The appreciation of environmental-health issues appears to expand as societies develop economically, writes MARLENE PROCTOR
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH may sound a bit obscure but it is hugely important. It impacts on every person and attracts the attention of international bodies such as the World Health Organisation, World Bank and the OECD. Yet it is airbrushed, to some extent, by policy makers.
During 2010, the news service Environmental Health News posted almost 70,000 articles from the print, radio, TV and online media on topics as varied as the Gulf Oil spill, the overhaul of food-safety laws in the US, controversies in climate science and the aftermaths of natural disasters.
The postings capture the core fields of food security and safety, access to clean water and air, and the provision of shelter and waste disposal. These areas are the concerns of environmental health academics, professionals and legislators.
There is often a shortcoming in the co-ordination of environment and health policies and a lack of appreciation of the environmental health impact of initiatives in manufacturing and service sectors.
The reason why environmental health is sometimes misunderstood may lie in the many terms that are associated with the environment-health interface.
In the 19th century, when the connection between the availability of clean water and the control of infection was made, the ensuing regulatory controls were embedded in the public-health framework. Concern for the environment developed as environmental management during the last century.
As the links between health and the quality of the environment became more fully understood, the terms “environmental health”, “environmental public health” and “environmental health sciences” gained traction. Increasingly, the environmental health sciences provide the evidence-base for the practice of environmental health.
The WHO recently produced THE Lexicon (the Health and Environment Lexicon), an online database of more than 4,000 technical terms related to health and environment issues. This shows the extent of scholarly and professional activity in the area. THE Lexicon uses the UN 1992 description of environmental health as a wide- ranging field of concern and activity, covering all physical, chemical and biological factors that can have an impact on the physical and mental well-being and welfare of mankind and society.
Environmental health is a dynamic area. Innovations include the advent of the risk-based approach to prevention; the development of systems for the integrated management of safety, health and environment; the identification of environmental health indicators, and the use of environmental health information and tracking systems.
There is increasing collaboration between environmental health experts across the natural and social sciences. Investigators publish in a diversity of refereed journals.
Emerging and ongoing challenges include the problem of electronic waste, difficulties in communication and perception, and the impact of new discoveries.
The need for interprofessional and public communication on policy development and advances in knowledge is now recognised, not least with regard to environmental health.
In the US the standing committee on the use of emerging science for environmental health decisions, set up by the national academies, addresses such matters.
The brief is to “facilitate communication among government, industry, environmental groups and the academic community about scientific advances that may be used in the identification, quantification and control of environmental impacts on human health”.
The European Union and WHO have collaborated for many years on environmental health action plans. The WHO/Euro Environment and Health process has devoted two of its five ministerial conferences on environment and health since 1989 to children’s health.
The sixth conference in 2016 presents a great opportunity for our newly established Department of Children to make a significant contribution to the welfare of children at a time of such historical significance in Ireland.
The scope of environmental health appears to expand alongside the economic advancement of societies. People in developed countries are concerned about the provenance of food and energy, the impact of physical development, and the nature of waste management, as distinct from the provision of these infrastructural needs.
Nevertheless, the timelessness of environmental health is graphically evident in its intrinsic remedial role in the aftermaths of disasters which jeopardise the provision of clean water and air, shelter, food and sanitation for so many.
The importance of environmental health can be argued from operational and strategic perspectives.
Prof Marlene Proctor is professor emeritus of the school of food science and environmental health at DIT