Fundamentals of Environmental Health Exam 1...

Levels of hazard control

Source control, pathway/environmental control, administrative controls, personal/individual controls

What are the three p’s and why is their relationship important?

Population, pollution, poverty

Population growth can increase pollution, while poverty can make people more exposed to environmental hazards and less able to protect themselves.

Population growth

It is an increase in the number of people in a population overtime

Population growth → greater demand for resource resources → more waste and pollution

Environmental justice

Equal treatment and meaningful involvement of all people in environmental decision-making

Precautionary principle

Preventative measures should be taken, even if cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established

What are the consequences of population increase?

It can lead to greater resource use, more waste and pollution, pressure on food and water supplies, and an increased in environmental health challenges

Why is environmental health important?

Because it helps prevent diseases, protects people from harmful exposures, and promotes healthy environments

What are the major environmental agents?

Physical - this can be noise, radiation, extreme temperatures

Chemical - this can be led or any type of toxic chemicals

Biological - this can be bacteria, viruses, or parasites

And social - this can be anything like community exposure, housing, or working condition conditions

What are the agencies involved in policy and regulation in the US?

EPA - environmental protection agency

NIOSH - national institution for occupational safety and health

ATSDR - agency for toxic substances and disease registry

NIEHS - national institution of environmental health sciences

What is an agent?

This is a factor that causes or contributes to a disease or a health effect

What is the definition of toxicology?

It's the study of the harmful effects of chemicals or other substances on living organisms

What is the definition of epidemiology?

It is the study of distribution and determinant of disease, injuries, disabilities, and mortalities in a population

What is the definition of an outcome?

This is the result or consequence of a health related event or exposure

What is a host?

This is a living organism that harbors a pathogen or as exposed to an environmental agent

What is the definition of life expectancy?

This is the average number of years a person is expected to live

What is environmental health?

Environmental health is a branch of public health concerned with how the environment influences human health

What is the definition of environmental epidemiology?

Environmental epidemiology is the study of how environmental exposures are linked to diseases and health conditions.

What's the difference between exposure and outcome?

Exposure is what a person is exposed to, while outcome is the health effect that happens.

What's the difference between association versus causation?

Association means two things are related, while causation means one thing actually causes the other.

What's the difference between descriptive versus analytical epidemiology

Descriptive epidemiology describes disease patterns, while analytical epidemiology investigates why diseases occur and what risk factors are associated with them.

What is the difference between observational versus experimental studies?

Observational studies observe what happens naturally, while experimental studies involve the researcher actively changing something.

what is the difference between incidence vs prevalence?

Incidence measures new cases, while prevalence measures all existing cases.

What is the difference between case control versus cohort studies?

Case-control studies start with disease and look back at exposure, while cohort studies start with exposure and follow people to see if they develop disease.

What is the case series?

A case series is a descriptive study that describes a group of people who all have the same disease, condition, or unusual health outcome.

What is a cross-sectional study design?

A cross-sectional study is a study that looks at exposure and disease at one point in time, like a snapshot.

What is a cohort study?

A cohort study follows a group of exposed and unexposed people over time to compare their risk of developing a disease.

What is a case control study?

A case-control study compares people who have a disease (cases) to people who do not have the disease (controls) to see if they were exposed to a possible risk factor.

What is the epidemiological triangle?

• Agent: The cause of the disease, such as a virus, bacteria, or chemical.

• Host: The person or organism that can get the disease.

• Environment: External factors that affect disease transmission, such as climate, water, or living conditions.

What is Hill’s criteria?

Hill’s criteria are nine guidelines used to assess whether an association between an exposure and a disease is likely to be causal. Most important is temporality. (consistency, temporality, strength of association, coherence)

What are the strength and limitations of environmental epidemiology?

Strengths:

1. Directly relevant to human health.

2. Studies actual human populations rather than lab animals.

3. Identifies risk factors in real-world settings.

Limitations:

1. Long latency periods for many diseases.

2. Low incidence and prevalence.

3. Multiple exposures and confounders make analysis difficult.

4. Limited ability to conduct controlled experiments.

What is the difference between toxicant versus toxin?

• Toxicant: A human-made toxic substance.

• Toxin: A toxic substance naturally produced by living organisms.

What is the difference between local versus systemic and target organ effects?

• Local effects: Damage occurs where the chemical first contacts the body.

• Systemic effects: The chemical enters the bloodstream and travels throughout the body, affecting internal organs.

• Target organ effects: The chemical specifically affects one particular organ.

What is concept of dose?

Dose is the amount of a substance administered at one time or the amount that enters or reaches the body.

What is a threshold?

lowest dose at which a particular response may occur

Why does body size affect dose?

The same amount of a chemical can have a greater effect on a smaller person because they receive a larger dose per kilogram of body weight.

What is a dose response curve

A graph that shows the relationship between the amount of exposure to a chemical and the response it causes in an organism.

What are the routes of exposure?

• Ingestion – Swallowing or eating it.

• Inhalation – Breathing it in.

• Dermal – Absorbing it through the skin.

• Injection – Entering the body through a needle or puncture.

What is acute, subacute, subchronic and chronic exposure

• Acute: Single exposure for less than 24 hours.

• Subacute: Repeated exposure for 1 month or less.

• Subchronic: Repeated exposure for 1–3 months.

• Chronic: Repeated exposure for more than 3 months.

What are the chemical interactions?

• Additive: Combined effect equals the sum of individual effects.

• Synergism: Combined effect is greater than the sum.

• Potentiation: A nontoxic chemical enhances another chemical’s toxicity.

• Antagonism: Chemicals interfere with each other, reducing their effects.

• Coalitave: Nontoxic agents combine to cause toxicity.

What is latency?

The time between initial exposure to a hazard and a measurable response.

What are the four steps of risk assessment?

1. Hazard identification – Identify what can cause harm.

2. Dose-response assessment – Determine how the amount of exposure affects harm.

3. Exposure assessment – Determine how much, how often, and how long people are exposed.

4. Risk characterization – Combine the information to estimate the overall risk.

What is the difference between risk assessment versus risk management?

• Risk assessment: Identifies and evaluates how serious a hazard is, how likely exposure is, and what the consequences could be.

• Risk management: Takes steps to eliminate or reduce the identified risks to acceptable levels.

What is environmental policy?

A statement of an organization’s intentions and principles about protecting the environment and public health.

What is environmental sustainability?

Using resources responsibly so they don’t run out faster than they can regenerate, protecting them for future generations.

What is the polluter- pays principle?

The person or company that causes pollution must pay for preventing, controlling, and cleaning up that pollution.

What are the five stages of the policy cycle?

• Problem definition – Identify the problem.

• Agenda setting – Decide which problems need attention.

• Policy establishment – Create and adopt the policy or law.

• Policy implementation – Put the policy into action.

• Policy assessment – Evaluate whether the policy worked.

What is the definition of hazard, risk, impact and social cost and how are they connected?

• Hazard: Something that can cause harm.

• Risk: The chance that the hazard will cause harm.

• Impact: The actual health or environmental effects caused by the hazard.

• Social cost: The total cost to society, including medical bills, lost work, cleanup, and damage to the environment.

A hazard creates a risk, the risk can lead to impacts, and those impacts create social costs.

A factory releases toxic chemicals into the air.

1. Hazard: Toxic chemicals in the air.

2. Risk: People nearby may breathe in the chemicals and become sick.

3. Impact: People develop breathing problems or other illnesses.

4. Social cost: Medical expenses, missed work, and costs to clean up the pollution.

What is environmental impact?

Any change to the environment, good or bad, resulting from an organization’s activities, products, or services.

What is the difference between environmental impact assessment versus health impact assessment?

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): Reviews the possible effects of a project on the environment.

Health Impact Assessment (HIA): Estimates how a project or policy could affect human health.

What is federal state and local regulatory roles?

State governments: Enforce environmental laws and may make rules stricter than federal standards.

Local governments: Enforce environmental health laws in communities, such as water quality, food inspections, sanitation, lead poisoning, and housing quality.

What is environmental advocacy organization roles?

Environmental advocacy organizations educate the public, promote environmental causes, conduct research, and influence government policies to protect the environment.

What is the difference between clean air act versus clean water act versus safe drinking water act

The Clean Air Act protects the air, the Clean Water Act protects bodies of water, and the Safe Drinking Water Act protects the water we drink

what are the demographic transition stages?

stage 1: high fertility and mortality = population remains small

stage 2: Drop in mortality rates, fertility rates remain high, which equals rapid increase in population

Stage three: decreasing fertility rates, death rates, stay low, which means population growth slows down