Branches
Environmental Health
Population Health Field
Citation Formats
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The branch concerned with the environmental determinants of health: clean air, a stable climate, a preserved natural environment, access to adequate water, sanitation and hygiene, protection from harmful radiation, safe chemical management and healthy working conditions. Its scale is large: in 2016, 13.7 million deaths, 24 percent of global deaths, were attributed to modifiable environmental risks, and a healthy environment could prevent nearly a quarter of the global disease burden. Because the health impacts of poor environments arrive both directly and through food production, migration, economic instability and social inequality, its interventions are cross sectoral, reaching health, energy, industry, agriculture and transport together.
Facts
Central QuestionHow much of the disease burden is attributable to modifiable environmental conditions, and which changes to air, water, climate and chemical exposure prevent it? 1 Key DebateEmerging exposures such as microplastics illustrate a recurring tension in environmental health: laboratory and animal studies show possible biological effects well before human evidence is available, leaving regulators to weigh precaution against waiting for conclusive human data. 2 Key DebateWater disinfection carries the field's signature trade-off: the chemical by-products of chlorination are themselves suspected health risks, yet the WHO holds that their risks are extremely small in comparison with the risks of inadequate disinfection, and that disinfection efficacy must never be compromised in attempting to control them. 3 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Access to adequate water, sanitation and hygiene is named among the environmental conditions good health depends on.
One Health, Concepts Zoonotic disease rising with ecosystem disruption is part of the environmental health picture, the seam this concept covers.
Primary prevention is named as the essential strategy against the environmental disease burden.
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. World Health Organization Official Site
World Health OrganizationEnvironmental health topicQuote, Environmental health topic
In 2016, 13.7 million of deaths, representing 24% of global fatalities, were attributed to modifiable environmental risks.
2. Wikipedia: Environmental Health
WikipediaMicroplastic pollution sectionQuote, Microplastic pollution section
Although experimental studies within cell cultures and animals have shown possible biological effects, human evidence remains limited, and long-term health risks are still being researched.
3. WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality, Fourth Edition
World Health OrganizationIntroduction, section 1.1.3 Disinfection, page 6Quote, Introduction, section 1.1.3 Disinfection, page 6
The use of chemical disinfectants in water treatment usually results in the formation of chemical by-products. However, the risks to health from these by-products are extremely small in comparison with the risks associated with inadequate disinfection, and it is important that disinfection efficacy not be compromised in attempting to control such by-products.
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