1. Environmental Health Part 2

2. Learning objectives Common for Part 1 and Part 2
In what ways does our environment affect our health?
What is pollution? What are some forms that it can take? How do these affect our health?
What is biomagnification and bioaccumulation? Why does biomagnification of mercury make eating seafood risky, especially for children and pregnant women?
What are the health risks of lead? How does lead enter our bodies?
Are there health risks associated with plastics?
What indoor pollutants may we be at risk from?
Are there known risks of using cell phones (besides walking into a lightpost on the sidewalk)?
What is ‘global climate change’? What causes it?
What are some of the risks of climate change to our health?

3. Vector-borne diseases (General)
Many vector-borne diseases are tropical but are spreading pole-ward.
Warmer temperatures
Longer growing season
More moisture in some regions
Lyme disease

4. Vector-Borne diseases: West Nile Virus
Higher temperatures:
Accelerate mosquito development
Accelerate virus reproduction rates
Increase egg-laying
Increase biting frequency
Increase mosquito survival

5. Vector-borne diseases: Zika
Predicted distribution of Aedes aegypti
Zika is usually mild, but can cause microcephaly in unborn babies and Guillain Barre syndrome in adults (immune system attacks nervous system)
Climate change may expand range of vector

6. Water-borne illnesses
Runoff from extreme precipitation
Runoff from pig, chicken, and cattle farms
Toxic algae
Bacteria
Failure of water infrastructure
Exposure to chemicals, bacteria, toxins
Millions of gallons of raw sewage spilled into Meramec river, Missouri in 2015

7. Mental health
Exposure to disasters increases people with mental health problems.
Some populations are particularly vulnerable:
Children, elderly, women, economically disadvantaged, those having existing mental health problems, homeless, first responders