Environmental Change and How It Can Influence Your Health

Our Earth is the home of an array of species. But, we humans, are turning it into a “Trash Can”. There is so much man-made pollution all around damaging to Water, Land, and Atmosphere as well as to the various elements of the Environment that the nightmare ahead is edgy to shake us all. Our atmosphere is heavily polluted on a global and regional scale. Ozone, the protective shield, is thinning twice fast as scientists thought a few years back. The significant increase in greenhouse gases is responsible for the devastating change in the weather patterns, leading to Global Warming, causing cancerous and tropical diseases. 

The impact of environmental degradation on human health is extremely varied and complex with severity and clinical significance. For instance, Environmental change can cause psychological problems resulting from noise to death caused by cancer exposed to air pollution.

Studies have found that the large environmental share of health problems in poor and developing countries, especially in non-OECD countries are primarily due to food, housing, health care, and drinking water. In contrast, Environmental determinants of human health in Developed countries (OECD countries) are related to more exposure to air pollutants through emission from industries and chemicals induced from antifouling paints on marine vessels, pesticides in agriculture, waste incineration, and also leakage from waste disposal sites.

Let’s skim through the devastating human health effects caused by environmental changes-

Respiratory- Cardiovascular Diseases and Air Pollution:

The health effects of air pollution are serious than ever we thought. It is estimated that one out of three people dies from stroke, lung cancer and heart disease are due to air pollution. This is having an equivalent effect to that of smoking tobacco, and much higher than, say, the effects of eating too much salt. WHO says, “Air pollution is hard to escape, no matter how rich an area you live in. It is all around us. Microscopic pollutants in the air can slip past our body’s defenses, penetrating deep into our respiratory and circulatory system, damaging our lungs, heart, and brain”. 

Ground-level ozone, a key component of smog, is associated with many health problems such as diminished lung functions, increased hospital admissions, and emergency room visits for asthma, and increases in premature death.

Dr. Maria Neira, WHO Director of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health says, “The health burden of polluting energy sources is now so high, that moving to cleaner and more sustainable choices for energy supply, transport, and food systems effectively pays for itself,” 

Allergens and Pollen:

More People are suffering from more health issues from pollen and other allergens as climate change is potentially increasing pollen concentrations and longer pollen seasons. Now the question is how pollen can cause health problems? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Pollen exposure can trigger numerous allergic reactions like symptoms of hay fever, also known as allergic rhinitis which occurs when allergens like pollen enter your body and your immune system mistakenly identifies them as a threat. CDC also says that pollens are responsible for “Allergic Conjunctivitis”. Symptoms of allergic conjunctivitis include red, watery, or itchy eyes. It’s an absolute matter of shock that, medical costs linked with pollen exceed $3 billion each year with approximately half of those costs being linked to prescribed medicine and this can cause a rise of episodes in individual’s asthma and shrinking productive work and school days.

Heatstroke and Temperature Extreme:

Extreme summer heat is increasing at an alarming rate all over the world and it is projected by scientists that heat events will be more frequent and intense in the upcoming decades. However, temperature extremes can also worsen chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, cerebrovascular disease, and diabetes-related conditions. Prolonged exposure to high temperatures is associated with increased hospital admissions for cardiovascular, kidney, and respiratory disorders. In addition to discomfort and fatigue, high temperatures can cause heat-related illnesses: heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heatstroke.

Vector-borne diseases and Extreme Rainfall, Flood, Drought:

Too much rain at one time can lead to flooding. Living organisms, including crops, can drown in floodwaters. National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) mentioned that extreme precipitation events, increasing the amount of regional precipitation and flooding, have heightened the risk and concern over the transmission of various infectious diseases which may affect their distribution and chances of becoming epidemics. 

Furthermore, during periods of heavy precipitation, local water quality can be seriously compromised via diverse means, a significant one being the cross-contamination of water sources due to infiltration and inflow between sewage and water pipes. Contaminated water sources for drinking and recreation, due mostly to flooding after extreme precipitation, have been associated with water-borne diseases outbreaks and epidemics. Extreme precipitation also can leave stagnant water that creates optimal breeding grounds and growth environments for vectors and hosts, including mosquitoes, mites, rodents, and insects.

Earlier studies have indicated the impact of precipitation on mosquito-borne, tick-borne, and rodent-borne diseases such as dengue fever, West Nile fever, Japanese encephalitis, Chikungunya fever, malaria, Lyme borreliosis, and Hantavirus infection, especially when there was the concurrent presence of high temperatures

Drought and drought health impacts are two sides of the same coin. It does not always offer the same immediate and dramatic visuals as Cyclone/Flood, but it still has a huge price tag as National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) says. Drought conditions rise the environmental exposure to a broad set of health hazards such as “Vally Fever” which is a fungal Pathogen.

Mental Health-Stress related Disorders and Natural Calamities:

Surprisingly, extreme weather events associated with environmental changes are causing mental health problems that are increasing, both among people with no history of mental illness and those who are at risk known as a phenomenon called “Common reactions to abnormal events”. Many research has articulated high levels of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder among people affected by Cyclone, flood, heat waves and some evidence suggests wildfire have similar effects. Suicide rates are rising with high temperatures.

Other risk factors for hospitalization and deaths during heat waves are called “Dementia” and “Schizophrenia”. 

Health disaster and Plastic Pollution: 

Plastic is everywhere. It's in bowls, wraps, and a host of bottles and bags used to store foods and beverages even when you are walking in a park or resting on a sofa. Though we cannot deny that plastics have remarkably helped us in our daily lives as well as technological advancements, in recent years more people have been asking whether exposing our food (and ourselves) to all of this plastic is safe.

Harvard and other studies have found that certain chemicals in the plastic can leach out of the plastic and into the food and beverages we eat. Some of these chemicals have been linked to health problems such as metabolic disorders (including obesity) and reduced fertility. This leaching can occur even faster and to a greater degree when plastic is exposed to heat. This means you might be getting an even higher dose of potentially harmful chemicals simply by microwaving your leftovers in a plastic container.

However, to conclude. environmental pollutants have numerous adverse health effects from early life some of the most important harmful effects are perinatal disorders, infant mortality, respiratory disorders, allergy, malignancies, cardiovascular disorders, increase in stress oxidative, endothelial dysfunction, mental disorders, and various other harmful effects as various studies have found. So, it is high time to take and control measures to prevent pollution. Otherwise, it will be too late to control and it will threaten the lives of all species.

Nishat Tasnim

Department of Environmental Science and Technology

Jessore University of Science & Technology