Journal of Preventive Medicine

Introduction

Many people associate environmental health with clean air and water, but natural environmental processes, such as global warming, are only one part of a larger picture.

Environmental health is a branch of public health that monitors and addresses physical, chemical, and biological issues that we may not be able to control but that nonetheless have an impact on our health. It's difficult to get outside and exercise if you live in a community with dangerous walkways or filthy air, for example. Similarly, the materials used to construct your home, the insects that reside nearby, and the food you have access to can all have an impact on your health and that of your family.

Regions of Environmental Health

Because of the numerous ways external forces can influence how we eat, live, and grow, environmental health is one of the broadest fields within public health. These factors can be about addressing our natural environment (such as clean water or sanitation), but they can also be the result of human actions, such as societal norms. The environmental health objectives of Healthy People 2020 highlight six main areas that span the numerous ways environmental health is important to community health [1].

Quality of Air

Air is essentials for living organisms. Every living creature needs air to survive, hence it is important to keep it clean, else the toxins present in air can be harmful for the health. Poor air quality has been related to SIDS, lung cancer, and COPD, among other health problems. Low birth weight has also been connected to air pollution. Babies born to pregnant women exposed to high amounts of ozone during the second and third trimesters were more likely than their non-exposed peers to be born with a lower birth weight, according to a 2005 study. The effect was identical to what was observed in infants whose mothers smoked while pregnant.

All of this was intended to change with the Clean Air Act of 1970. It was the first time that the federal government assumed responsibility for preserving all Americans' air quality by regulating dangerous emissions from automobiles and enterprises. In 1990, the act was expanded to include acid rain and ozone depletion, and it's working. According to the Environmental Protection Agency's 2011 prospective study, the Clean Air Act would avoid more than 230,000 premature deaths by 2020.

Sanity of Water

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 780 million people around the world lack access to safe drinking water, and 2.5 billion (approximately a third of the world's population) lack basic sanitation facilities such as clean toilets. The ramifications are enormous. Every day, an estimated 2,200 children die from diarrheal infections caused by contaminated water and sanitation [2].

Toxic Substances and Hazardous Wastes

Toxicology is an essential discipline in environmental health because it focuses on understanding how chemicals and substances influence individuals and their surroundings. Many of the elements required to improve industries and technologies, such as heavy metals and even some polymers, can harm the human body and possibly cause major medical problems.

The Flint water crisis is one of the most recent and well-publicized examples of this. When news came in 2015 that Flint, Michigan's drinking water was contaminated with lead, it sparked fury and anxiety among residents. Lead poisoning in children can cause long-term health problems, including brain damage, and in the case of Flint, it was the poorest children who were most affected.

Communities and Households

Most of the time is spent at home, work, or school, therefore it's critical that these environments are both safe and conducive to a healthy lifestyle. When there is a lot of violence in a community, for example, families may not go outside to exercise. Roads that aren't adequately maintained can lead to more car accidents.

Food access is an emerging issue in the realm of environmental health. There are no full-service grocery stores in many neighbourhoods around the United States. Residents must frequently rely on convenience stores, such as those found at gas stations, to purchase groceries in their absence. This can be costly, but it also means fewer or lower-quality options for fresh fruits and vegetables, which are a crucial element of a balanced diet. Making healthy choices can be difficult for families in these locations, compounding existing health inequities, particularly among low-income and minority groups [3].

According to environmental health professionals, publics gardens where citizens are asked to grow or harvest their own produce and surpass better use of public transportation to farmer markets, should be established and change zoning laws to incentivize retailers to offer healthier food options in order to mitigate the impact of these "food deserts."

Information is a critical component of every public health approach. Understanding the hazards and where they exist allows environmental health experts to better allocate resources to avoid or mitigate them. This includes looking into and responding to diseases (epidemiology), as well as screening people for dangers and putting in place surveillance programmes. Active surveillance entails going out and seeking for specific health concerns, while passive surveillance entails requesting professionals in other fields, such as medicine or agriculture, to notify environmental health organisations when they come across them (passive surveillance).

Mosquito surveillance and abatement activities are an example of this in action. These programmes screen mosquitos for a variety of things, including the presence of serious illnesses like the Zika virus, and keep track of populations to ensure that control methods are effective. This information can assist health professionals in determining what to look for in doctor's offices, directing local governments on where and how to best spray for mosquitos, and make public vigilant, if a mosquito-borne illness is spreading in the area [4].

Global Environmental Health

Environmental health professionals anticipate a warmer, wetter climate in the future decades, which will likely prompt or worsen hazards to public health around the world. Disease-carrying mosquitoes, for example, can now thrive in locations that were previously too cold for them to survive, increasing the number of humans infected with vector-borne diseases like dengue and malaria. As sea levels rise, entire coastal cities and island nations may be flooded, displacing millions of people into densely populated places where diseases can spread swiftly.

As extreme weather events become more common, health authorities expect years like 2017, when back-to-back hurricanes and floods in locations like Houston, Florida, and Puerto Rico devastated houses, aided disease spread, and left millions without electricity. It is vital to protect the planet's health in order to improve and preserve the health of the entire global population. Despite the fact that health outcomes have improved dramatically over the last century, particularly in wealthier countries such as the United States, environmental risks and infectious diseases have no geographical bounds. People are travelling farther and more frequently than ever before, while crises in Syria, Afghanistan, and South Sudan have forced millions of people to escape their homes.

Increased cross-border and cross-continental migration could jeopardise disease prevention efforts and overburden current infrastructure. As a result, countries must look outside their borders to enhance the health of the entire world's population, not just their own [5].

References

1. Kaseva ME, Mbuligwe SE (2000) Ramifications of solid waste disposal site relocation in urban areas of developing countries: A case study in Tanzania. Resour Conserv Recycl 28: 147-161.
2. Mbuligwe SE (2004) Levels and influencing factors of noise pollution in small scale industries (SSIs) in a developing country. Environ Manage 33: 830-839.
3. Moores FC (2009) Climate change and air pollution: exploring the synergies and potential for mitigation in industrializing countries. Sustainability 1: 43-54.
4. Eze IC, Schaffner E, Fischer E, Schikowski T, Adam M, et al. (2014) Long- term air pollution exposure and diabetes in a population-based Swiss cohort. Environ Int 70: 95-105.
5. Kelishadi R, Poursafa P (2010) Air pollution and non-respiratory health hazards for children. Arch Med Sci 6: 483-95.