Environment and Health

ENVS 355

Route of Exposure

Dr Lawson Mensah
Dept. of Environmental Science
Faculty of Biosciences
College of Science
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KNUST
 Learning Objectives
 Describe the chain of infection
 Describe the interaction between
humans, agents and the
environment.
 Demonstrate an understanding of
the link between disease,
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environmental hazards and humans
 The chain of infection
It is a process whereby the
conditions for the spread of
infection/disease are available to
enable the spread from one
person to another.

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 The chain of infection
For this process to occur;
1. An infectious agent must leave a
reservoir through a portal exit

2. Be conveyed by an appropriate
mode of transmission

3. Find a suitable portal of entry

into a susceptible host
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 Routes of Exposure
Routes of exposure through gaseous,
liquid, and solid media
Air
GI lungs
tract
water Food
skin Host GI
tract

GI tract skin
Soil
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Adapted from Moeller, D.W.
 Agents and Vectors
Agents
−Chemical, biological, and
physical
Vectors
−Water, air, soil, and food
Routes of entry
6 −Inhalation, ingestion,
 Environmental Pathways
for Selected Toxic Agents
Agent Disease Source Pathway

L. Pneumophila Legionnaire’s Soil, cooling Air, building

disease towers ventilation
systems

Salmonella Acute diarrhea, Human or animal Water, meat, eggs

typhoid faeces

Dioxin Chloracne, soft Herbicides, paper Air, water, food

tumors mills, incinerators

Pesticides Nervous system Agriculture Food, water

toxication

Asbestos Asbestosis, lung Insulation, auto Air, water

7 cancer brakes
 The Toxicological Pattern
Exposure

Internal dose
Effect modifiers
Susceptibility Biologically effective dose Diet
Genetic factors Habits
Health
Early biologic effect Medication
Co-exposure
Altered structure and function

Clinical disease
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 Internal Dose:
The amount of a substance penetrating the absorption
barriers (e.g. skin, lung tissue, gastrointestinal tract) of
an organism through either physical or biological
processes

Biologically Effective dose:

The amount of a deposited or absorbed compound
reaching the cells or target sites where adverse effect
occur, or where the chemical interacts with a
membrane to cause a reaction.
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 Examples of Manifestations
Reproductive effects
Teratogenic effects – cause harm to a
fetus during pregnancy, congenital defects,
miscarriage etc.

Neurologic effects
Lung disease
Cancer
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 Health Effects of exposure
Health effects of exposure fall into several
categories.
 Adverse vs. beneficial response
 Adverse effect :- the unwanted, negative consequences
associated with the use of given medications
 Acute vs. delayed onset
 an acute disease is a disease with either or both of:
▪ a rapid onset
▪ a short course
 Clinical vs. sub clinical manifestations
 Transient (reversible) vs. chronic (irreversible)
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 Severity of Adverse Health Effects

Death
Significant disease
Manifest dysfunction
Clinical nuisance effects
Sub-clinical chronic alterations
Acute reversible (functional) effects
Population exposed
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 Vulnerable Groups
Low socioeconomic status
Women
Children
Elderly
Ethnic minorities
Disabled
Indigenous peoples

All of whom are often more vulnerable

because of
 Genetics
13  They are not empowered to change their
 Definitions
Invasiveness
This is the ability of an organism to
enter the body and spread through tissue

Infectivity
The ability of an agent to initiate and
maintain infection

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 Pathogenicity
The capacity of an agent to cause disease in a
susceptible host e.g. The measles virus- highly
pathogenic since almost all persons infected develop
rash but Enterococcus faecalis commonly found in the
intestinal tract of humans rarely cause disease in a
normal host- low pahtogenicity
Virulence
The degree of pathogenicity of an infectious agent:-the
ability to cause severe disease or death
Infectious dose
The amount of organism needed to cause infection i.e.
the larger the dose of infective microorganism, the
15 greater the chance that infection will result
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Environment
(Physical, biological and psychosocial)

Human activities Health of

individual
 Environment Pulls the Trigger

Intrinsic Environmental
Genetic Exposure

Human “Genetics loads

health/ the gun,
but environment
Disease pulls
the trigger.”
—Judith Stern
UC Davis
Age/Time
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 Precepts (rules) of environmental impact on
human health studies
The physical environment, our habitat, is
the most important determinant of human
health
Protection of the environment and
preservation of ecosystems are the most
fundamental steps in preventing human
illness
Environmental problems are global and
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long-term