Introduction

What is Environmental Health?

"Environmental health is that aspect of public health that is concerned with those forms of life, substances, forces, and conditions in the surroundings of man that may exert an influence on human health and well-being. This interacting system may be depicted as follows:

Man <=> Environment

where not only do man and his environment interact, but man is shown to be a vital factor of his own environment." P.W. Purdom, 1980

As a society, we have several options for minimizing the adverse effects of disease:
1. Medical Treatment
2. Immunization
3. Increase Physical Vitality
4. Environmental Controls

Our interface with the environment

1. Routes of human exposure
2. Skin, lungs, and GI barriers to toxicants

Principals of environmental control

1. Isolation
2. Substitution
3. Shielding
4. Treatment
1. Destruction
2. Conversion
3. Removal
4. Inhibition
5. Prevention