Introduction To Public Health

Lecture 7

Magda Khutsishvili, Pharm B, MPH

Lecturer in the University of Georgia
School of Health Sciences
magda.khutsishvili@ug.edu.ge
• Theme: a clean environment: the basis of public health
• Reading materials: Introduction to Public Health 5th Edition by Mary-
Jane Schneider (Author) chapter:20, pages:315-333
 Environmental Health
• People’s health depends on:
the presence of these basic ingredients of
life—Air, Water and Food.

• in the environment, there are

phenomena, which can harm human
health:
1. Extremes of heat and cold
2. Ultraviolet rays of the sun
3. Toxic minerals and plants
4. living organisms, from pathogenic
bacteria to predatory mammals.
 Functions of Environmental Health
1. Ensuring a clean water supply
2. Ensuring the safe disposal of wastes
3. Ensuring the clean air
4. Ensuring the safe food

• Archaeological evidence shows that the earliest

cities were designed with consideration for the
health of their inhabitants

• Providing clean water and draining wastes by these

ancient systems are the:
first evidence of public health measures: organized
community efforts to provide healthy conditions for
the population.
 Role of Government in Environmental Health
• Environmental health is undoubtedly the responsibility of
government
• Governments ensure a healthy environment by various
means:
1. Providing services directly
2. setting standards
3. regulating how the services should be provided
• In the United States, local governments have provided
water for their citizens and sewage systems to dispose of
wastes from individual households and to handle runoff
from the land.
• In 1970. the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was
established to consolidate federal research, monitoring,
standard-setting, and enforcement activities to achieve a
cleaner and healthier environment in the United States.
 Environmental Health Problems
• One of the most difficult environmental health
issue people face today is:
the threat that human activities worldwide are
changing the climate of the earth.
• The major concepts are:
1. Depletion of the earth’s ozone layer
2. The accumulation of “greenhouse gases” in
the atmosphere
• These problems, both significantly affect human
health and transcend national boundaries
Depletion of the earth’s ozone layer
The accumulation of “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere
 Environmental Health Hazards
1. Radiation is an environmental health hazard, caused by:
the exposure to cosmic radiation in varying amounts depending on where they live and
natural radioactive materials are found in soils and rocks in many parts of the world.
2. Radon gas is produced by the natural radioactive decay of uranium and prolonged
exposure to it causes: Lung cancer
3. Ultraviolet radiation from the sun is a significant cause of: Skin cancer and Melanoma
4. X-Radiation
epidemiologic studies revealed the results that chronic exposure to low levels of x-radiation
caused cancer.
The study compared: radiologists with those of other medical specialists and found that the
average age at death for radiologists was five years younger than that of other specialists
and the incidence of leukemia and other cancers was significantly increased among these
people.
 Harmful effects of metals on health
1. Mercury: becomes a hazard to humans mainly by getting into fish and causes neurological
damage. Also, people are exposed by spilled liquid after a thermometer breaks.
Pregnant and young children, are advised to avoid eating fish species that have the highest
average amounts of mercury in their flesh: tilefish, swordfish, king mackerel, and shark,
because the developing brain is most sensitive to the toxic effects of mercury.
2. Lead: metal which harms:
• the brain and nervous system, especially
those of children.
• damages red blood cells and kidneys
Outcome:
low levels of lead can slow a child’s
development and can cause learning and
behavior problems.
Permissible levels of lead have been steadily
lowered from 60 micrograms per deciliter of
blood to 5 micrograms at present
Exposure:
Children are exposed by paints and toys, which
consist of lead, when they chew on chips of old
peeling paint or when they put dirty hands in
their mouths if the dirt is contaminated with
dust from deteriorating paint.
3. Arsenic: known as the king of poisons
outcome:
lower concentrations with long-term exposure to arsenic in drinking water increases risk of
diabetes and cancer.
4. Asbestos: is a fibrous mineral
Exposure:
People are most likely to be exposed to
asbestos fibers released into the air in
the dust from crumbling walls and
ceilings of old, deteriorating buildings.

Outcome:
Inhalation of high concentrations of
asbestos dust causes: Asbestosis, Lung
Cancer and Mesothelioma: cancer of
the lining of the chest or abdominal
cavity.
 Pesticides
• Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) is a pesticide used in agriculture.
• The chemical could be found in lakes and streams, plants, and insects.
• When eaten or drunk by fish and birds, it was accumulated in their flesh to be eaten in
turn by predators, which concentrated these chemicals further in their own bodies.
• The use of DDT was banned in the United States in 1972
 Chemicals
• Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs):
chemicals used in sealed systems—capacitors, transformers, and heat exchangers—but
they were still entering the environment in large quantities and getting into the food chain.
Environmental scientists believe that PCBs are the most widespread chemical contaminant
worldwide.
 Occupational Exposures
• Workers are regularly exposed to larger amounts of toxic substances on the job
• Chemicals identified as carcinogens through occupational exposures include:
1. Benzidine: which caused bladder cancer in dye factory workers
2. Arsenic: which caused lung and lymphatic cancer in copper smelters
3. Vinyl chloride: used to make some plastics, which causes Angio-sarcoma, a rare cancer of
the liver
4. Radiation exposure causes cancer among radiologists
5. Asbestos workers are exposed to: Mesothelioma and lung cancer
 Environmental Legislation
• There are some guidelines for:
identifying environmental hazards and
required standards to be set that
protected human health and the
environment.

• Standard setting is required for

1. Air quality,
2. Water quality,
3. Radiation safety,
4. Food and Drug safety,
5. The disposal of hazardous wastes
6. Occupational Safety.
 Reasons for slow progress of Environmental
regulations
1. The cost and time involved in conducting toxicity testing on any individual chemical
2. Department of Health and Human Services, can test only a few dozen agents each
year, based on the extent of human exposure or suspicion of toxicity.
3. Significant Economic Impacts on industries, because each chemical must be regulated
separately.
Thank You For Your Attention!