Saturday 24 January 2015

THE PROFESSION CALLED ``ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH ``

Environmental health is the branch of public health that is concerned with all aspects of the natural and built environment that may affect human health. Other terms referring to or concerning environmental health are environmental public health, and public health protection / environmental health protection. Environmental health and environmental protection are very much related. Environmental health is focused on the natural and built environments for the benefit of human health, whereas environmental protection is concerned with protecting the natural environment for the benefit of human health and the ecosystems.
Environmental health professionals may be known as environmental health officers, public health inspectors, environmental health specialists, environmental health practitioners, or sanitarians. Researchers and policy-makers also play important roles in how environmental health is practiced in the field. In many European countries, physicians and veterinarians are involved in environmental health. In the United Kingdom, practitioners must have a graduate degree in environmental health and be certified and registered with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health or the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland. In Canada, practitioners in environmental health are required to obtain an approved bachelor's degree in environmental health along with the national professional certificate, the Certificate in Public Health Inspection (Canada). in Africa especially Nigeria, you must have a degree or study in a college and also  be licensed by the regulatory body (ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH OFFICERS REGISTRATION COUNCIL OF NIGERIA) EHORECON .Many states in the United States also require that individuals have a bachelor's degree and professional licenses in order to practice environmental health.California state law defines the scope of practice of environmental health as follows:
"Scope of practice in environmental health" means the practice of environmental health by registered environmental health specialists in the public and private sector within the meaning of this article and includes, but is not limited to, organization, management, education, enforcement, consultation, and emergency response for the purpose of prevention of environmental health hazards and the promotion and protection of the public health and the environment in the following areas: food protection; housing; institutional environmental health; land use; community noise control; recreational swimming areas and waters; electromagnetic radiation control; solid, liquid, and hazardous materials management; underground storage tank control; onsite septic systems; vector control; drinking water quality; water sanitation; emergency preparedness; and milk and dairy sanitation pursuant to Section 33113 of the Food and Agricultural Code.
The environmental health profession had its modern-day roots in the sanitary and public health movement of the United Kingdom. This was epitomized by Sir Edwin Chadwick, who was instrumental in the repeal of the poor laws, and in 1884 was the founding president of the Association of Public Sanitary Inspectors the modern-day Chartered Institute of Environmental Health

COMPONENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

  • Air quality, including both ambient outdoor air and indoor air quality, which also comprises concerns about environmental tobacco smoke.
  • Climate change and its effects on health.
  • Disaster preparedness and response.
  • Food safety, including in agriculture, transportation, food processing, wholesale and retail distribution and sale.
  • Hazardous materials management, including hazardous waste management, contaminated site remediation, the prevention of leaks from underground storage tanks and the prevention of hazardous materials releases to the environment and responses to emergency situations resulting from such releases.
  • Housing, including substandard housing abatement and the inspection of jails and prisons.
  • Childhood lead poisoning prevention.
  • Land use planning, including smart growth.
  • Liquid waste disposal, including city waste water treatment plants and on-site waste water disposal systems, such as septic tank systems and chemical toilets.
  • Medical waste management and disposal.
  • Noise pollution control.
  • Occupational health and industrial hygiene.
  • Radiological health, including exposure to ionizing radiation from X-rays or radioactive isotopes.
  • Recreational water illness prevention, including from swimming pools, spas and ocean and freshwater bathing places.
  • Safe drinking water.
  • Solid waste management, including landfills, recycling facilities, composting and solid waste transfer stations.
  • Toxic chemical exposure whether in consumer products, housing, workplaces, air, water or soil.
  • Vector control, including the control of mosquitoes, rodents, flies, cockroaches and other animals that may transmit pathogens.

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