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Introduction to sanitation

Dr. James ScottDivision of Occupational & Environmental

Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health,

University of Toronto

Dr. John Snow

• believed in germ theory of disease

• recognized that cholera outbreaks

in London in 1854 were associated

with community water pumps

• "removed the pump handle"

• seminal event in epidemiology

Sanitation vs.

Environmental Health?

Environmental Health

• Air quality

• Body art safety

• Climate change

• Disaster preparedness and

response

• Food safety

• Hazardous materials

management

• Housing

• Land use planning

• Liquid waste disposal

• Medical waste management

• Noise pollution control

• Occupational health and

industrial hygiene

• Radiological health

• Recreational water illness

prevention

• Safe drinking water

• Solid waste management

• Toxic chemical exposure

• Vector control

Source: Wikipedia

Public Health Sanitation/Environmental Health Microbiology

• Pests

– insects, rodents, etc.

• Drinking water

– pathogen control

• Waste

– sewage collection/ treatment

– trash

• Food

– field crops: pre- & post harvest pest & disease management

– meat: hygienic husbandry, slaughter, processing & preparation

– dairy: pathogen control in milk and eggs

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Antiquity to the 1800s

• sanitary prohibitions are evident throughout the

Abrahamic, Dharmic and Taoic religions

– particularly in relation to quarantine, cleanliness, toileting, food

preparation and consumption

• "sanitary" laws in Europe and England emerged

beginning the the middle ages to address quarantine,

slaughtering practices, vermin, etc.

• similar hygiene laws emerged in North Americal

following European colonisation

The sanitary idea

• coined by Sir Edwin Chadwick

– wrote "The sanitary condition of

the labouring population" (1842)

• heralded sanitary reform

• corresponded to urbanization

– provision of clean water

– removal of sewage

– protection of food supply

• bolstered by the recognition of

germ theory of disease

SOURCE: Wikipedia

Sanitation in North America

• sanitation reform emerged in NA shortly after Britain

– Dr. John Griscom wrote "Sanitary conditions of the laboring

population of New York" in 1844, clearly inspired by Chadwick

• others followed (e.g., Massachusetts & New Orleans)

• sanitation reform was delayed but ultimately bolstered by

the American Civil War (1861–1865)

– hygiene principles had been instilled in military life

– "The elemental facts of hygiene" had become familiar to every

household (Steven Smith, Inaugural President of APHA)

Toronto Medical Officers of Health

• Dr. William Canniff 1883–1890

• Dr. Charles Sheard 1893–1910

• Dr. Charles Hastings 1910–1929

http://www.toronto.ca/archives/public-health/index.htm

Drinking water

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T Rhodes, 2009 T Rhodes, 2009

Waste water

T Rhodes, 2009

Kohler USA

Nicaraguan Aid Mission

Open defecation

City of Toronto Archives

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SOURCE: Toilets - the facts. New Internationalist, August 1, 2008

(http://www.newint.org/features/2008/08/01/toilets-facts/)

F-Diagram

Solid waste

Packaging

LandfillCity of Toronto Archives

IncinerationCity of Toronto Archives

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Recycling

Paper fibre biosolids

Food

City of Toronto Archives

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City of Toronto Archives

Pathogens

PestsSource: http://www.blogto.com/eat_drink/2009/12/cora_pizza_shut_down_due_to_rat_infestation/

Crop losses

Ergot

UN Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs)Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality rate

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

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Goal 7:

Target 7A: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into

country policies and programs; reverse loss of

environmental resources

Target 7B: Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant

reduction in the rate of loss

Target 7C: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without

sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic

sanitation

Target 7D: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the

lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers

SOURCE: Toilets - the facts. New Internationalist, August 1, 2008

(http://www.newint.org/features/2008/08/01/toilets-facts/)