HISTORICAL    PERSPECTIVES  

 OF    ENVIRONMENTAL  

 HEALTH  

2

Prehistoric and Ancient Civilization Religious laws, such as Moses’ Law, writings in the Old and New Testaments and laws in the Koran, played major roles in the lives of ancient peoples. These laws mainly concentrated on the provision of personal hygiene. Dead bodies and contaminated surfaces were known to be unclean or unhygienic to touch. The importance of burying human faeces was also strongly indicated. The importance of body cleanliness before praying was a motive for maintaining the integrity of hygiene with a religious practice.

3 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

The importance of hygiene and sanitation flourished at the times of Greek, Roman and Egyptian civilisation. The use of private and public baths and latrines, cleaning of the body, shaving the head for protection from lice infestation, and the construction of water pipelines and sewage ditches were widely observed. The transmission of schistosomiasis (bilharzia) was linked to bathing and swimming in the Nile River. In these civilisations, the focus was on personal hygiene (hygiene) and human waste management (sanitation).

4

Modern Times A number of discoveries in the 19th century were important

events for the understanding of communicable diseases. For example, the link between contaminated water and cholera was discovered by John Snow in 1854; The importance of hygienic handwashing before attending delivery of a baby was noted by Dr. Semmelweis in 1845; and the discovery that microorganisms (very small organisms only visible under a microscope) cause disease was made by Louis Pasteur around this time.

5 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Industrial Revolution (1800) n  Industrial  pollu.on  resul.ng  from  technology  based  on  iron  and  steel  

n Widespread  pollu.on  n  Local  concentra.on  of  pollu.on  at  factory  site  n  UK  –  first  country  to  suffer  industrial  pollu.on;    n  Principal  health  concerns:  communicable  diseases  

6 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

THE  FIRST  ENVIRONMENTAL  CRISIS  n  Europe;  19th  century    

n  Public  health  problems:  associated  with  adulterated  food  and  water  contamina.on  

 

Characteriza*on:  1.  No  public  health  science  to  address  chemical  

pollu.on    although  there  was  an  understanding  of  health  effects  of  toxic  chemical  exposures  

7

2.  Applied  chemistry  and  chemical  engineering  (1700s  &  early  1800s)  introduced  pollu.on-­‐genera.ng  processes  e.g.  produc.on  of  sulphuric  acid,  soap,  bleach,  and  soda  ash  (sodium  carbonate)  

 

3.      Organic  chemistry:  synthe.c  chemicals  (mostly  biodegradable)  

 

4.      Advanced  Engineering  and  Chemistry  (before  and  during  WW  II):  synthe.c  rubber,  solvents,  plas.cs  and  pes.cides  difficult  to  breakdown  by  natural  process  and  as  a  result  persisted  in  the  environment.  

8 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Government Initiative: n Public Health Act (1848);

environmental problems – water and health hazards related to infectious diseases

9 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

THE  2ND  WAVE  OF  ENVIRONMENTAL  CONCERN  n  mid  to  late  20th  century    

Characteriza;on:  n  Dominated  by  2  broad  movements  together  called  the  Environmental  or  Ecology  Movement  

 

First  Movement  n  Priori.es:  conserva.on  of  natural  resources  and  preserva.on  of  special  sites  of  natural  or  historic  significance  

 

n  Mid  20th  achievement:  designa.on  of  areas  for  parks,  wilderness  areas,  and  other  protected  lands.  

10 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Second  Movement:  n  Focus:    substances  toxic  to  humans  or  damaging  to  

the  environment  (but  le\  out  carbon  dioxide  &  other  rela.vely  nontoxic  chemicals  such  as  CFC)  

 n  Ini.a.ves:  1.  Pure  food  and  drug  movement  adopted  as  their  

central  issue  environmental  pollutants    2.  Public  movements  and  UN  Conference  on  the  

Human  Environment  (1972):  legisla.ons  to  curb  industrial  pollu.on  by  limi.ng  emissions  or  effluents  of  pollu.on  

11 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

THIRD  WAVE  OF  ENVIRONMENTAL  CONCERN  n  1980s  to  1990s  Characteriza*on:  n  Accelerated  rate  of  ecomomic  development  combined  with  substan.al  increase  in  world  popula.on  

 

n  1987:  sustainable  development  as  focus  of  environmental  planning  and  economic  development  

 

n  New  environmental  concerns:  1.  Chemicals  that  disrupt  the  endoctrine  system  and  are  persistent  in  the  environment  

2.    Global  environmental  change