Environmental health refers to the way in which environmental factors have direct adverse effects on human health or to the systems that ensure the health and safety of humans in the long run. Essentially, it looks at the cycle of how human behavior deteriorates the quality of environmental functions, which, in turn, has a negative effect on the health of humans.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
The topic of environmental health intersects nearly every other area of environmental work, especially in an international perspective, including water quality, air pollution, waste management and incineration, industrial agriculture (pesticides, GMOs), marine and fishery health, mineral extraction, and more.
For example, spilled oil may severely contaminate water sources, contaminate the land that crops are grown on, or impair the health of fish in an area. All of this affects drinking water quality and sources of food that local residents consume, contributing to disease or illness or impairing childhood development.
FACTS
- The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 3 million children under the age of five die every year due to environmental health hazards.
- Methylmercury exposure in the womb, which can result from a mother’s consumption of fish and shellfish that contain methylmercury, can adversely affect a baby’s growing brain and nervous system.
- In Africa, 115 people die every hour from diseases linked to poor sanitation, poor hygiene and contaminated water.
- 99% of Americans tested positive for DDT degradants, even though DDT hasn’t been used in the U.S. since 1972. Women who were exposed to DDT as girls are 5 times more likely to develop breast cancer.
VIDEOS ON THE SUBJECT
Check out some of the videos on the website of the “Story of Stuff Project.” They have various informative and entertaining videos on different environmental health issues as they relate to production and consumption.