1. CH 20: The Environment and Human Health

2. SECTION 1: POLLUTION AND HUMAN HEALTH Illness is caused by pollution two ways- 1) direct contact gives immediate illness (mercury  Lung cancer) 2) pollution may cause illness indirectly by infectous diseasses spread in a polluted environment. (cholera cause by organisms in polluted water)

3. ENVIRONMETAL HEALTH & WORLD HEALTH

4. Toxicology The study of poisonous substances, nature, effects, detection, methods of treatment, and exposure control How dangerous they are depends on who you are, what they are mixed with and how much or the dose The response is the damage done by the toxin- whether there is even an effect or not. Persistent chemicals – remain in the environment for a long time and more people will have contact with them. They will remain in human and animal bodies for long periods of time and can cause great health problems

5. EPA Dose-Response Curve The amount of a toxin as a concentration. Response- the percent of the population that is affected either as deaths or severe illness This is the LEGAL Level set by the EPA of a Toxin

6. EPA – ECOTOX and IRIS Databases with information on toxic levels of various chemicals. ECOTOX covers how toxins harm wildlife and plants IRIS focuses on human health risks s related to pollutants found in the environment.

7. EPIDEMIOLOGY Epidemics- widespread severe diseases caused by viruses or bacteria Epidemiology – the study of the spread of diseases. Collect data from health workers on when and where cases of a disease have occurred. Make maps like the one on the next slide to determine point of cause Try to find disease’s origin and how they can prevent it.

8. Cholera in London- 1854 Dr. John Snow Place where there were many deaths due to cholera. Water pump that was infected.

9. RISK ASSESSMENTS Risk is the probability of a negative outcome Risk assessments are an estimate of the risk posed by a specific substance Conducted by health officials, environmental risk assessors for the EPA and State departments (ours is TCEQ) The assessments can lead to government regulations of substances Where they may be used How they may be used Who can use them.

10. RISK ASSESSMENTS STEPS IN ASSESSMENTS: 1)Information already known about substance is evaluated and compiled 2)Determine how most people are mostly exposed to it (oral, inhaled, etc.) 3)Determining the toxicity of the substance 4)Characterize the risk the substance has to the public

11. POLLUTION FROM… Natural Sources These natural sources can be detrimental if they reach concentration levels above “normal” Radon- from exposed bedrock granite; responsible for nearly 15- 20,000 cancer deaths. Particulates- dust & animal dander; caught in lungs and brochial tubes cause chronic bronchitis and emphazema. Heavy metals – arsenic, cadmium and lead occur naturally in rock and soil. Causes nerve damage Human Sources We release 1,000s of new chemicals into our environment every year and know about the toxicity of 10%. Recent improvements have found that we see a lower level of toxins in US population in 2001 vs 1991 because we know what they do to the body so we are eliminating them/regulating release into the environment. Still have far to go and more risks come up every year.

12. POLLUTION FROM HUMAN SOURCES Burning Fuels and coal power are still a major problem globally despite hard evidence towards its link to lung and heart disease. Pesticides/Herbicides- intended to kill unwanted pests/weeds. Dangerous in large enough doses, the trace amounts on our foods do very little to us. Deaths and cases of nerve damage due to DDT and Organophosphates (“agent orange”) were the people that applied the chemicals. These are still used in developing countries and the ones at risk are children whose organs are still developing and these interfere development.

13. POLLUTION FROM HUMAN SOURCES Industrial Chemicals – low levels in the US now. Not usually found to be toxic unless used consistently over time. Lead poisoning from lead-based paint in old buildings is still a big risk to children- linked to nerve damage and learning disabilities. PCBs polychlorinated bisphenols are oily substances used to insulate electrical transformers and slowly breakdown in the environment. These “breakdowns” are harmful to babies in the womb. Lead to learning disabilities in children, lower IQ. Adults that were exposed as children and have high PCBs in tissue (long living in our tissues) have more memory problems later in life than those without.

14. WASTE DISPOSAL Much of our pollution comes from inadequate disposal of waste Wastewater from cities can carry oil and dozens of toxic chemicals. Waste incineration plants can emit toxins into the air. Mining can release toxins into streams and rivers (mountain top removal- VA rivers blackened by “waste holding pools” bursting)

15. ECOTOXICOLOGY Study of effects of pollutants on organisms Investigate genetics, cellular or reproductive changes in organisms exposed to specific pollutants Hormone mimics are ones that mimic natural hormones in the endocrine system (controls your hormones) – means body has too much now of that hormone Hormone disrupters prevent natural hormones from functioning normally. Low levels of these can prevent the development of fetuses and embryos

16. ASSIGNMENT: ECOTOX/IRIS Websites ASSIGNMENT 5/3/16 due 5/4/16 Go to the ECOTOX and IRIS websites and list 5 pieces of information that would be important to a toxicologist who wants to assess an area that is effected by a toxin.

17. ASSIGNMENT: POLLUTION AND HEALTH QUESTIONS ON GOOGLE CLASSROOM Answer the following questions. Due 5/6 1)Write a short paragraph that explains the relationship between toxicology and epidemiology. 2)In what ways do human activities increase the health risks from natural pollutants? (think about the DUST BOWL). Give at least 3 examples.

18. Section 2: Biological Hazards The Environment’s Role in Disease

19. Infectious Diseases Pathogens - Organisms or viruses that cause diseases (bacteria, fungi, etc.)Spread through: Air, Drinking water, Secondary organism (mosquito) Host organisms in which pathogens live all or part of its life/existence Vectors are organisms that transmit a pathogen or parasite to another organism (mosquito). They spread vector-borne diseases. Cholera is from water infested with human feces that is also the drinking water and is unfiltered/uncleaned Malaria parasite protists that are transported in mosquitos and enter the bloodstream of a person bitten by one.

20. Environmental Change and Diseases As we alter the environment we make it more suitable for pathogens to thrive. EXAMPLE: Parasitic worm infection comes from soil is polluted with pathogens and chemicals - when it erodes it washes away into water supplies or is blown into the air breathed. ATTEMPTS TO PREVENT ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE- pathogens evolve resistance to antibiotics used to kill them. Livestock fed antibiotics leads to E.coli that is resistant to them and gets in the meat and into use- infecting us

21. Environmental Changes and Diseases ATTEMPTS TO PREVENT (ANTIBIOTICS CONT.) We take large amounts too - 1979 only 6% of a strain of pneumonia bacteria is resistant to our bacteria. 10 years later it’s up to 44%. TB in recent years is up in ability to infect because of bacteria resistant to antibiotics. PREVENTING MALARIA Mosquitos evolve resistance to pesticides. Bug nets around beds Spread growth regulators to kill larvae.

22. Environmental Changes and Diseases EMERGING VIRUSES (unknown 100 yrs ago) Spread directly from one person to another Blood-borne or mucus membranes EXAMPLES HIV causes AIDS Dengue Viruses- subtropis/tropics fever Vaccines are the best defense but always have to be redeveloped every year almost. CROSS-SPECIES TRANSFERS: When a pathogen does no damage to a species but lives in it and then crosses over to another species somehow, causing serious epidemic spreads of diseases: As we destroy habitats and limit the number of species in the world, we decrease the control on the organisms that carry the pathogens. EX: the depletion of bats and their habitats has made it so the mosquitos have no one to control their population. Examples include the West Nile Virus and HIV, flu viruses, hantaviruses carried by rodents that can cause hemorrhagic fevers in humans that get it.

23. ASSIGNMENT: Simulating an Epidemic PROCEDURE: ON GOOGLE CLASSROOM: Click on the LINK THE GREAT FLU GAME: Choose a virus to try to stop. Write your steps down that you and your partner take to try to stop it. After the game ends (you run out of money or the virus is stopped - the game will tell you) answer the following: When the epidemic is done write out how you think you did. How many died and how many were infected.

24. ASSIGNMENT: Chapter 20: QUIZ LOOKING AT THE MAP on the next slide, answer the following questions in complete sentences. 1)Interpreting the graphics: Using the map above, determine the risk of contracting Lyme disease in your city or town. 2)In what general region of the US is the risk of contracting Lyme disease greatest? 3)Can you determine the relationship between the risk of contracting Lyme Disease and the concentration of ticks that act as vectors for the disease? Explain 4)What is the difference between the risk of contracting Lyme Disease in rural Massachusetts and the risk of contracting it in rural Nevada? 5)What factors might account for the relatively high risk of contracting Lyme disease in the Northeast?

25. Lyme Disease Risk

26. Assignments For this Chapter 1)ECOTOX/IRIS Website features (5 total) (daily grd) 2)POLLUTION AND HEALTH Questions – 2 of them (daily grd) 3)SUMMARY of an organization and how they are helping to get renewable energy to poorer parts of the world (check list on Google Classroom) 4)SIMULATING AN EPIDEMIC Scores and evaluation of how you did trying to stop it. (lab grade) 5)CHAPTER 20 QUIZ (lab grade)