Human health may be affected by a number of factors, including exposure to physical, chemical, biological, and radiological contaminants in the environment. There can be factors associated with both exposure and the health effects--confounding factors--that may make detecting the association between exposure to environmental contaminants and illness more difficult. The existence of a disease or health effect for which environmental contaminants are risk factors does not mean that the exposure occurred or contributed to this disease.
Much remains unknown about how health is affected by environmental contaminants exposure. EPA scientists assess how widely humans are exposed to contaminants in the air, in water, and on land; how those exposures impact human health; and at what levels exposure is harmful. When projects or actions are proposed that may impact levels of contamination in a region, communities want to know how this would affect human health, in combination with other pollutants and stressors in their communities.
A risk screening tool called MNRISKS compares levels of air pollution to health-based benchmarks to assess the potential for adverse health effects. A health benchmark is an amount of air pollution that is not likely to cause a health effect after a certain period of exposure. Health benchmarks are established to protect known susceptible populations. Measures that are based on data on individuals, communities, or populations (Blocks 4 through 6) are in the human exposure and health realm.
For details about common indoor air pollutants, asthma, indoor air quality at schools, and more, please go to Air Quality, Climate, & Health (Minnesota Department of Health. Even levels of air pollution that are lower than all federal air quality standards affect peoples health, including levels that are now found in parts of Minnesota.
Both short-term and long-term exposure to air pollutants can lead to various health problems. Many studies indicate that lower-income communities and minority populations are disproportionately exposed to air pollution and are more susceptible to negative health effects. Peoples health risks from air pollution differ greatly depending on their age, location, underlying health conditions, and other factors. Climate change is projected to damage peoples health by increasing air pollution at ground level and/or particulate matter levels in certain locations.
The most vulnerable--children, older adults, poor individuals, and people with underlying health conditions--are at increased risk of climate-change-related health effects. Health effects of environmental changes, including climatic changes, ocean acidification, land degradation, water shortages, overexploitation of fisheries, and biodiversity loss, represent major challenges to global health gains in recent decades, and are likely to be increasingly prevalent in the second half of this century and beyond. Widespread changes in the structure and functioning of the natural systems of Earth The natural systems of Earth represent an increasing threat to human health.
Steps can be taken to mitigate the effects of climate change (mitigation) and to reduce the impacts it has on our health and that of future generations (adaptation). Any changes to an individuals physical health or surrounding environment may also seriously affect his or her mental health. Even perceived threats from climate change (such as reading or watching news reports on climate change) may affect stress responses and mental health. Long-term psychological stress may adversely affect health, and has been mentioned as a contributing factor to age-related cognitive decline, depression, and disease manifestation.
Dementia is a risk factor for hospitalization and mortality during heat waves.124,129 Patients with serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, are at risk during warm weather, as their medications can disrupt heat regulation and may also cause direct hyperthermia.130,131 Additional potential mental health impacts, which are less well understood, include the possible distress associated with environmental degradation228,229 and displacement,132,133 and anxiety and despair that may result from the knowledge of climate change for some individuals (Ch. At the opposite end of precipitation extremes, droughts can pose risks to public health and safety.192 Drought conditions can heighten the ecological impact of an extensive range of health hazards, including forest fires, dust storms, extreme heat events, and water shortages. Extreme heat events have long threatened public health in the United States.165,134,135,136 Many cities, including St. Louis, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Cincinnati, have experienced sharp increases in mortality rates during heat waves.
The ecological-public health paradigm illustrated in Exhibit 11 illustrates a wide continuum of factors or events that can be involved in the potential development of a human illness following exposure to an environmental contaminant. The effects of microplastic environmental health on structural level of organisation within the body. Exposure of human lung cells to polystyrene microplastics markedly delayed cell proliferation and caused Morphological changes. Show Source Texts
Research suggests that artificial nighttime light may adversely impact human health, increasing the risk for obesity, depression, sleep disorders, diabetes, breast cancer, and others. According to experts from Harvard Medical School,ifblue light really does cause negative health effects, environmental concerns, as well as a push to use more energy-efficient lighting, may run counter to individual health. Climate change impacts many of the social and environmental determinants of health--clean air, safe drinking water, adequate food, and secure housing. Show Source Texts
