Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
reduced cigarette smoking). Other preventable illnesses are due to infectious
diseases such as influenza and pneumonia. There seems to be a consensus
that further increase in life expectancy in developed countries is dependent
primarily on the extent to which personal behavior will be changed — obesity,
poor nutrition, lack of exercise, smoking, reduction of harm related to
alcohol and drug consumption, stress — and environmental pollutants will be
controlled — industrial and auto emissions, chemical discharges into our air
and waters, use of pesticides and fertilizers, interaction of harmless substances
forming hazardous compounds
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— together with a reduction of accidental and
violent deaths and an improvement in living and working conditions.
It must also be recognized that although life expectancy is a measure of health
progress, it does not measure the morbidity levels and the quality of life.
FRAMEWORK FOR DISEASE TRANSMISSION
Sound factual information upon which to base programs for the prevention and
control of morbidity and mortality is sometimes not adequate or available. Mul-
tiple causes of disease and delayed effects compound the uncertainties. Broadly
speaking, interventions can be targeted at the individual level, the environment,
and the infectious agent. Nevertheless, it is prudent to apply and update known
health education measures, including screening for early disease detection and
treatment, with the full knowledge of their limitations and without raising unrea-
sonable expectations of the public. The environmental preventive measures for
disease control are elaborated on here, but the importance of the other measures
is not to be minimized.
The goal of environmental health programs is not only the prevention of dis-
ease, disability, and premature death but also the maintenance of an environment
that is suited to humanity's efficient performance and the preservation of comfort
and enjoyment of living today and in the future. The goal is the prevention of not
only communicable diseases but also the noncommunicable diseases, the chronic
and acute illnesses, and the hazards to life and health. This requires better iden-
tification and control of the contributing environmental factors in the air, water,
and food at the home and the place of work and recreation, as well as changes in
personal behavior and reduced individual assumption of risk. Lacking complete
information, the best possible standards based on the available knowledge must
be applied for the public good. Standards adoption and regulatory effort should
be based on the risk that society or the individual is willing to assume and pay
for, taking into consideration other risk factors and needs. At the same time, we
must be conscious of limiting disruption to lifestyle and economic activity that
could arise as unintended consequences of enacting disease control program. The
more onerous a prevention program is, the less likely it is the many people will
follow it.
The traditional epidemiologic triangle for infectious diseases has at its vertices
three separate factors that influence disease transmission: host, environment, and
