Environmental Health

Goal

Promote health for all through a healthy environment.


Overview

Humans interact with the environment constantly. These interactions affect quality of life, years of healthy life lived, and health disparities. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines environment, as it relates to health, as "all the physical, chemical, and biological factors external to a person, and all the related behaviors."1 Environmental health consists of preventing or controlling disease, injury, and disability related to the interactions between people and their environment.

The Healthy People 2020 Environmental Health objectives focus on 6 themes, each of which highlights an element of environmental health:

1.    Outdoor air quality
2.    Surface and ground water quality
3.    Toxic substances and hazardous wastes
4.    Homes and communities
5.    Infrastructure and surveillance
6.    Global environmental health

Creating health-promoting environments is complex and relies on continuing research to understand more fully the effects of exposure to environmental hazards on people's health.

Why is Environmental Health Important?

Maintaining a healthy environment is central to increasing quality of life and years of healthy life. Globally, nearly 25 percent of all deaths and the total disease burden can be attributed to environmental factors.1 Environmental factors are diverse and far reaching. They include:

•    Exposure to hazardous substances in the air, water, soil, and food
•    Natural and technological disasters
•    Physical hazards
•    Nutritional deficiencies
•    The built environment

Poor environmental quality has its greatest impact on people whose health status is already at risk. Therefore, environmental health must address the societal and environmental factors that increase the likelihood of exposure and disease.

Additional Resources

HP2020's National Objectives for Environmental Health


References

1.    World Health Organization (WHO). Preventing disease through healthy environments. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO; 2006.