Pollution and Human Health

A. Environmental effects on health

1. Pollution causes illness in two many ways
a. Pollution may cause illness directly by poisoning (lead poisoning)
b. Pollution may cause illnesses indirectly (contaminated water)
2. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been researching environmental affects on
human health.
B. Toxicology is the study of the harmful effects of substances on organisms.
1. We are exposed to small amounts of chemicals every day in food, in the air we breathe and some
water we drink.
2. The amount of a harmful chemical to which a person is exposed is called the dose.
3. The damage to health that results from exposure to a given dose is called the response.
4. A persistant chemical is a chemical that breaks down slowly in the environment-example DDT.
*DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) was
developed as the first of the modern synthetic
insecticides in the 1940s. It was initially used
with great effect to combat malaria, typhus,
and the other insect-borne human diseases
among both military and civilian populations.
C. Epidemiology is the study of the spread of diseases.
1. A risk assessment is an estimate of the risk posed by an action or substance.
2. Risk is the probability of a negative outcome.
D. Pollution from Natural Sources
3. Some pollutants occur naturally in nature.
4. Radon poisoning causes 15000-22000 cancer deaths a year in the US.
E. Pesticides
1. Chemicals designed to kill unwanted organisms such as insects, fungi or weeds.
2. Pesticides are designed to kill organisms, they are often dangerous to humans in large enough
doses.
3. We are exposed to low levels of industrial chemicals every day, particularly inside new buildings.
4. PCB’s have been used for years as insulation in electrical transformers.
5. Children exposed to PCB’s can have learning problems, and low IQ’s.

*PCB=Printed circuit board, a board used in electronics.

Biological Hazards
A. Waterborne Diseases
1. Nearly ¾ of infectious diseases are transmitted through water.
2. Organisms that transmit the disease are called vectors. (mosquitos)
3. The deadliest waterborne disease comes from drinking ater polluted by human feces.
4. Cholera and dysentery.
5. Malaria was once the world’s leading cause of death.
B. Environmental Change and Disease
1. We have polluted the environment and by doing that we have made it more suitable for pathogens to live and
to reproduce.
2. Example- hookworms has increased due to contaminated soil.
3. Over use of antibodies have causes resistance.
4. Some strains of Salmonella, E.Coli, and TB are resistant to antibiotics.
5. Malaria on the March.
6. Emerging viruses.
7. Cross-specie transfers-bird flu.
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