ANHE

Claudia M. Smith, PhD, MPH, RN-BC

Assistant Professor

University of Maryland Baltimore, School of Nursing

Baltimore, MD

June 1, 2010

What is Environmental Health?

“The environment is one of the fundamental determinants of individual and community health” (Institute of Medicine, 1995, p. 1).  The environment along with human behavior, genetics/biology and the health care system contribute to the health and illness among human populations (Dever, 1991). 

Environmental health may be defined as that aspect of human health determined by physical, chemical, biological and psychosocial factors in the environment (WHO, 1993, cited in Sattler & Lipscomb, 2003, p. xiii). Others define environmental health as the freedom from illness or injury…[due] to exposure to toxic agents and other [hazardous] environmental conditions” (Institute of Medicine, 1995, p. 15).

Environmental health may be defined also as “the theory and practice of assessing, correcting, controlling and preventing factors in the environment” that negatively affect health (WHO, 1993, cited in Sattler & Lipscomb, 2003, p. xiii). Environmental factors that negatively affect health are often called environmental hazards.

“The environment is everything around us - the air we breathe, the water we drink and use, and the food we consume. It's also the chemicals, radiation, microbes, and physical forces with which we come into contact. Our interactions with the environment are complex and are not always healthy” (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, National Center for Environmental Health, 2009).

Not only do we come in contact with our environment. Our environment becomes us through the air, water, food and other exposures. Obviously, we are dependent upon our environment for our development, growth and survival. For example, food provides nutrients for development, growth, and energy; water composes many of our body fluids. When the physical environment is  polluted, pollution is not only around us, but in us! Watch this video (22 minutes long) from the Environmental Working Group to learn eye-opening information about body burden [of chemicals] in children.

So what are we to do to reduce environmental hazards? How can we reduce human exposure to environmental hazards? What are we to do to promote healthier environments? We can respond as nurses, workers, students, parents, family members, group members, and citizens. Why are nurses especially equipped to address environmental health?

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Last updated 127 days ago by Katie Huffling