Environment And Health Lecture 1

Front 1

Define Environmental health:

Back 1

- aspects of human health including quality of life
- determined by physical, chemical, biological, social and psychosocial factors in the environment

Front 2

What is WHO's idea of environmental health? (4) + (2)

Back 2

- theory and practice of assessing, correcting, controlling, and correcting factors in environment that adversely affect health(4)
- taking into consideration present and future generations (2)

Front 3

Define and give an example of a physical hazard: (2)

Back 3

- occur naturally in the environment, can't prevent them but can prepare for them
- earthquake

Front 4

How can we increase our vulnerability to physical hazards?

Back 4

- deforesting slopes (landslides)
- chanelizing rivers (flooding)

Front 5

Define and give an example of chemical hazards: (2)

Back 5

- synthetic chemicals such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals
- harmful natural chemicals also exist

Front 6

Define Biological environmental hazards: (2)

Back 6

- result from ecological interactions, can't avoid risk but we can reduce it
- viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens

Front 7

Define cultural environmental hazards: (2)

Back 7

- results from the place we live, our socioeconomic status, our occupation and our behavioral choices (easiest to avoid)
- smoking, drug use

Front 8

What are the top 3 leading causes of death across the world?

Back 8

- cardiovascular disease (29)
- infectious disease (26.1) 15 million
- cancers (12.5)

Front 9

Define a vector?

Back 9

- an organism that transfers pathogens to a host

Front 10

What is radon? (3)

Back 10

- a highly toxic, radioactive gas that is colorless and undetectable without specialized kits
- causes lung cancer
- found indoors mostly

Front 11

Explain Lead poisoning: (3)

Back 11

- from water going through lead pipes
-lead-based paint on popular brand-name children's toys from china
- damages organs, causes learning problems, behavior abnormalities and death

Front 12

Explain polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs): (2)

Back 12

- computers, tvs, plastics, furniture
- endocrine disruptors, brain and nervous system

Front 13

Define toxicology:

Back 13

- the study of the effects of poisonous substances on humans and other organisms

Front 14

Define toxicity:

Back 14

- the degree of harm a toxicant can cause
- combined effect of the chemical and its quantity (dose makes the poison)

Front 15

What was the significance of silent spring? (2)

Back 15

- generated significant social change by presenting the risks of DDT
- stopped the use of untested pesticides that were sprayed over public areas in the 60s

Front 16

What is a teratogen?

Back 16

- type of toxicant that can cause birth defects

Front 17

What are some potential causes of endocrine disruption? (5)

Back 17

- feminization of male animals
- drop in sperm counts
- testicular cancer
- rise in breast cancer rates
- neurological problems

Front 18

Define pesticide drift: (4)

Back 18

- airborne transport of pesticides:
- low latitudes evaporation of pollutants exceeds deposition
- pollutants transported by atmosphere and ocean currents north
- high latitudes deposition exceeds evaporation

Front 19

Define breakdown products: (3)

Back 19

- toxicants degrade into simpler products
- may be more or less harmful than the original substance
- DDT degrades into DDE

Front 20

What are some factors that affect rates of degradation? (3)

Back 20

- temperature
- moisture
-sun exposure

Front 21

Define Bioaccumulation:

Back 21

- toxicants build up in animal tissues

Front 22

Define Biomagnification:

Back 22

- toxicants concentrate in top predators

Front 23

Give an example of a conspicuous mortality event that triggered research:

Back 23

- 1998-2001 california sea otters diead from parasites carried in sewage runoff containing cat litter (toxoplasma)

Front 24

What tools do human studies rely on? (3)

Back 24

- case histories
- epidemiology
- animal testing

Front 25

Define a case history:

Back 25

- process of observation and analysis of individual patients

Front 26

Define epidemiology: (2)

Back 26

- large-scale comparisons among groups of people, generally for a long period of time
- studies between exposed and unexposed people last for years

Front 27

Define manipulative experiments:

Back 27

- lab experiments that expose subjects to toxicants to establish causation (animals)

Front 28

What is LD50/ED50?

Back 28

- the amount of toxicant required to kill (affect) 50% of the subjects

Front 29

What makes different people respond differently to hazards?

Back 29

- genetics
-previous health
- sex, age, weight

Front 30

What is the definition of toxicology according to frumkin? (2)

Back 30

- studies how environmental exposures lead to specific health outcomes
- in animals, used to understand possible health outcomes in humans

Front 31

What is the definition of environmental epidemiology according to frumkin?

Back 31

- studies the relationship between environmental exposures and human health

Front 32

What is the definition of exposure science according to frumkin? (3)

Back 32

- identifying and quantifying exposures to environmental contaminants
- can be used to support environmental epidemiology
- can be used in a risk assessment to determine whether current levels of exposure might exceed recommended levels