A map of the relationship between work and health that is truly global, both geographically and in its coverage of the impact of work on the health of individuals, families, and societies, has not previously been drawn. Global Inequalities at Work is the first book to fill in the map. Drawing from studies done around the world, it critically examines the many ways in which work is affecting health around the world.

The first section covers the wide range of risks - physical, chemical, and social - to the health of employees in agricultural, industrial, and post-industrial workplaces. Part II provides a detailed analysis of how working conditions can dramatically influence the health and welfare of family members, including children, elderly parents, and the disabled, in both the developing and industrial world.

Part III examines the relationships between work and health at the societal level by focusing on two examples: the ways in which working conditions affect income inequalities and health, and the ways in which working conditions influence gender inequalities and health. Part IV investigates the new challenges to and opportunities for improving the relationship between work and health that are presented by a rapidly globalizing economy.

Global Inequalities at Work addresses these issues at a time when globalization is both markedly changing the impact of work on the health of individuals, families, and societies, and radically revising what can be done about it. Leaders from universities, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations bring to this edited volume expertise from six continents.

This is the first textbook to focus on environmental threats to child health. It will interest professionals and graduate students in public health, paediatrics, environmental health, epidemiology, and toxicology.

The first three chapters provide overviews of key children's environmental health issues as well as the role of environmental epidemiology and risk assessment in child health protection. Overarching themes are the susceptibility of the rapidly developing fetus and infant to environmental toxicants, the importance of modifying factors (e.g. poverty, genetic traits, nutrition), the role of health outcome and exposure monitoring, uncertainties surrounding environmental exposure limits, and the importance of timely intervention.

Later chapters address the health effects of metals, PCBs, dioxins, pesticides, hormonally active agents, radiation, indoor and outdoor air pollution, and water contaminants. In analyzing potential environmental hazards, the book addresses both biologic and epidemiologic evidence, including the likelihood of causal relationships. Among the health outcomes he discusses are developmental, reproductive, and neurobehavioral effects, respiratory disease, cancer, and waterborne infectious diseases. These discussions cover environmental exposure sources/indicators, interventions, and standards, and conclude with a summary of calls for an improved science base to guide public health decisions and protect child health.

This volume presents evidence that infection is cyclical with the seasons, and that this phenomenon is mirrored in cycles of immune function. The authors identify the mechanisms by which immune systems are bolstered to counteract seasonally-recurrent stressors, such as extreme temperature reductions and food shortages. Stress, infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, and human cancers are examined, and the role of hormones such as melatonin and glucocorticoids are considered. This is the first monograph to examine seasonal immune function from an interdisciplinary perspective.

The media constantly bombard us with news of health hazards lurking in our everyday lives. But many of these hazards turn out to have been greatly overblown. According to author and epidemiologist Geoffrey C. Kabat, this hyping of low-level environmental hazards leads to needless anxiety and confusion on the part of the public as to which exposures have important effects on health and which are likely to have minimal or no effect.

Kabat approaches health scares as "social facts" and shows that a variety of factors can contribute to the inflating of a hazard. These include skewed reporting by the media, but also, surprisingly, the actions of researchers who may emphasize certain findings while ignoring others, regulatory and health agencies eager to show their responsiveness to the health concerns of the public, politicians, and advocates with a stake in a particular outcome.

By means of four case studies, Kabat demonstrates how a powerful confluence of interests can lead to overstating or distorting the scientific evidence. He considers the health risks of pollutants such as DDT as a cause of breast cancer, electromagnetic fields from power lines, radon within residences, and secondhand tobacco smoke. Tracing the trajectory of each of these hazards from its initial emergence up to the present, Kabat shows how publication of more rigorous studies and critical assessments ultimately helped put the hazard in perspective.

The papers contained in this volume use economic theory to analyze the key issues of health and environmental risk management, showing how the policy process can be improved through the application of sound principles from economics and the natural sciences.

Radiological Risk Assessment and Environmental Analysis comprehensively explains methods used for estimating risk to people exposed to radioactive materials released to the environment by nuclear facilities or in an emergency such as a nuclear terrorist event. This is the first book that merges the diverse disciplines necessary for estimating where radioactive materials go in the environment and the risk they present to people. It is not only essential to managers and scientists, but is also a teaching text. The chapters are arranged to guide the reader through the risk assessment process, beginning with the source term (where the radioactive material comes from) and ending with the conversion to risk. In addition to presenting mathematical models used in risk assessment, data is included so the reader can perform the calculations. Each chapter also provides example and working problems. The book will be a critical component of the rebirth of nuclear energy now taking place, as well as an essential resource to prepare for and respond to a nuclear emergency.