UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO SCARBOROUGH > EESA10 > EASA10 FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE #1 (EESA10H3)
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UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO SCARBOROUGH
• What is the environment?
o The environment is everything that affects or has an impact on a living organism.
o The effects of the environment on human health are prominent; humans are affected by:
• Air.
• Water.
• Soil (the foods we eat come from soil).
• Biota (pets, other people, fru...
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO SCARBOROUGH > EESA10 > EASA10 FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE #1 (EESA10H3)
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EESA10H3
Final EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
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Lec 1 JAN 15
• What is the environment?
o The environment is everything that affects or has an impact on a living organism.
o The effects of the environment on human health are prominent; humans are affected by:
• Air.
• Water.
• Soil (the foods we eat come from soil).
• Biota (pets, other people, fruits and vegetables).
• Manmade environment (created by society).
o The food you eat, your home, your pets, the people around you, and vehicles passing you on the
street are all a part of your environment.
• Consequently, all of these things have impacts on your health.
o Your environment is your health, but it is not the only factor influencing your health.
• Genetics also play a large role in one's overall health.
• Gene-environment interaction:
o Models of gene-environment interaction:
• Genetic makeup increases exposure to an environmental risk factor.
• Genetic makeup increases susceptibility to an environmental risk factor.
• Genetic makeup and environmental factors are independent risk factors.
• What is environmental health?
o According to the WHO (World Health Organization):
• "In its broadest sense, environmental health comprises those aspects of human health,
disease and injuries that are determined or influenced by factors in the environment."
• "This includes the study of both the direct and the indirect pathological effects of various
chemical, biological, physical (man-made), and housing, urban development, land use, and
transportation factors."
• Types of hazards:
o Chemical hazards (in air, water, soil, and food).
• Pesticides.
• Mercury.
• GMOs (genetically modified organisms).
o Biological hazards (bacteria, viruses, parasites, allergens, animals such as bees and poisonous
snakes [which are not biological hazards themselves, but they carry diseases that may be
transmitted to humans via strings or bites]).
• Malaria.
• West Nile Disease.
o Physical hazards (radiation, fires, tornados, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes are
not environmental health hazards -- they are natural disasters).
• Manmade hazards are a part of this category.
o Social or behavioural hazards (poor diet, smoking, drugs, drinking, and poverty are not
environmental health hazards (except for the chemicals in a tobacco cigarette).
o Genetic traits (health risks associated with the chromosomal defect that causes Down
Syndrome are not environmental heath hazards -- they are merely genetic).
• The scope of environmental health:
o Chemical, biological, and physical factors are the center of environmental health.
o However, outside hazards consist of natural disasters, social/behavioural hazards, and genetics.
o All of the these concepts are interrelated.
• Core concerns of environmental health:
o Focus on chemical, biological, and physical hazards.
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Lec 1 JAN 15
o Interactions with genetic traits and with social/behavioural stressors.
o Emphasis on anthropogenic hazards (human health).
o Much more than just pollution.
o As a branch of public health, the field of environmental health takes a population perspective.
• Key themes of this course:
o We make the world we live in and we live in the world we make.
o People living in a modern Western lifestyle create, use, and dispose of lots of "stuff."
o In an ecosystem, nothing ever goes away.
o Therefore, our "stuff" and its by-products are transported and transformed, but they do not
disappear.
o There has often been a lack of foresight in adopting new products and technologies.
o The natural environment is globally connected; trade and travel are increasingly globalized.
o Global disparities in development and health are enormous.
o Western-style development is not sustainable at a global scale.
• Environmental crisis -- human alteration of earth:
o Atmosphere: CO2 (related to climate change) increased 30% since the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution.
o Geosphere: 1/3 to 1/2 of the land surface has been transformed by human action.
• Urbanization.
• Creating roads.
• Building homes.
o Biosphere:
• Affected by the aforementioned factors such as urbanization and industrialization.
• Disforestation (clear-cutting), for example, for the sake of building homes and roads.
o Industrialization:
• Causes pollution due to chemical release.
o Overpopulation and overconsumption:
• Leaves a larger carbon footprint.
• Health effects of pollution:
o Air pollution:
• Lead, nerve damage, and CO may cause headache fatigue.
• Particulate matter, ozone, and SO2 may cause respiratory illness.
• NOx and SO2 may cause cardiovascular illness.
• Volatile organic compounds may cause cancer risk, nausea, and skin irritation.
o Water pollution:
• May cause headache fatigue and gastroenteritis due to bacteria, parasites, and chemicals.
o Soil contamination:
• Pesticides may cause nausea, cardiovascular illness, and headache fatigue.
• The declining health of other organisms is the clearest indicator of environmental threats to human
health.
o No single factor is responsible, however -- they all work together.
o Factors may include:
• Increased UV.
• Traces of toxic chemicals.
• Infections (fungi and bacteria).
• Predators.
• Environmental health:
o Environmental factors are responsible for 25% of all preventable diseases.
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