POLLUTION AND HUMAN HEALTH

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POLLUTION AND HUMAN HEALTH
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INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES

1. List pollutants, their sources, and their effects
   on human health.
2. Explain how scientists use toxicology and
   epidemiology.
3. Explain how pollution can come from both natural
   sources and human activities.
4. Describe the relationship between waste,
   pollution, and human health.
5. Explain why the environment is an important
   factor in the spread of disease.
6. Describe two changes to the environment that can
   lead to the spread of infectious diseases.
7. Explain what scientists mean when they say that
   certain viruses are emerging.

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VOCABULARY

• Toxicology 2. dose 3. dose-response curve
  
• 4. epidemiology
• 5. risk assessment 6. particulates
• 7. Pathogen 8. host 9. vector
• 10. Bacteria 11. virus 12. parasite
• 13. WHO 14. pollutant 15. source
• 16. Ingested 17. threshhold dose
• 18. EPA 19. bronchitis 20. heavy metals
• 21. CDC 22. organophosphate
• 23. hormone mimics 24. PCB 25. cholera
• 26. Dysentery 27. malaria 28. cross-species
  transfer
• 29. Hemorrhagic fever 30. dehydration

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POLLUTION PAPER

• Pick a pollutant of soil, air, or water.
• Research the pollutant and provide the following
  information
• Name
• Source
• Effects
• What is being done to correct the problem
• Is this solution work?
• Put this information on a typed 12 font
  double-spaced paper and turn it in by
  _________________________.

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WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?

• Personal experiences
• Coughed from auto exhaust
• Sneezed from too much pepper
• Smelled at bad or irritating odor
• Seen soap on the ground
• Seen oil on water
• Seen smoke in the air
• ALL POLLUTION AIR, SOIL, WATER

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POLLUTION CAUSES ILLNESSES IN TWO WAYS

• DIRECT POISONING- lead, asbestos
• INDIRECT POISONING- cholera, flu, river blindness
• WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION- world-wide reporting
  organization that collects data on health.
• POOR HEALTH REPORT - report on the estimated
  number of days of healthy life lost to death and
  disease.
• Most days lost in overcrowded areas with poor
  sanitation.

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POLLUTANT TYPES AND EFFECTS
Pollutant Source Possible effects
Pesticides Agriculture landscaping Nerve damage, birth defects, cancer
Lead Lead paint gasoline Brain damage, learning problems
Particulate matter Exhaust, burning, smoke Asthma, bronchitis, cancer
Coal dust Coal mining Black lung disease
Bacteria in food Poor sanitation and food handling Gastrointestinal infections
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TOXICOLOGY

• The study of the harmful effects of substances on
  living organisms.
• Toxicity how dangerous is a substance to a
  specific organism.
• (ingest, absorb, inhale)
• Is the concentration in the environment enough to
  be harmful?

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DOSE AND RESPONSE

• DOSE the amount of a harmful substance to which
  an organism is exposed.
• RESPONSE the damage to health from exposure to
  a given dose.
• Response can be effected by the dose and/ or the
  number of exposures.
• Persistent chemical is a substance that breaks
  down slowly in the environment. DDT, arsenic,
  lead, mercury

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DOSE RESPONSE CURVE

• Shows the relative effect of various doses of a
  chemical on an organism.
• Threshold dose- up to threshold no effect, at or
  over threshold leads to worse effects.

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EPIDEMIOLOGY

• Study of diseases that is used to find disease
  origin and to prevent it from spreading.
• Risk Assessment determination of risk to
  exposure of specific pollutants.
• Probability of a negative outcome.

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POLLUTON FROM NATURAL SOURCES

• Usually only a problem when at higher than normal
  levels.
• Example radon gas odorless gas that can come
  from the ground into houses and cause illness
  and death.
• PARTICULATES dust, soot, and particles are most
  common pollutant dust storms, volcanic
  eruptions, wildfires.
• HEAVY METALS metals found in the ground can be
  a pollutant and dangerous when exposed to humans
  in dangerous levels arsenic, cadmium, lead,
  mercury, seleniuim.

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POLLUTION FROM HUMAN ACTIVITIES

1. BURNING FUELS place CO and particulates in the
   air, causing asthma, heart disease, and lung
   disorders.
2. PESTICIDES chemicals designed to kill unwanted
   organisms.
3. INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS exposure to these
   chemicals can effect infant development and
   growth as well as cause adult diseases.
4. WASTE DISPOSAL sewage, solid waste, chemical
   waste, nuclear waste.

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BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS

• Some damage caused to human health is caused by
  organisms carrying disease.
• NEW AIDS, ebola, West Nile virus, hanta virus,
  mad cow disease.
• OLD malaria, tuberculosis, yellow fever,
  hookworm, cholera.
• These are more dangerous NOW, because we have
  altered the environment.

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BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS INFECTOUS DISEASES

• PATHOGENS organisms that cause disease.
• Airborne tuberculosis, whooping cough
• Waterborne cholera, dysentery
• Host borne malaria, yellow fever
• host-an organism in which a pathogen lives
  all or part of its life.

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DISEASE AND EXAMPLES CAUSE ESTIMATED DEATHS/ YEAR (millions)
Total infectious and parasitic diseases Bacteria, parasite, viruses 10.5
Respiratory infections-pneumonia, flu, whooping cough Bacteria, viruses 4.0
AIDS virus 2.9
Diarrheal diseases- cholera, typhus, typhoid, dysentery Bacteria, viruses, parasites 2.1
TB bacteria 1.7
Childhood diseases- Measles, diphtheria virus 1.5
Malaria Parasitic protist 1.1
Tetanus bacteria 0.3
Tropical diseases- trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis Bacteria, viruses, parasites
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WATERBORNE DISEASES

• 75 of infectious diseases are transmitted by
  water.
• When water for human use is from a single source
  (cooking, cleaning, sewage) it becomes a breeding
  ground for pathogens.
• Vectors organisms that transmit disease to
  humans

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VECTORS

• Mosquitoes
• Flies
• Fleas
• Ticks
• Rodents
• Birds
• Mammals

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CHOLERA

• Deadliest pathogens come from drinking water
  polluted with human feces.
• Cholera and dysentery cause body to lose water
  through vomiting and diarrhea.
• A major killer of infants world wide.

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MALARIA

• Waterborne disease female mosquito lays eggs in
  stagnant water and young develop into adults.