bet biodiversity and human health
* Better understanding foundations of envi health
* Ex. Vets are worried abt Swine Flu, Pigs have similar systems with us
Health services for Envi Exposure
ugly sorry
Occupational medicine: preventing hazard exposure
Broadened to gen envi exposure
Taking envi history & identifying at-risk grps
Providing treatment & preventive measures
Work ethics = interests of workers as well as employers
Clinical ecology treatments
Detoxification
Antifungal mediation
Dietary changes to help in effects of envi exposure
Problem: technically everything has risk
Cortisol: trending topic now
Hard to analyze(??) stress
Diff ppl handle stress differently, being exposed to same work can impact the 2 ppl differently
Pros & cons of dolomite
Pros
1. Aesthetic reasons, recreational activities
1. White: bring boracay to Manila Bay
1. Less stress for small businesses → can sell stuff sa Manila Bay
1. Tried to salvage reputation of Manila Bay
1. Making green spaces more accessible
Why do we hate it
1. Dolomite the mineral itself
1. Had to extract dolomite from somewhere else (Cebu), fucked the envi there just for Manila Bay
1. Heavy machinery operated on the beach
2. Mangroves in manila bay
* Erosion: Mangrove holds soil; Replacing with looser materials increases erosion
10. Coastal erosion also needs to consider natural flow of the ocean
What are the Emerging Issues in Environmental Health
3
Environmental Justice
Focus on Susceptible Groups
Scientific Advances
Global** Change**
Move towards sustainability
How is Envi Justice an important emerging issue?
Environmentalism + public health + civil rights movement
* Constitutional right to good environment
Disproportionate exposure to hazards
* Marginalized are more exposed
Disparities in enforcement of environmental regulations
* We have good laws on paper, problem is enforcement
Which Susceptible Groups should we focus on?
Poor and minority populations
Children
Women
Elderly
How are Poor and minority populations susceptible?
- Limited access to legal protection and medical care
- Compromised borderline health status
How are children
susceptible?
- Ingest more per unit of body weight
- Behavioral differences
- Developing systems and organs
How are women susceptible?
Disproportionate exposures and unique susceptibilities
* Hips & breasts
* Breastfeeding up to 2 years old
* Bc need more fat for brain development, breast milk has more fat (30-33% fat)
* If kids’ brains wre fully developed at birth, mom can’t bring out baby
* After theyre birthed, they need to fully develop their brain
How are Elderly susceptible?
Specific risks that come with age
How are Scientific Advances an important emerging issue?
- Toxicology: better detection limits and innovative
- techniques
- GIS for spatial distribution
- Genomics
* Toxicogenomics (gene and protein activity as a
response to a toxic substance)
What are some Global Changes?
5
- Population growth
- Climate change
- Urbanization
- Changing patterns of energy use
- Increasing integration of the world economy
Explain how climate change can impact envi
Ex. dengue & malaria
Usu happens in tropics, tropics will expand over time, then europeans will have dengue and malaria
How is Increasing integration of the world economy impacting envi?
- Hazards crossing national boundaries
- Trade agreements & market forces undermining envi health policies
- Ex. canada sending us their trash
