Environmental Health

About 1 pages (244 words)

Environmental health Summary

Know this topic well? Help others and get FREE products!

Dictionary of Environmental Health

environmental health

A term that is not easy to define since it is used in various parts of the world to describe different activities. The principal variations in definition relate to whether the term is intended to convey a relationship to the health of the environment generally (i.e. without reference to a particular species such as Homo sapiens) or whether it is more precisely aligned to considering the relationship that the environment has with human health. The distinction is probably not as important as some might claim, provided the term is understood in the context within which it is used and there is a recognition that the term can mean different things to different people.

The World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe defines Environmental Health and Environmental Health Services separately as follows:

Environmental health comprises those aspects of human health, including quality of life, that are determined by physical, chemical, biological and psychosocial factors in the environment. It also refers to the theory and practice of assessing, correcting, controlling and preventing those factors in the environment that can potentially affect adversely the health of present and future generations.

Environmental health services are those services which implement environmental health policies through monitoring and control activities. They also carry out that role by promoting the improvement of environmental parameters and by encouraging the use of environmentally friendly and healthy technologies and behaviours. They also have a leading role in developing and suggesting new policy areas.

This is the complete article, containing 244 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).