Both genes and environment have profound effects upon our health. While some environmental factors such as polluted air are high in the public consciousness, there are many other pathways for people's exposure to toxic chemicals, such as through food, water and contaminated land. It is not only chemicals that can affect health; environmental radioactivity, pathogenic organisms and our changing climate also have implications for public health, and all contribute to the global burden of disease, leading to both disability and deaths of millions of people annually across the world. An understanding of the pathways of environmental exposure, and its effects upon health is key to developing regulations and behaviours that reduce or prevent exposure, and the consequent impacts upon health. Covering topics from dietary exposure to chemicals through to the health effects of climate change, this book brings together contributors from around the world to highlight the latest science on the impacts of environmental pollutant exposure upon public health.

This book discusses a major issue in the food contact materials industry: non-intentionally added substances (NIAS), and their impact on PET-bottled water. NIAS are chemical compounds that are present in food contact materials but have not been added for technical reasons during the production process, and consumers are usually unaware of their presence. NIAS can include decomposition or degradation products, impurities in the raw materials, unwanted by-products or contaminants from recycling processes, and they pose a challenge for packaging manufacturers. In Europe, the EU Regulations No. 1935/2004 and 10/2011 set out, respectively, the general principles of safety and inertness for all packaging materials, and rules on the composition of plastic food-contact materials. Among the plastics commonly used for bottled water and other non-alcoholic refreshment beverages, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the most favoured thanks to its chemical and physical stability, its transparency, low weight and good recyclability. Further, very few additives are used for its manufacture. Nonetheless, due to the complex formulations of polymers, processes and storage, NIAS can also be found in PET-bottled water, with potential cancerogenic or toxic effects. This book provides an overview of the European regulation of NIAS in plastic packaging materials, offering insights into their chemical composition in PET-bottled water. Lastly, it provides a useful discussion on NIAS and their toxicity.

Shipping is responsible for transporting 90% of the world's trade. This book provides a comprehensive review of the impact shipping has on the environment. Topics covered include pollutant discharges such as atmospheric emissions, oil, chemical waste, sewage and biocides; as well as non-pollutant impacts including invasive species, wildlife collisions, noise, physical damage, and the environmental effects associated with shipwrecks and shipbreaking. The history of relevant international legislation is also covered. With chapters written by eminent international authors, this book provides a global perspective on the environmental impact of ships, making it a useful reference for advanced students and researchers of environmental science, as well as practitioners of maritime law and policy, and marine business.

As the state of the natural world declines, environmentally related health problems will increasingly shape the landscape of human health and disease. The confluence of several global trends - rapid population growth combined with an even more dramatic increase in natural resource consumption - drives ecological deterioration, and this in turn poses serious challenges to health. U.S. medicine and bioethics have too long ignored the relevance of these global trends to health care. This groundbreaking work is a call to attention. It brings bioethics and health care squarely into the 21st century.

The book shows how environmental decline relates to human health and to health care practices in the U.S. and other industrialized countries. It outlines the environmental trends that will strongly affect health, and challenges us to see the connections between ways of practicing medicine and the very envrionmental problems that damage ecosystems and make people sick. In addition to philosophical analysis of the converging values of bioethics and environmental ethics, the book offers case studies as well as a number of practical suggestions for moving health care toward sustainability. The exploration of a hypothetical Green Health Center, in particular, offers an intellectual and moral framework for talking about environmental values in health care. Engaging and challenging, this book will appeal not only to health professionals and philosophers, but to anyone concerned about how to preserve and promote both human health and the health of the natural world.

This book reviews the consequences of improper disposal of greywater into the environment and the most appropriate treatment technologies for developing countries, focusing on the potential to reuse greywater as a production medium for biomass and bio-products. It also describes the quantities and qualitative characteristics, as well as the common practice of discharging greywater in developing countries, and highlights the associated health risks. Further, it compares the management of greywater in developed and developing countries and explores the advantages and disadvantages of various treatment technologies, discussing the reuse of greywater for irrigation purposes in arid and sub-arid countries, especially in the Middle East. The book shows the benefits of greywater and introduces low-cost technologies based on the available local facilities can be used to discharge, reuse, and recycle it.

The international legal framework for valuing the carbon stored in forests, known as 'Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation' (REDD+), will have a major impact on indigenous peoples and forest communities. The REDD+ regime contains many assumptions about the identity, tenure and rights of indigenous and local communities who inhabit, use or claim rights to forested lands. The authors bring together expert analysis of public international law, climate change treaties, property law, human rights and indigenous customary land tenure to provide a systemic account of the laws governing forest carbon sequestration and their interaction. Their work covers recent developments in climate change law, including the Agreement from the Conference of the Parties in Paris that came into force in 2016. The Impact of Climate Change Mitigation on Indigenous and Forest Communities is a rich and much-needed contribution to contemporary understanding of this topic.

This Brief is devoted to clean drinking water, which is (one of) the most important asset(s) in the food and beverage industry. In the present time of increasing water scarcity in many areas of the world, supply of clean water especially in the production and packaging chain of foods and beverages, is a crucial issue. This Brief hence outlines why functioning purification and reuse systems for wastewater are becoming more and more interesting and promising technologies in solving the challenge. Readers find in this Brief an introduction to different innovative treatment methodologies. The authors discuss key parameters (such as the water volume to be treated, types and chemical and physico-chemical characteristics of pollutants, but also the intended use of the recycled water) and present various methodologies, such as separation or concentration systems, centrifugation, evaporation, filtration, flotation, gravity separation, membrane techniques, aerobic and anaerobic biological treatments, as well as combined or hybrid systems. Selected specific methods are presented in detail, specifically a new adsorption method for the removal of metal ions.

This Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series book presents methods specifically adapted and developed for the study of distinct features of L. pneumophila. Includes materials lists, reproducible protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and pitfalls.

The result of a rigorous two-year investigation that took Robin across three continents, Our Daily Poison documents the many ways in which we encounter a shocking array of chemicals in our everyday lives - from the pesticides that blanket our crops to the additives and plastics that contaminate our food - and their effects on our bodies over time. Gathering as evidence scientific studies, testimonies of international regulatory agencies and interviews with farm workers suffering from acute chronic poisoning, Robin makes a compelling case for outrage and action.

In October 2010, nine months after the massive earthquake that devastated Haiti, a second disaster began to unfold-soon to become the world's largest cholera epidemic in modern times. In a country that had never before reported cholera, the epidemic mysteriously and simultaneously appeared in river communities of central Haiti, eventually triggering nearly 800,000 cases and 9,000 deaths. What had caused the first cases of cholera in Haiti in recorded history? Who or what was the deadly agent of origin? Why did it explode in the agricultural-rich delta of the Artibonite River? When answers were few, rumors spread, causing social and political consequences of their own. Wanting insight, the Haitian government and French embassy requested epidemiological assistance from France. A few weeks into the epidemic, physician and infectious disease specialist Renaud Piarroux arrived in Haiti.In Deadly River, Ralph R. Frerichs tells the story of the epidemic-of a French disease detective determined to trace its origins so that he could help contain the spread and possibly eliminate the disease-and the political intrigue that has made that effort so difficult. The story involves political maneuvering by powerful organizations such as the United Nations and its peacekeeping troops in Haiti, as well as by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Frerichs explores a quest for scientific truth and dissects a scientific disagreement involving world-renowned cholera experts who find themselves embroiled in intellectual and political turmoil in a poverty-stricken country.Frerichs's narrative highlights how the world's wealthy nations, nongovernmental agencies, and international institutions respond when their interests clash with the needs of the world's most vulnerable people. The story poses big social questions and offers insights not only on how to eliminate cholera in Haiti but also how nations, NGOs, and international organizations such as the UN and CDC deal with catastrophic infectious disease epidemics.

In this book, major issues surrounding importance of water and energy for food security in the United States and India are described representing two extremes in yield, irrigation efficiency, and automation. The farming systems in these two countries face different risks in terms of climatic shifts and systems' resiliency to handle the shocks. One may have comparative advantage over the other, but both are susceptible. Innovations in irrigation for food and fuel production, improvements in nitrogen and water use efficiency, and rural sociological issues are discussed here. We also look into some of the unintended consequences of high productivity agriculture in terms of surface and ground water quality and impacts on ecosystem services. Finally, we present ways to move forward to meet the food demands in the next half-century in both countries. As the current world population of 7 billion is expected to reach or exceed 10 billion in the next 40 years, there will be significant additional demand for food. A rising middle class and its preference for a meat-based diet also increases the demand for animal feed. This additional food and feed production needs special considerations in water and energy management besides the development of appropriate crop hybrids to withstand future climatic shifts and other environmental factors. A resilient agricultural landscapes will also be needed to withstand climatic fluctuations, disease pressures, etc. While the upper and many middle income countries have made significant improvements in crop yield due to pressurized irrigation and automation in farming systems, the lower income countries are struggling with yield enhancements due to such limitations. The rise in population is expected to be more in Sub-Sharan Africa and Middle East (Low to middle-income countries) where the crop yields are expected to be low.

This book focuses on environmental engineering, and on wastewater treatment and reuse in particular, which is a vital aspect for countries and regions suffering from water shortages. It introduces a new water cycle management concept for designing water systems that mimic the hydrological cycle, where reclaimed water is produced, stored/regulated, supplied and used in a semi-natural manner so that its self-purification capacity and system efficiency can be maximized. To ensure safe water throughout the cycle, emphasis is placed on the control of ecological and pathogenic risks using a series of quality indices associated with bioassays and molecular biological analyses, as well as risk assessments focusing on protecting the environment and human health. Together with theoretical and technological discussions, a real case of a district water system for maximizing water circulation and reuse by means of a sophisticated water cycle is presented. This book introduces readers to essential new concepts and practices and illustrates the future perspectives offered by a new paradigm for design and safety control in the context of wastewater reuse systems.

Environmental public health is an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the direct impact of exposure to environmental hazards on the public's health and wellbeing. Assessing and addressing the risks of chemical hazards requires a sound knowledge of toxicology, environmental epidemiology, environmental science, health risk assessment, and public health principles. Essentials of Environmental Public Health Science provides practical guidance on the technical aspects of environmental and public health investigations. Written by leaders in the field, the authors provide practical, expert advice on a range of topics from key concepts and framework for investigation to contaminated land and waste management. Case studies are used to aid learning and understand of the topics discussed. Produced by Public Health England, Essentials of Environmental Public Health Science offers a comprehensive and structured approach to understanding environmental public health issues and will be essential reading for all students and professionals in environmental public health.

First published in 1914, this volume was written in response to rising concerns regarding the role of the house-fly in the dissemination of infectious diseases, and its relationship to unhygienic conditions. Given the role played by the house-fly in these circumstances, it was decided that a thorough study of its entomological and medical significance was required. The volume was not intended as a popular treatise on the subject, this role had already been fulfilled by the author's House-flies and How they Spread Disease. Instead, it was designed for professionals in entomology and public health, together with students developing a specific interest in these areas. Numerous detailed illustrations of house-fly anatomy are included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in entomological studies and the history of public health.

Confronting climate change is now understood as a problem of 'decarbonising' the global economy: ending our dependence on carbon-based fossil fuels. This book explores whether such a transformation is underway, how it might be accelerated, and the complex politics of this process. Given the dominance of global capitalism and free-market ideologies, decarbonisation is dependent on creating carbon markets and engaging powerful actors in the world of business and finance. Climate Capitalism assesses the huge political dilemmas this poses, and the need to challenge the entrenched power of many corporations, the culture of energy use, and global inequalities in energy consumption. Climate Capitalism is essential reading for anyone wanting to better understand the challenge we face. It will also inform a range of student courses in environmental studies, development studies, international relations, and business programmes.

Many reproductive and developmental health problems are caused by exposure to chemicals that are widely dispersed in our environment. These problems include infertility, miscarriage, poor pregnancy outcomes, abnormal fetal development, early puberty, endometriosis, and diseases and cancers of reproductive organs. The compelling nature of the collective science has resulted in recognition of a new field of environmental reproductive health. Focusing on exposures to environmental contaminants, particularly during critical periods in development and their potential effects on all aspects of future reproductive life-course, this book provides the first comprehensive source of information bringing together the arguments that are spread out among various scientific disciplines in environmental health, clinical and public health fields. It provides a review of the science in key areas of the relationship between environmental contaminants and reproductive health outcomes, and recommendations on efforts toward prevention in clinical care and public policy.

Global Public Health: A New Era is a comprehensive account of the international state of public health, including an agenda for improving the practice of the discipline across the world. It addresses three major issues, presented in distinct sections: the changing global context for public health; the state of public health theory and practice in both developed and developing countries, and strategies for strengthening the practice of public health in the twenty-first century.
Part One surveys the complex old and new challenges facing public health practitioners, and then summarizes the state of health globally using new data based on measures of the Global Burden of Disease developed by the World Health Organization, and other groups, to better describe population health states and trends.
Part Two presents the first detailed review of the global state of public health. It analyzes the public health situation in all regions of the world. Six chapters cover Europe, North and Latin America, and Australia and New Zealand, including a new chapter focusing on the UK. Three chapters cover China, India, and Sub-Saharan Africa. The lessons from these chapters are surprisingly similar: the challenges are gerat; the public health workforce and infrastructure have long been neglected, and much needs to be done to reinvigorate the practice of public health.
The third section covers several cross-cutting themes, including the developing field of international public health ethics and the central and neglected role of the public in strengthening the practice of public health. The final chapter summarizes the major themes of the book, and explores the opportunities for building the capacity of the public health workforce to respond to the major global health needs. Despite the enormity of the challenges facing public health practitioners, especially in low and middle income countries, the tone adpoted in the final section of the book is relatively optimistic. The editors are convinced that a reinvigorated public health practice will contribute substantially to improving the public health situation, especially for the most disadvantaged populations, whether in poor or wealthy countries.

Amphibians are the extant descendants of the first vertebrate class to successfully colonize terrestrial environments; hence they occupy a unique position between fish and reptiles. Amphibian skin provides essentially no resistance to evaporative water loss, and consequently daily water turnover rates are an order of magnitude greater than in other terrestrial vertebrate groups. This has led to a suite of physiological, morphological and behavioural adaptations that have allowed a successful terrestrial existence in spite of this apparently spendthrift water retention strategy. Ecological and Environmental Physiology of Amphibians provides a synthesis of current research on the comparative physiology of amphibians with a particular emphasis on water balance. It adopts a strong environmental perspective and includes a wealth of information on ecology, phylogeny and development. As with other books in the Ecological and Environmental Physiology Series, the emphasis in this book is on the unique physiological characteristics of the amphibians, although the latest experimental techniques and future research directions are also considered. This accessible text is suitable for both graduate students and researchers in the fields of amphibian comparative physiology and physiological ecology, including specialist courses in amphibian ecology. It will also be of value and use to the many professional herpetologists requiring a concise overview of the topic.

The first edition of The Struggle for Health was published in 1985 and was widely acclaimed by those seeking a broader and deeper political understanding of ill health, beyond the medical model of care. It was a revolutionary book, charting new ways of understanding and tackling the causes of ill health, and suggesting strategies to enable health for all. This second edition includes health problems that have emerged since the 1980s, notably HIV/AIDs, COVID-19, and other epidemics, and the increase in non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It examines some of the health impacts of globalization, specifically on the food and pharmaceutical value chains, and considers the consequences of climate change on the health of populations. However, this edition does not depart from the core message of the original book: Health for All can only be achieved through a more equitable distribution of wealth, resources, and power. The Struggle for Health, Second Edition, utilises the same approach as the first, with a narrative that begins with diseases, then describes historical trends and the limitation of the medical (and commercial) model of care. At each juncture, it asks the question 'WHY' - why do people, especially children, still die in large numbers throughout the world, from wholly preventable diseases? Why is it that appropriate provision for health care is not available to every individual in the world? What changes can be made to improve this situation? Most importantly, this edition presents a strengthened call to action, building upon the original work and advocating for systemic changes to ensure justice and equity in health for all.

This book is dedicated to the multifaceted description of the crucial issue of arsenic contamination and its effect on human health. From soil to man, this book describes the several steps from arsenic speciation in rocks, water and environment in general, through the contamination of rice-based foods in infants diet, up to the devastating effects on human health. The axis soil-food-health raises more issues than ever imagined and the book is aimed at linking all the interdisciplinary aspects involved while giving a complementary interpretation of the phenomenon. Medical geology has recently emerged as a new discipline trying to explain the events with an interdisciplinary approach and to solve the related problems for human health. Far from being exhaustive, this book is aimed at briefly addressing the 'arsenic issue' and concerns for human health while presenting the different techniques employed for arsenic removal, from natural or polymeric adsorbents to biological filtration.

Cities are playing an ever more important role in the mitigation and adaption to climate change. This book examines the politics shaping whether, how and to what extent cities engage in global climate governance. By studying the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, and drawing on scholarship from international relations, social movements, global governance and field theory, the book introduces a theory of global urban governance fields. This theory links observed increases in city engagement and coordination to the convergence of C40 cities around particular ways of understanding and enforcing climate governance. The collective capacity of cities to produce effective and socially equitable global climate governance is also analysed. Highlighting the constraints facing city networks and the potential pitfalls associated with a city-driven global response, this assessment of the transformative potential of cities will be of great interest to researchers, graduate students and policymakers in global environmental politics and policy.

This book examines mortality rates for African-Americans in selected U.S. urban areas in relation to both social class and the degree of black-white residential segregation. Mortality rates for African-American infants and young adults are shown to be especially high in certain highly-segregated areas. The findings will foster the development of the "epidemiology of American apartheid", a new field of research that has relevance to social and health policy. The intended audience includes sociologists (especially medical sociologists) who are likely to be familiar with segregation but not with its potential relevance to the health of African-Americans. Epidemiologists have recently turned to the study of racism and health, but epidemiologic studies have not dealt specifically with black-white segregation and health. Psychologists interested in racism are important potential collaborators with sociologists and epidemiologists in studies of the epidemiology of racial difference in health. Readers working in social policy and health policy areas, including urban issues, should also find relevant material. This work fits within the framework of Swedish economist Gunnar Myrdal's thesis that the American creed of equality of opportunity remains unfulfilled.

ndoor Air Pollution addresses the problems arising from pollutants that all too commonly contaminate the indoor environment, including biological sources such as bacteria, fungi and molds, common combustion products, radon and other sources of radiation, solvents used in industry and the home, asbestos and dust pollution. The aim is to provide a balanced account of the health risks associated with these major pollutants and to quantify the scale of the problem on a pollution-by-pollution basis. Each chapter covers exposure levels, sources of pollution, and routes of uptake, health effects, control measures, and regulatory guidelines.

The increase in environmentally induced diseases and the loosening of regulation and safety measures have inspired a massive challenge to established ways of looking at health and the environment. Communities with disease clusters, women facing a growing breast cancer incidence rate, and people of color concerned about the asthma epidemic have become critical of biomedical models that emphasize the role of genetic makeup and individual lifestyle practices. Likewise, scientists have lost patience with their colleagues' and government's failure to adequately address environmental health issues and to safeguard research from corporate manipulation.

Focusing specifically on breast cancer, asthma, and Gulf War-related health conditions-"contested illnesses" that have generated intense debate in the medical and political communities-Phil Brown shows how these concerns have launched an environmental health movement that has revolutionized scientific thinking and policy. Before the last three decades of widespread activism regarding toxic exposures, people had little opportunity to get information. Few sympathetic professionals were available, the scientific knowledge base was weak, government agencies were largely unprepared, laypeople were not considered bearers of useful knowledge, and ordinary people lacked their own resources for discovery and action.

Brown argues that organized social movements are crucial in recognizing and acting to combat environmental diseases. His book draws on environmental and medical sociology, environmental justice, environmental health science, and social movement studies to show how citizen-science alliances have fought to overturn dominant epidemiological paradigms. His probing look at the ways scientific findings are made available to the public and the changing nature of policy offers a new perspective on health and the environment and the relationship among people, knowledge, power, and authority.