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What is environmental health science,
and why is it important?
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Imagine you have a caramel apple. Let’s make
it a peanut-coated caramel apple.
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Now imagine all the ways that apple
might cause harm to someone.
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The peanuts could trigger an allergic reaction.
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Sugar in the caramel could increase your chances
of developing diabetes or heart disease.
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Are the preservatives and other
additives in the coating safe?
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Does the apple contain traces of pesticides?
And were farmers and
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neighbors exposed to these pesticides
as the apple was being grown?
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Then there’s the packaging the apple came in.
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Does it contain harmful chemicals?
And did some of these get into the apple?
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Was anyone exposed to dangerous stuff
while the packaging was being made?
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And for the paranoid:
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did the production of this caramel apple
contribute to global warming
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and as a result increase the level of
health risks around the world?
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On the flip side though, this caramel apple
is dripping with carbohydrates
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and proteins and vitamins, and other nutrients
that your body needs.
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And it’s not just about you –
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people’s livelihoods, and as a result their
health, could well depend on
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you eating that apple.
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So, should you eat the apple?
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Without some way of making sense of the
speculation about the risks and benefits,
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the only thing you’re likely to get is a headache.
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The good news is that there is help at hand –
it’s called environmental health science.
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By understanding the science behind how our
environment affects our health,
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we can take some of the guesswork out of the
decisions we make.
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This is incredibly important if you are
procrastinating over biting into
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an enticing caramel apple.
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But it also has some bearing on one or two
other issues, like how can we develop
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How can we curb the rise lifestyle diseases?
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Or, how can we benefit from the gains of
technological progress without suffering
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the pain of unintended health impacts?
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And as a bonus, the science of what happens
at that intersection between
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our bodies and the environment we live in
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is pretty cool – although I could be
biased on that front.
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Environmental health science, reducing
risk and increasing benefits so
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everyone can lead a healthier life.
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