Environmental Health
Author: Partha Das Sharma, (E.mail: sharmapd1@gmail.com)
Website: http://saferenvironment.wordpress.com
Environmental Health – Definition
o Environmental health is the branch of
public health that is concerned with all
aspects of the natural and built
environment that may affect human
Author: Partha Das Sharma
(sharmapd1@gmail.com)
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health.
o It also refers to the theory and practice of
assessing and controlling factors in the
environment that can potentially affect
health.
Environmental Media
o There are four types of environmental
media
oAir
oWater
Author: Partha Das Sharma
(sharmapd1@gmail.com)
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oSoil
oFood
The Media of Environmental
Hazards
o Air, water and food are the major
environmental media or vectors through
which exposure to hazardous
environmental agents occur.
Author: Partha Das Sharma
(sharmapd1@gmail.com)
4
o Disease Vectors - mosquitoes, rats,
birds
o Additionally, fire in the form of
incineration has emerged as a major
and somewhat controversial issue in
environmental medicine.
The Media of Environmental
Hazards
o While soil is often overlooked as a
route of exposure, in some cases such
an oversight may result in a critical
underestimate of actual exposure.
Author: Partha Das Sharma
(sharmapd1@gmail.com)
5
o Home gardens may be an exposure
route dermal or through inhalation to
contaminants in soil, dust, or chemical
update in the plants.
How do chemicals enter the
environment?
o There are six ways in which hazardous
substances can enter the environment.
o Direct exposure (pesticides,
cigarettes, lead in paint)
Author: Partha Das Sharma
(sharmapd1@gmail.com)
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o Direct discharge (toxic emissions
from transportation, smokestacks,
incinerators)
o Inadequate landfills (runoff or
leaching of contaminants into
drinking water and food chain)
How do chemicals enter the
environment?
o Illegal Dumping (dumping of oil in
backyards, or mass dumping of toxic
chemicals)
o Catastrophic events (accidental releases
Author: Partha Das Sharma
(sharmap