Week 2: Intro to Ecology/Environmental Health Flashcards
How does the WHO define environmental health?
Environmental health comprises those aspects of human health, including quality of life, that are determined by physical, chemical, biological, social and psychosocial factors in the environment
How does the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry define environmental health?
Environmental health is the branch of public health that protects against the effects of environmental hazards that can adversely affect health or the ecological balances essential to human health and environmental quality
What are the 3 historical origins of environmental health? Give examples for each.
Ancient challenges: indoor air pollution (indoor fires) and WaSH (water, sanitation, hygiene)
Industrial evolution (“the urban environment”): intensified ancient challenges, ambient air pollution, urban challenges
Modern challenges: toxic chemicals and radiation
Explain 4 important figures in the origins of epidemiology.
Charles Turner: authored a book (“Effects of the Principal Arts…”) that suggested guidelines for preventing certain diseases (such as limiting lead use as a glaze in the portrait industry)
John Graunt: created the Bills of Mortality which chronicled London’s weekly death records; helped him with the field of demography
William Farr: drew a clear link between living conditions and health
Edwin Chadwick: advocated for urban water systems and toilet systems in housing; also drew clear links between living conditions and health
What are 2 achievements that show the role on environmental health in improving life expectancy?
Shifting from using chamber pots to sewage municipal systems
Shifting from using contaminated water for cooking and drinking to creating water treatment plants to treat potable water
What are 3 landmarks regarding chemical hazards that helped grow the modern era of environmental health?
Silver Spring: a publication that focused on the effects of DDT (a pesticide used to control mosquitos) and its effects on different animal species in food chains
Recognition of asbestos as a cause of lung cancer
Recognition of how disasters (such as mercury contamination) can lead to disease (such as Minamata)
Define One Health.
The health of humans is influenced by the environment they live in and the plants and animals in that environment
How does environmental health policy affect modern environmental health?
Environmental regulatory agencies increasingly attempted to ground their rules in evidence
What are 5 facts about the scope of environmental health problems in the world and U.S.?
Some estimates report that 25% to 33% of the global burden of disease is linked
to environmental sources
During the late 1900s, approximately 1.2 billion pounds of potentially neurotoxic chemicals were released into the air and waterways in the United States
The prevalence and mortality of asthma in the United States have increased
Exposure to toxic chemicals is thought to cause as many as 3% of developmental and neurological problems in children in the United States
Environmental factors are thought to contribute significantly to many forms of cancer, including cervical cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer
Name 5 emerging environmental issues.
Environmental justice
Focusing on susceptible groups
Scientific advances (big data)
Global changes (population growth, globalization, urbanization, climate change, etc.)
Sustainability
Define upstream thinking. How does it relate to public health?
Upstream thinking: understanding where pollutants originate, where exposure can occur, and how exposure can be prevented
Helped public health identify root causes of problems
Define and explain the DPSEEA model using the example of air pollution.
Driving forces: forces that help grow and motivate environmental processes
Example: driving forces of air pollution are population growth and vehicles
Pressure: pressure on the environment
Example: emissions of oxides, hydrocarbons, and other air pollutants
State: modify the state of the environment
Example: accumulate in air and combine to create additional hazards in the ozone layer
Exposure: must occur to threaten health of population
Example: can occur in workplace, during commute, etc.
Effect: health effects in a population
Examples: asthma attacks, heart attacks, wheezing, and early death
Action: steps taken to address hazard and limit effects; can be taken at any step of the model
Examples: funding initiatives, reducing commutes, reducing energy demands, and designing areas to limit travel demand
Define ecosystem and ecology.
Ecosystem: complex system of organisms, environment, and
interactions
Ecology: focuses on the interactions between living things and the environment and integrates information at multiple scales to help
understand systems holistically
Explain the ecological model of population health.
They recognize many levels of influence on health behaviors that can include interpersonal or individual factors that can influence behavior such as:
Knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and personality
Interpersonal factors like interacting with other people that can provide support or barriers to interpersonal growth that can promote healthy behavior
Institutional and organizational factors at the higher level which includes rules, regulations, policies, and structures that constrain or promote healthy behavior
Community factors like formal or nonformal assurance of norms that exist among individuals, groups, and organizations that can promote or limit healthy behavior
Public policy factors like local, state, and federal laws that regulate or support health actions and practices for disease prevention including early detection, control, and management
How can pollutants enter a food web?
Persistent pollutants can bioaccumulate and biomagnify as they move up food webs
