Page 160 - Health, Population and Environment Education 9

7.1 Concept of Environmental Health

The word ‘environment’ has been derived from two
French words: ‘environ’ and ‘ment’. The meaning of
‘environ’ in French is wind circuit and ‘ment’ is action
or result. The literal meaning of environment is the
whole area covered with air.
Environment is everything surrounding us. It includes
physical, biological and socio- cultural components.
Physical components include abiotic factors and Fig: 1
biological components include biotic factors, Socio- Environment
cultural components include social traditions, social norms and values, cultural activities,
functions, ceremonies, religious practices, performances, etc. There is presence of of
air, water, soil, minerals, hills, mountains, rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, cultivable land,
watersheds, wetlands, forests, plants, trees, animals, birds, insects, reptiles, fishes,
amphibians and micro- organisms in our surroundings. Air water, soil, minerals, etc. are
the abiotic factors. Similarly, plants, animals, birds, insects, micro-organisms, etc. are the
biotic factors.
All the physical, biological and socio-cultural components in environment are inter-
related among one other. Human beings are totally dependent on environment for their
proper growth, development and survival. There is no existence of our life without air,
water, soil, minerals, plants, animals, birds, etc. in the environment. There is very close
relationship between our health and the factors in environment. The purity of all those
factors maintains our health and improves our health. Which is called environmental
health.
According to WHO, Environment health is those aspects of human health and disease
that are determined by factors in the environment.
Due to rapid population growth, there is serious impact on environment and environmental
health. There has been massive increase of deforestation, unmanaged urbanization and
industrialization with increase of population. Due to unmanaged urbanization, there is
problem of solid waste management. The wastes are thrown in water sources as well
as here and there in the surroundings. The drainage and sewage from settlement areas
are mixed directly into water resources. As a result, there is increase of water and land
pollution. Due to unmanaged industrialization, intense smoke and dust produced from
industries cause air pollution. The solid and liquid wastes produced from industries are
randomly thrown here and there and mixed into water resources which create land and
water pollution. People randomly and excessively utilize chemical fertilizers, insecticides
and pesticides on land in order to grow more food. This accelerates land pollution.
Environmental health is seriously affected by pollution in air, water and land. Increase
of pollution causes spreading of several diseases to people. Similarly, the environmental
factors like heat, cold, rain, change of seasons, etc. also have direct impact on human
health.

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