8 Environmental Factors Affecting Human Health
Everything around you, from the air you breathe to the roads you walk, has an impact on your health. Both human activities and natural events have brought huge changes in the environment over time. Environment and health professionals are examining people’s interaction with their outer environment to find the ways these interactions will affect human fitness and wellness, vulnerability to various diseases, etc.
Many environmental problems can directly affect physical health and wellness. Here are the top 8 factors that will impede the health of people.
- Chemical Safety
Many chemicals can affect human health in various ways. Extreme exposure to foreign substances can be vulnerable to your physical health. Minimizing the impact of both synthetic and natural chemicals for chemical safety. Many health officials focus on the study of toxic substances that will affect human health.
- Air Pollution
Air Pollution has significant effects on human health. Extreme exposure to polluted air can increase mortality and morbidity. The pollution can be caused by liquid, solid, or gas particles suspended in the open air with harmful effects. Various lung diseases, strokes, respiratory infections, etc are some of the effects of air pollution.
- Natural Disasters and climate change
Climate change can also cause serious health concerns. Various natural disasters have also caused a climatic shift on earth, which will lead to different physical vulnerabilities. It has also led to a rise in the earth’s temperature and frequent rainfalls in some places. These shifts can cause respiratory diseases, diarrhea, nervous disorders, etc.
- Microbial Diseases
Diseases caused by microorganisms are also a public health issue. Numerous microbes are present in the human body. They are also present in air, soil, and water. A good number of them do not cause any harm and are beneficial in carrying out various biological functions. However, harmful microbes can affect the human body, leading to illness.
- Lack of good healthcare facilities
Lack of good healthcare facilities can lead to poor health and diseases. Factors like economic instability, lack of transportation facilities, lack of awareness of healthcare, etc can lead to this situation. People with no access to healthcare options can suffer from chronic diseases like diabetes, asthma, heart disease, cancer, etc.
- Lack of infrastructure
Lack of infrastructure can have a significant effect on community health. Unavailability of clean water, unreliable roads, lack of healthcare facilities, etc can affect human health. The local and state governments must take necessary initiatives to solve infrastructure issues to improve the health care options for people.
- Lack of clean water facilities
A huge number of people in the world still do not have access to clean drinking water. The health impacts of this problem can be dangerous. Many children are affected with chronic diseases due to poor sanitation and lack of quality water facilities. Good water treatment and sanitation facilities are necessary for a community.
- Global environment problems
Global environmental problems lead to the death of over 12.6 million people every year. The problems can be ultraviolet radiation, air pollution, loss of biodiversity, etc. Most of these issues largely affect poor communities around the world.