Environmental Health

Environmental Health was defined in a 1989 document by the World Health Organization (WHO) as: Those aspects of the human health and disease that are determined by factors in the environment. It encompasses the assessment and control of those environmental factors that can potentially affect health. It addresses all human-health-related aspects of the natural environment and the built environment.

Environmental health concerns include:

• Air Quality, including both ambient outdoor air & indoor air quality such as tobacco smoke
• Body Art, including tattooing, microblading and permanent makeup
• Body Work, a form of therapeutic touching or manipulation of the body by using specialized techniques
• Disaster preparedness & response
• Environmental racism wherein certain groups of people can be put at higher risk for environmental hazards, such as air, soil, & water pollution. This often happens due to marginalization, economic and political processes, & ultimately, racism. Environmental racism disproportionately affects different groups globally, however generally the most marginalized groups of any given region/nation
• Food safety, including agriculture, transportation, food processing, wholesale & retail distribution and sale
• Housing
• Childhood lead poisoning prevention
• Liquid waste disposal, including on-site waste water disposal systems, such as septic systems
• Recreational water illness prevention, including from swimming pools, spas & freshwater bathing places
• Tanning Devices
• Wells, including drinking water, irrigation & geothermal
• Vector control, including the control of mosquitoes, rodents, flies, cockroaches & other animals that may transmit pathogens