Health and environment have not always been considered in the same scope despite the numerous significant effects the environment have on human health. In fact, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, an estimate of the number of deaths caused by environmental factors worldwide is 40% (NIH, 2010). The concept of a connection between environment and disease was first developed by the ancient Greeks around the 5th Century BC (Franco & William, 2000). According to Hippocrates, alterations in human health were highly dependent on factors such as weather, quality of air, and water, prevailing winds, etc. The Greek philosopher further explained that the environmental factors led to the imbalance of blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile, which in turn resulted in the commencement of infectious diseases (Friis, 2012). From about 1500 to the mid-1800s, the occupational health field made several contributions to the history of environmental health. This era saw the exploration of the effect of an unsafe working environment on workers among other environmental health issues. These events gave way to research and preventive measures. The last era of environmental health history dates to post the 1800s. This period saw an increase in awareness of existing threats to public health. The major historical environmental health events that influenced the present-day practice of environmental and public health include linking the cholera outbreak to water contamination by John Snow, linking scrotal cancer to soot from chimneys by Percival Pott, and concerns of disease-causing environments. The concerns about disease-causing environments have since resulted in continuous research into the same subject by environmental health studies. The modern-day practice of public health also deals with the creation of awareness, education on various types of contamination, admission of vaccines, and protection of workers against hazardous working environments. The study of environmental health sciences is critical in understanding the dangers presented by environmental factors on human health.
References
Franco, D. A., & Williams, C. E. (2000). "Airs, waters, places" and other Hippocratic writings: Inferences for control of foodborne and waterborne disease. Journal of Environmental Health , 62 (10), 9.
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Friis, R. (2012). Essentials of environmental health . Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Marshall, L., Weir, E., Abelsohn, A., & Sanborn, M. D. (2002). Identifying and managing adverse environmental health effects: 1. Taking an exposure history. Canadian Medical Association Journal , 166 (8), 1049-1055.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Forum: Killer environment. Environmental Health Perspectives , 1999; 107 :A62–A63.
