Introduction to Enviromental Health Alva J Guerrero
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Introduction to Environmental Health
Alva J Guerrero
Grand Canyon University: PUB-560
Instructor Clark Weaver
May 19, 2021
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Introduction to Environmental Health
According to National Environmental Health Association (2021), environmental health is the
science and practice of preventing human injury and illness and promoting well-being by
identifying and evaluating environmental sources and hazardous agents and limiting exposures to
hazardous physical, chemical, and biological agents in air, water, soil, food, and
other environmental media or settings that may adversely affect human health.
Worldwide population are affected by environmental health issues in different levels.
Environmental Hazards include air contaminants, toxic waste, radiation, Disease cause by
microorganisms or plants, pesticides, heavy metals, chemical and consumer products, extreme
temperatures and weather events (CDC,2018). The most common environmental hazards are air
and water pollution (CDC,2018).
Social science research has been central in documenting and analyzing community discovery of
environmental exposure and consequential processes (Hoover, 2015). Collaboration with
environmental health science through team projects has advanced and improved our
understanding of environmental health and justice (Hoover,2015). Social science has informed
environmental health science through ethnographic studies of contaminated communities,
analysis of spatial distribution of environmental injustice, psychological experience of
contamination, social construction of risk and risk perception, and social impacts of
disasters(Hoover,2015). 2
Introduction to Environmental Health
According to ASTHO (Association of State and Territorial Health officials,2016) Environmental
public health programs protect communities from natural, man-made, unintentional, and
deliberate threats and hazards in the environment. Responsibility for ensuring the public’s health
from environmental factors underlying disease, disability, and is shared across federal, state, and
local governments. To regulate and respond to environmental threats to health resides not only in
health agencies, but in environmental regulatory, agriculture, natural resources, transportation,
planning, housing, and other agencies, and requires coordination and collaboration across
governmental agencies, as well as with the non-profit and private sector. States and territories
provide essential leadership and stewardship to protect the public’s health and important
coordination, planning, and funding for community environmental public health services; in
some states and territories, health agencies directly deliver environmental public health services.
Public health issues linked to the environment are increasingly complex. Globalization has
introduced new complexities to public health as portions of our food supply and many consumer
products enter our communities from across the world (ASTHO,2016). Global climate change is
affecting public health in ways that demand new preparation and adaptation strategies to
minimize the impacts to the health of our communities. Public health issues linked to the
environment frequently involve a multitude of contaminants, media (e.g., air, water, food, land
use), health outcomes, and affected populations and require a comprehensive approach
(ASTHO,2016). Public health must expand its understanding of the health impact of multiple
environmental factors to ensure that the cumulative effects and relative contributions of multiple
environmental media and exposure pathways are considered. By improving understanding of
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Introduction to Environmental Health
these processes, public health will be able to identify the opportunities for greatest environmental
risk reduction for human health. ASTHO supports:
A. Flexible local, state, and federal funding sources that enable public health
practitioners to take a broad view of environmental hazards. Funding limited to a
specific environmental medium or disease hinders the ability to respond to emerging
and multisystem threats.
B.
Additional research and interventions undertaken into the built environment that
broadly consider the implications of land use, transportation, and housing trends on
the public’s health.
C.
Development of public health preparedness and response measures and adaptation
plans for all hazards including extreme weather events, wildfires, floods, drought and
disease outbreaks related to climate, as well as development and enhancement of
surveillance and response systems to mitigate the health impacts of these events.
D.
Development of a public health research agenda to ensure that public health is
included in national discussions that shape policy, trade, and infrastructure
investment. The inclusion of public health in key decisions is critical to limiting
unintended public health consequences of these actions.
E. Development of initiatives and approaches to strengthen integration and
collaboration across human medicine and veterinary medicine to improve the lives
of all species, and thereby enhance protection afforded to the community from
zoonotic diseases and other diseases of environmental origin.
F.
Strengthening of risk communications expertise across local, state and federal
environmental health programs and activities.
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) their mission is to protect human health
and the environment. To accomplish their mission Congress writes an environmental law, EPA
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Introduction to Environmental Health
implement by writing regulations. Setting national standards that states and tribes enforce
through their own regulations. If they fail to meet the national standards, EPA can help them
(EPA, n.d.). EPA enforce regulations, and help companies understand the requirements. Nearly
half of their budget goes into grants to state environmental programs, non-profits, educational
institutions, and others. They use the money for a wide variety of projects, from scientific studies
that help EPA make decisions to community cleanups. Grants achieve EPA overall mission:
protect human health and the environment (EPA, n.d.).
GAHP (Global Alliance on Health and Pollution) is a collaborative body made up of more than
60 members and dozens of observers that advocates for resources and solutions to pollution
problems. GAHP was formed because international and national level actors/ agencies recognize
that a collaborative, multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral approach is necessary and critical to deal
with the global pollution crisis and resulting health and economic impacts.
In 2012, Pure Earth initiated the alliance together representatives from The World Bank, UNEP,
UNDP, UNIDO, Asian Development Bank, the European Commission, Ministries of
Environment and Health of many low and middle-income countries to formulate strategies to
address pollution and health at scale. GAHP has proven its effectiveness and incorporated as a
foundation in 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland. GAHP’s overall goal is to reduce death and illness
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Introduction to Environmental Health
caused by all forms of toxic pollution, including air, water, soil and chemical wastes especially in
low and middle-income countries.
The success or failure of any government in the final analysis must be measured by the well-
being of its citizens. Nothing can be more important to a state than its public health; the state's
paramount concern should be the health of its people.
-Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Reference:
Definition of Environmental Health. National Environmental Health Association (2021).
https://www.neha.org/about-neha/definitions-environmental-health
ASTHO Environmental Health Policy Statement (2016).
https://www.astho.org/Policy-and-Position-Statements/Policy-
Statement-on-Environmental-Health/
EPA United states Environmental Protection Agency (n.d.).
https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/our-mission-and-what-we-do
GAHP (Global Alliance on Health and Pollution, n.d.). https://gahp.net/about-gahp/
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Introduction to Environmental Health
Introduction to Environmental Public Health TrackingCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, (2018).
https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/tracking/tracking-intro.html
Hoover E, Renauld M, Edelstein MR, Brown P. 2015. Social science collaboration with environmental health. Environ Health
Perspect 123:1100–1106;
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1409283
Adams A, Shriver T, Saville A and Webb G
(2017)
Forty years on the fenceline: community, memory, and chronic
contamination, Environmental Sociology, 10.1080/23251042.2017.1414660, 4:2, (210-220), Online publication date: 3-Apr-
2018
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