Environmental Health Exam #1 Questions with Correct Answers 100% Verified Define Environmental Health - Correct Answer - Environment = complex of physical, chemical, & biotic factors that act upon an organism or ecological community & ultimately determine form & survival
- Environmental Health = addresses all the physical, chemical, & biological factors external to the
- Natural systems that function as a unit
- The Ecological Model: proposes that the determinants of health interact & are interlinked over the
person, & all the related factors impacting behaviors -- encompasses control of environmental factors & aims to prevent disease Is environmental health a global issue? - Correct Answer Yes: pollution crosses boundaries; infectious disease; food safety -- only a small percentage actually tested Define Ecosystem - Correct Answer - "Dynamic complex of plant, animal, & microorganism communities & the nonliving environment interacting as a functional unit"
life course of individuals Define Natural Population Fertility Rate - Correct Answer Keeps populations stable - in the US, about 2.1 births per woman Causes of population growth: increases in fertility, reductions in mortality, migration Understand & estimate the global disease burden attributable to environmental sources - Correct Answer 25-33% What is meant by "sensitive subpopulations"? - Correct Answer Very young, women of childbearing age, very old, immune compromised What factors confer sensitivity to examples of these subpopulations? - Correct Answer - Young: immune systems not well developed, behavioral actions, dependence on others, rapidly growing
- Women of childbearing age: concern with child being carried
- Old: neurodegeneration, immune system doesn't work as well
- Immune compromised: vibrio 1 / 2
What are the characteristics (overall and within each stage) of the demographic transition? The epidemiological transition? - Correct Answer - Demographic Transition has 3 stages: underdeveloped is triangular (have more kids, kids don't survive, people don't live very long) >> transition to less triangular (death rates drop, birth rates stay the same, rapid growth) .. developed (fertility rates change)
- Epidemiological Transition: communicable & infectious diseases remain the leading cause of
- Population: overpopulation in developing nations is leading to the human population possibly
- Poverty: "Living wage" in US refers to someone who cannot support themselves even with
morbidity & mortality in developing countries >> in developed, replaced by chronic, degenerative, noncommunicable diseases What are the "three P's"? How are they interrelated to one another in terms of determinants of global environmental health? - Correct Answer - Pollution: combustion of fossil fuels that release greenhouse gases into atmosphere may cause climate change -- environmental disaster events, alter precipitation/atmospheric wind patterns, change in distribution of insect vectors
exceeding the carrying capacity of the planet --> urban crowding; infectious disease epidemics like H5N1 and H1N1
job/income; linked to population growth; well recognized determinant of adverse health outcomes
- Interrelation: more people --> more pollution --> more poverty
- Fewer controls; interaction does not create healthy environment for many
- Upton Sinclair and "The Jungle"
- Rachel Carson and "Silent Spring"
- Smallpox
- Municipal sewers in London
- Industrial revolution
- Cholera in NY
- Belgian air pollution
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What are examples of significant historical texts that lay the foundation of Environmental Health Science as a discipline? - Correct Answer - Hippocrates: "On Airs, Waters, & Places" proposed that environmental & climatic factors were influential in causing changes in human health
Be familiar with historical & modern examples of environmental health issues - Correct Answer - Bubonic Plague in Europe
-PA air pollution, London Fog '52 Recent hot topics: environmental justice, global warming, hazardous wastes, radioactive hazards, pesticides, herbicides