131
– 1986 Chernobyl Ukraine: nuclear reactor accident resulting in the worst nuclear
disaster in history. This accident reached the maximum severity on the International
Nuclear Event Scale (level 7). The estimated number of deaths from the Chernobyl
nuclear disaster ranges from thousands to tens of thousands [6].
– 2011 Fukushima Japan: nuclear disaster of level 7. Noteworthy, in the reports of
United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation
(UNSCEAR) from 2014, no significant correlation was found between exposure
and increase in miscarriages, stillbirths or physical and mental disorders in
babies born after the accident [7].
– 2014–2016 West Africa: the largest Ebola virus disease outbreak followed by the
current 2018–2019 outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (3,145
cases out of which, 1,992 resulted in death) reported as of September 2019 [8].
– Now, globally: antimicrobial resistance, recognized as one of the major Global
Health challenges of the twenty-first century by all major regulatory, economic
and political bodies (e.g. the International Monetary Fund, the WHO, the World
Bank and the G8). If not tackled now, the predicted death toll could reach as far
as one person dying every three seconds by 2050 [9].
8.3 Environmental Health
The environment (i.e., circumstances, objects, or conditions by which one is surrounded) is an important factor impacting the human health. Contrary to what the
name implies, the field of environmental health is not focused on the health and wellbeing of the environment itself. Rather, it refers to human health and well- being as
impacted by the environment. As such, the environmental health field comprises all
the physical, chemical, and biological factors external to a person, and all the related
factors impacting behaviors, with the main focus on preventing disease and creating
health-supportive environments [10].
The environmental health field encompasses several individual study domains to
contribute to the broad field of public human health: environmental epidemiology
(focused on identifying associations between exposure to agents and disease), environmental toxicology (investigating causal mechanisms between exposure to agents
and disease), environmental engineering (focused on reducing exposure), preventive
medicine (focused on reducing disease development). Furthermore, specific laws and
regulations support the field of environmental health by providing the frameworks for
implementing appropriate public health strategies.
In the classical environmental health continuum, stressors or agents in air, water,
soil, or food are transferred to exposed people by inhalation, ingestion, or absorption, and may produce adverse health effects as an outcome of the exposure [5]. In
this context, the complex collection of all exposures and associated biological
responses the individuals experience across their life is defined as the exposome.
The exposome includes any factor of interest that may impact health, such as biological materials, noise, radiation, chemical substances, access to healthy foods,
clean water.
8 Risks and Consequences of Hazard Agents to Human Health
– 1986 Chernobyl Ukraine: nuclear reactor accident resulting in the worst nuclear
disaster in history. This accident reached the maximum severity on the International
Nuclear Event Scale (level 7). The estimated number of deaths from the Chernobyl
nuclear disaster ranges from thousands to tens of thousands [6].
– 2011 Fukushima Japan: nuclear disaster of level 7. Noteworthy, in the reports of
United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation
(UNSCEAR) from 2014, no significant correlation was found between exposure
and increase in miscarriages, stillbirths or physical and mental disorders in
babies born after the accident [7].
– 2014–2016 West Africa: the largest Ebola virus disease outbreak followed by the
current 2018–2019 outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (3,145
cases out of which, 1,992 resulted in death) reported as of September 2019 [8].
– Now, globally: antimicrobial resistance, recognized as one of the major Global
Health challenges of the twenty-first century by all major regulatory, economic
and political bodies (e.g. the International Monetary Fund, the WHO, the World
Bank and the G8). If not tackled now, the predicted death toll could reach as far
as one person dying every three seconds by 2050 [9].
8.3 Environmental Health
The environment (i.e., circumstances, objects, or conditions by which one is surrounded) is an important factor impacting the human health. Contrary to what the
name implies, the field of environmental health is not focused on the health and wellbeing of the environment itself. Rather, it refers to human health and well- being as
impacted by the environment. As such, the environmental health field comprises all
the physical, chemical, and biological factors external to a person, and all the related
factors impacting behaviors, with the main focus on preventing disease and creating
health-supportive environments [10].
The environmental health field encompasses several individual study domains to
contribute to the broad field of public human health: environmental epidemiology
(focused on identifying associations between exposure to agents and disease), environmental toxicology (investigating causal mechanisms between exposure to agents
and disease), environmental engineering (focused on reducing exposure), preventive
medicine (focused on reducing disease development). Furthermore, specific laws and
regulations support the field of environmental health by providing the frameworks for
implementing appropriate public health strategies.
In the classical environmental health continuum, stressors or agents in air, water,
soil, or food are transferred to exposed people by inhalation, ingestion, or absorption, and may produce adverse health effects as an outcome of the exposure [5]. In
this context, the complex collection of all exposures and associated biological
responses the individuals experience across their life is defined as the exposome.
The exposome includes any factor of interest that may impact health, such as biological materials, noise, radiation, chemical substances, access to healthy foods,
clean water.
8 Risks and Consequences of Hazard Agents to Human Health