Week6: Discussion Environmental Health

Week6: Discussion Environmental Health

Week 6 discussion Environmental Health Visit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s MyEnvironment site at http://www.epa.gov/myenvironment (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. and enter your city and state, ZIP code, or location into the location box. Explore the site to learn more about your environment and things that might be impacting the health of its citizens. Identify something new you learned about your environment and how it could be affecting health by completing this statement: “I didn’t know _____.” How could you, in the role of a community health nurse, address these concerns? Optional: For more environmental health information, you can also visit the following websites. Environmental health tracking: http://ephtracking.cdc.gov/InfoByLocation/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Air quality: http://www.airnow.gov/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Toxic release inventory: http://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Definition of Environmental Health
Environmental health is the science and practice of preventing human injury and illness and promoting well-being by

identifying and evaluating environmental sources and hazardous agents and
limiting exposures to hazardous physical, chemical, and biological agents in air, water, soil, food, and other environmental media or settings that may adversely affect human health.
Definition of an Environmental Health Professional or Specialist
An environmental health professional or specialist is a practitioner with appropriate academic education and training and registration or certification to

investigate, sample, measure, and assess hazardous environmental agents in various environmental media and settings;
recommend and apply protective interventions that control hazards to health;
develop, promote, and enforce guidelines, policies, laws, and regulations;
develop and provide health communications and educational materials;
manage and lead environmental health units within organizations;
perform systems analysis;
engage community members to understand, address, and resolve problems;
review construction and land use plans and make recommendations;
interpret research utilizing science and evidence to understand the relationship between health and environment; and
interpret data and prepare technical summaries and reports.