I’m working on a health & medical discussion question and need the explanation and answer to help me learn.
Describe any environmental health problems that have been important in your own life or within communities where you have lived. Use the internet to search for information about the environmental health problem(s) you described, and provide evidence from a published source.
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Introduction:
Environmental health problems can have significant impacts on our lives and the communities we reside in. In this response, I would like to discuss one such environmental health problem that has been important in my life or within a community where I have lived. Additionally, I will provide evidence from a published source to support the description of this issue.
Answer:
One environmental health problem that has been important in my life is air pollution. Living in a densely populated city, I have witnessed the detrimental effects of air pollution on people’s health. The constant exposure to pollutants released from vehicles, industrial emissions, and other sources has resulted in various respiratory and cardiovascular problems among individuals in our community.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution is responsible for approximately 7 million premature deaths globally each year (WHO, 2021). It can cause or worsen respiratory conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, and pneumonia, as well as cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and strokes.
Furthermore, air pollution has also been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preterm births and low birth weight infants. Pregnant women exposed to high levels of air pollution have a greater risk of developing complications during pregnancy, potentially affecting the health and development of their unborn children.
A published source providing evidence on the impacts of air pollution is a study conducted by Lelieveld et al. (2019). The study concluded that exposure to outdoor and household air pollution contributes significantly to the global burden of disease, resulting in millions of premature deaths and a substantial loss of healthy life years.
In conclusion, air pollution is an environmental health problem that has had significant consequences for my life and communities where I have lived. It poses a substantial risk to respiratory and cardiovascular health, as well as pregnancy outcomes. The evidence provided by the WHO and the study conducted by Lelieveld et al. highlight the severity of this issue and the need for effective strategies and policies to reduce air pollution levels and protect public health.
References:
World Health Organization. (2021). Health topics: Air pollution. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/health-topics/air-pollution
Lelieveld, J., Klingmüller, K., Pozzer, A., Pöschl, U., Fnais, M., da Silva, A., … & Molina, M. J. (2019). Cardiovascular disease burden from ambient air pollution in Europe reassessed using novel hazard ratio functions. European Heart Journal, 40(20), 1590-1596.
