The small Cornish town of Camelford, in the South Western part of England finds itself being commonly referred to as the centre of Britain most serious water pollution incident due to a water contamination event, which took place on 6th July 1988. This report aims to apply the framework of Environmental Health to analyse the environmental health issues and the need for an interdisciplinary approach. Furthermore, it will also explain the principles of environmental health and sustainable development associated with this incident. The incident involved accidently adding a massive load of aluminium into a reserve distal, which serves the local community. Initial response and management of the incident have been under much scrutiny. Communication about the event and the potential health were sometimes confusing and even contradictory at times causing significant concern amongst the local community residents. Furthermore, in addition to the immediate health effect of such an exposure, health impacts of such events can be potentially ongoing and in the case of Camelford, nearly two decades after the incident many citizens of the community still continue to report health concerns that they attribute to the event (Powell et al., 1995). The incident On 6th July 1988 a relief tanker driver accidently released twenty tonnes of aluminum sulfate into the mains supply in Lowermoor Water Treatment Works subsequently contaminating the water, which supplies to a large area of north Cornwall. Approximately 20, 000 individuals were exposed to this contaminated water (Phyllis, 2008). This contamination was substantial, the maximum recorded aluminum concentration was 620,000 μg/l compared with the maximum concentration admissible at the time by th... ... middle of paper ... ...be ongoing, so the pubic can get advice on new concerns if and when they arise. Consideration must be given as to correctly identify the exposed populations for inclusion in monitoring especially if the exposed area has a large number of people migrating (such as the case for Camelford). Poor drinking water supply and quality and poor sanitation are among the world’s major caused of preventable morbidity and mortality. Water contamination outbreaks occur all too often. It is likely that many outbreaks remain undetected and beyond the reported outbreaks, there is an unrecognized background burden of disease. There is a risk that outdated methods may not effectively identify and prevent water contamination. Advances in technology, which can aid the detection and prevention of contaminants, environmental health and sustainability should be encouraged and are needed.
22 November 2004. Clear and Present Danger? Test. The. 2004.
...al compound in her drinking water and also in her blood after Chesapeake began drilling on her land, Jaime Frederick in Ohio, discovered barium, strontium, toluene and other contaminants in her water after 25 wells had been drilled a mile from his home which lead her to experience different illnesses. In simple word, this process of fracturing has changed these people lives in a bad way and has to be stopped in order to prevent future damages or loss of lives.
Although extremely detrimental to the people of Africa, there is a chance that these individuals are not the only ones that may be affected by the issue of the current water pollution. There is no borderline of which disease cannot cross. There is an extremely large chance that over time, the infectious diseases from water pollution will spread to areas other than Africa, becoming a universal issue. Although the issue of water pollution is growing each day, there is hope that with the world’s awareness, and organizations’ help, the issue is soon to become one of the pasts.
This essay will discuss the main environmental factors that are contributing to an increasing level of health issue such as, obesity among individuals in New Zealand. James and Peters stated that a person’s body weight and body height are determined by interactions between the environment and genetics (1998). Usually, health professionals observed obesity as a circumstance of overeating, therefore this essay will be identifying the three major environmental factors that contribute to obesity within New Zealand. This essay will also discuss how well the government is managing the relationship between the health issue identified above and environment.
Environmental Health, as stated by Friis (2012), “comprises those aspects of human health, including quality of life, that are determined by physical, chemical, biological, social, and psychological factors in the environment”. Additionally he points out that “it also refers to the theory and practice of assessing, correcting, controlling, and preventing those factors in the environment that potentially can affect adversely the health of present and future generations” (Friis, 2012). Large proportions of current diseases are associated with environmental sources. It is estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the report Preventing Disease Through Healthy Environments - towards an estimate of the environmental burden of disease that
A direct example of how the mistreatment of the environment has an effect on the health of the public is seen in the incident at Love Canal. “Love Canal was a rectangular 16-acre, 10-ft-deep chemical waste landfill situated in a residential neighborhood in the city of Niagara Falls…
Hennigan, Robert D. "Water Pollution." Oxford University Press 19.11 (1969): 976-78. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
Have you ever had to walk miles away just to get clean drinking water, or don’t even not have access to clean drinking water? People all over the world, even in North America, don’t have access to clean drinking water or have to walk very far just to drink water. The main areas where this problem is prominent is in third world countries, and this is due to the lack of money and sanitation (Millions Lack Safe Water). Due to this lack of sanitation, water borne diseases can grow and infect people who consume it. Clean water is very important for life, and within this paper I will explain why we need it, how it can affect us, and what it will take to obtain clean water.
The environment and health are very closely linked. The environment in which we inhabit and go about our daily lives, directly impacts on our physical, mental and social well-being. There are biological, chemical and physical factors that can affect human health in a physical and mental way. The World Health Organisation states that "health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" (WHO 1948), meaning that although many factors relating to health are associated with environmental pollution, they can also be caused by the environment in which we work and live in. The relationship between the environment and health, can however be quite complex. Human health is not only as a result of air, water and ground pollution, but also things such as food, genetics, life style and quality, which directly affect human susceptibility to illness, disease and possibly death. Disruptions to the environment, such as substance dispersal, climate change, acidification, ground pollution, photochemical air pollution and over fertilisation can also impact on human health. Therefore, there are direct and indirect links to the environment and health issues.
Such outbreaks are incapable of being controlled by public health initiatives and officials alone, as they travel through the primary water sources of communities, essential for the maintenance of life. However, these essential water sources contaminated with fecal matter, are rivers and streams which act as the primary contributors to fecal oral diseases in developing nations; deteriorating the health of populations at an early age and limiting the economic prosperity of communities’ incapable of contributing to the workforce due to disease and illness (Mara, 2003, p. 453). Diarrheal disease, one of the primary fecal oral diseases present in developing nations, is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in areas throughout India, Indonesia, Africa and war-torn countries throughout the Middle East, those most affected being children children (Fewtrell et al., 2005, p. 42). As these impoverished and sickened communities of developing nations are still beginning to acclimate to the modern world, affordable water-sanitation initiatives are essential to promote awareness of sanitation from the perspective of public health officials wanting to limit the spread of preventable infectious diseases (Mara, 2003, p. 453). Therefore, global sanitation initiatives with proper sanitation and filtration technologies must be taken via the application of “appropriate technologies.” However, new technologies are only a fraction of the problem when taking rising populations, modernization, climate change, pollution, urbanization and affordability into consideration when creating proper sanitation protocols to address water sanitation needs in poverty-stricken communities under development (Murphy et al., 2009, p.
Working Party of the RSC Environment Health and Safety Committee (2008). “Environmental Risk Assessment” http://www.rsc.org/images/Environmental_Risk_Assessment_tcm18-122341.pdf. Visited: 10/04/2011
Hazards can be found in every workplace. Hazard is generally anything that makes you in a dangerous situation. Health hazard is means that the hazard brings negative effect and harm to the health which is may cause measurable changes in the body. There are many hazard in the workplaces have the potential to harm workers short-term and long-term health result in diseases, disorders and injuries. Occupational health is an important as occupational safety. However, occupational health generally receives less attention compare to the occupational safety in workplaces.
On the 3rd of December 1984, a gas leakage incident happened in Bhopal, India. Methyl isocyanate(MIC), a deadly poisonous gas was accidentally leaked and spread into air from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) plant. The leak was caused by large volume of water entering one of the MIC storage tanks in the underground. As a result temperature and pressure in tank continuously increased and the storage tank burst as a result of chemical reaction between the water and MIC. It spread in the air and over the nearby community. As a result the people inhaled the gas and got affected. The doctors also could not provide immediate treatment for the victims since UCIL provided only a little information regarding the composition of the poisonous gas leaked. Due to this incident 3,500 people were killed instantly; 20 thousand people were permanently disabled and more than 40 thousand people suffered from the injuries and chronic diseases due to the incident in long run.
Water is essential for us for various purposes, such as drinking, bathing, washing clothes, cooking, etc. As we drink, bath with or cook with fresh and pure water, it has many advantages in our day-to-day life. For instance, water relieves fatigue, improves mood, treats headache, helps digestion, flushes out toxin, etc. (Top 10 Health Benefits…). But nowadays-fresh water is hard to find because of the increment of pollution in the environment. People are ignoring the pollution of environment to fulfill their needs and wants. Every sector is responsible for water pollution today. For example, in science lab not all students throw the chemical in appropriate containers, some of them throw in the sink and industries wastes are thrown directly into water, etc. People are being ignorant about these because they don’t want to think this through the sustainable way, but they just want to use it for now not for the future. People know that we are polluting the water sources, but they don’t want to change for the better. They have the mentality of thinking like; it’s working now that means it is fine. The main thing that people are not realizing is that their habit of polluting the environment is affecting them now. Contaminated water contains bacteria, E. coli, nitrates, pesticides, other harmful chemicals from industrial wastes, etc., which has a severe health risks in an individual (Halton Region). Some of the