Environmental Health Terms

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prevalence

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problem at designated time (a/a+b)

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biodiversity

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organismic variety at various levels of the organizations hierarchy

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organic chemical

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substance that contains carbon atoms

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biomes

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major geographical regions

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landscape

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hetergenous (good) and homogenous (bad)

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biosphere

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largest known ecosystem

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toxicology

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study of adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms

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metals

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chemical element that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat and forms cations and ionic bonds with non-metals

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ecology

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study of interactions between organisms and environments (biotic and abiotic components)

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trophic structure

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autotrophs which concert sunlight into energy, heterotrophs feed upon autotrophs

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metal ores

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rocks or minerals in which a metal element is assocated with one or more non-metal elements

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coherence with established knowledge

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cause and effect interpretations should not conflict with or contradict known facts about disease

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biological or theoretical plausibility

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association between causal factor and a disease outcome must make biological sense

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biological gradient

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a dose-response relationship between cause and effect (strengthens the relationship)

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specificity of association

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a given disease resulting from a given exposure and not types of exposure

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consistency of findings

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seen repeatedly among different settings, individuals and circumstances

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strength of association

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when the relationship of a causal factor and disease outcome is very strong (plausibility of causation increases)

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hazard identification

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examines the evidence that associates exposure to an agent with its toxicity and produces judgement about strength of evidence

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confounding

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distortion of the exposure disease relationship by a third variable

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bias

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relationship to exposure and disease that isn't true selection

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environment

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domain in which disease causing agents may exist, survive and originate

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occupational medicine

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detection or prevention that arises from work environment

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occupation disease

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health outcomes that are caused or influenced by exposure to general conditions or specific hazards encountered in a work environment

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dose-response assessment

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measures the association between the amount of exposure and the occurrence of unwanted health effects

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long latency period

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time interval between initial exposure to a disease-causing agent or the appearance of the disease in the host

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roentgen

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unit of exposure from x or gamma rays

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rem

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measure of dose deposited in body tissue, averaged over mass of tissue of interest

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biotransformation

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metabolic conversion mediated by enzymes

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curie

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unit of measure used to describe amount of radioactivity

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toxicokinetics

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process of absorption, distrubution, metabolism, and excretion to toxic affect in response to a chemcial

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herbicides

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controls or destroys plants, weeds, and grasses

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rad

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absorbed dose of ionizing radiation

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risk assessment

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estimation of the likelihood of adverse effect that may result from exposure to a specific health hazard

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chronic

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exposure more than 3 months

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additivity

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combination of two chemicals, produces an effect that is equal to individual effects added together

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synergism

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combined effect of exposures to two or more chemicals that is greater than the sum of individual effects

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insecticide

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kills and prevents growth of insect

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potentiation

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exposure to one chemical, which causes another chemical to be more toxic

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pesticide

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substance intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating pests

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volatile organic compounds

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easily become vapors or gases

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antagonism

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two chemicals adminestered together that interfere with eachother's actions

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polar

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water soluble

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non polar

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fat soluble

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bioconcentration

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rate of uptake of contaminant from water

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biomagnification

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increases concentration in successive levels of a food chain

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absorbed dose

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radiation energy absorbed per unit mass of an organ or tissue

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density independence

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factors that operate independently off of population density and affect population size

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density dependence

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biotic factors that affect population size to a greater degree where they are greater population density

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ionizing radiation

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has enough energy to remove tightly bound electrons from atoms, creating ions

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radioactivity

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process by which inherently unstable radionucleis decay

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polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

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group of over 100 chemicals that are formed during burning of organic substances

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electromagnetic spectrum

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range of all possible frequencies in electromagnetic radiation

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bioaccumulation

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uptake from both food and water within a trophic level or between adjacent tropic levels

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organochlorines

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contain at least one chlorine atom, synthetic and resistant to degradations

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in vivo

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animal, studies chronic toxicities

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persistant organic pollutants

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carbon containing chemical that resists degredations

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invitro

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cell systems, cellular responses are absorbed and help predict human responses

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hydrocarbon

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substance that consists of only carbon and hydrogen atoms

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aromatic compound

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organic molecule that contains a benzene ring

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carry capacity

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population size that can be supported in a given area within th elimits of available resources

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radiation

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energy travelling through space

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incidence

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rate of new problem during a period of time

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fungicide

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controls or destorys fungi

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healthy worker effect

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selection bias, occurring when workers are compared to general population

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temporality

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cause must precede the effect

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non ionizing radiation

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radiation that has enough energy to move atoms in a molecule and cause them to vibrate

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toxic agent

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material of factor that can be harmful to biological agents

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toxicity

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degree to which something is poisonous

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toxic substance

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material with toxic properties

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antiestrogen/xenoestrogen

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interferences with production and/or regulation of female sex hormone

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biotic

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living

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antiandrogen

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interference with production and/or regulation of male sex hormones

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abiotic

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nonliving

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teratogen

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chemical compound that has the potential to cause birth defects

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ecosystem

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emphasis on energy and material cycles

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biome

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character of ecosystems determined by critical features

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endocrine disruptor

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chemicals that have the potential to interfere with normal hormone metabolism and action

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toxicant

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toxic substances that are man-made or resulting from human activities

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medical waste

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chemicals, infectious agents, and radioactive materials

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trophic level

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position that an organism occupies on the food chain

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niche

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particular needs of a species and its role in its community

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competitive exclusion

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no two species can occupy the same niche

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toxin

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toxic substance made by living organism

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pyrethroid

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paralysis and electrical transmission

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xenobiotic

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chemical substance that are foreign to a biological system in question

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organophosphate

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causes over stimulation at cholinergic nerve terminals

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compositng

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controlled decomposition of organic materials producing a useful material that resembles soil

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source reduction

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reducing the amount of waste created, reusing whenever possible and then recycling what is left

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habitat diversity

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as habitat increases, so do the amount of resources and variety of resources

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population

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group of interbreeding individuals in a particular locality

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population ecology

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dynamics of a species population and interactions among species and their physical environment

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host

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living animal that afford subsistence or lodgement to an infectious agent under natural conditions

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poison

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any agent capable of producing of deleterious response in a biological system

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rodenticide

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destroys rats to prevent from damage

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recycling

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process minimizing waste generation by recovering and reprocessing usable products that might become waste

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municipal solid waste

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trash

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agent

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a factor whose presence is essential for occurrence of a disease

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dose

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amount of substance administered at one time

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dose response

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population dose response and individual dose response

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risk characterization

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estimates the incidence adverse effects in a given population as result of exposure to a hazard

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quasi experiment

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subject not randomly selected, they cannot segregate individuals

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ld50

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dosage that causes 50% death

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randomized controlled trial

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manipulation of an exposed varable and random assignment of subject to either treatment or control groups

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threshold

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lowest dose at which a particular response may occur

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acute

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single exposure less than 24 hours

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intervention study

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test outcomes associated with intentional changes in the status of research subjects

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case control

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begins with diseased and non-diseased group and looks backwards in time

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cross sectional study

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measures exposure and disease at the same time

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cohort study

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classifies subjects according to their exposure to a factor of interest

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nematodicide

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destructive to nematodes (worms)

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subacute

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exposure one month or less

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subchronic

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exposure one to three months

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otoxicity

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agents that can produce hearing loss

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exposure assessment

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indentifies population exposed to toxicant examines the foots, magnitudes, frequencies and duration of such exposures

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sound pressure level

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measure of intensity of sound

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dBA

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measurement of sound

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exposure limits

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guidelines and limitations for workplace exposures to hazardous agents

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threshold limit value

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level which it is believed a worker can be exposed day after day with no adverse effects

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job stress

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harmful physical or emotional responses that occur when requirements of jobs don't meet capabilities