ENVR430: Health Effects of Environmental Agents

Course director, L.M. Ball lmball@unc.edu, 6-7306 Office Rosenau 158

Where: McGavran-Greenberg 1304www.unc.edu/courses/2009fall/envr/430/001/

When: Monday Wednesday Friday, 1 to 1:50 pm

Why:

ASPH Competencies

I.  Discipline-specific Competencies: Environmental Health Sciences

Describe the direct and indirect human, ecological and safety effects of major environmental and occupational agents

Describe genetic, physiologic and psychosocial factors that affect susceptibility to adverse health outcomes following exposure to environmental hazards.

Describe federal and state regulatory programs, guidelines and authorities that control environmental health issues

Specify current environmental risk assessment methods.

Specify approaches for assessing, preventing and controlling environmental hazards that pose risks to human health and safety.

Explain the general mechanisms of toxicity in eliciting a toxic response to various environmental exposures.

Discuss various risk management and risk communication approaches in relation to issues of environmental justice and equity.

Develop a testable model of environmental insult.

Environmental Health

Environmental Health comprises those aspects of human health, including

quality of life, that are determined by interactions with physical, chemical, biological and social factors in the

environment. It also refers to the theory and practice of assessing, correcting,

controlling and preventing those factors in the environment that may adversely affect the health of present and future

generations.Pew Environmental Health Commission

Environmental Agents

• Microbial• Chemical• Physical

www.unc.edu/courses/2009fall/envr/430/001/

Textbooks

Textbooks

Review

Physical Hazards

• Heat• Cold• Trauma

• Radiation– Ionizing radiation

(radioactivity)– Non-ionizing radiation

• X-rays• UV• Infrared• Microwave• Radio• Electromagnetic

Chemicals

“Naturally-Occurring”

“Anthropogenic”

Naturally-Occurring Chemicals

Microbial toxinsBacterial toxins (Often complex

polypeptides)Botulinus toxin (Clostridium

botulinum )Shigatoxin (Shigella dysenteriae )

Fungal toxins (mycotoxins)Ergot alkaloids (Claviceps purpurea)Aflatoxins (Aspergillus spps)NH

HN

http://foodsafetyinfo.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=5312

N

CH3

O C

O

H

HH

OH

Plant Constituents

• Alkaloids– Atropine– Solanine

• Pigments• Methane• Terpenes• Urushiol

Atropine

Animal Constituents

• Alkaloids• Snake venom• Ciguatoxin

Combustion Products

• Gases• Hydrocarbons• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Phenanthrene

Benzanthracene

Benzo[a]pyrene

Minerals

• Dust (e.g. Ca, Al, Si)• Leaching into groundwater

– Selenium– Arsenic

Anthropogenic Chemicals

• Inadvertent introduction

• Deliberate use

Service station near Wallace, NCAfter Hurricane Floyd, Sept 15, 1999

Inadvertent introduction

• Industrial by-products

• Insulators• Effluents• Wastes • Spills• Improper

disposal

Apex Fire, Oct 2006

Industrial solvents

• Aromatic hydrocarbons

• Chlorinated hydrocarbons

CH3

HC CH2

Benzene Toluene

Styrene

Cl

Cl

ClCl

Cl

Cl

C C

Cl

ClCl

Cl

C C

Cl

ClCl

H

polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

TetrachloroethylenePCE, Perc

TrichloroethyleneTCE

Drinking water disinfection

by-products• Trihalomethanes

– Chloroform CHCl3– Bromodiloromethane CHBrCl2– Dibromochloromethane CHBr2Cl

– Bromoform CHBr3

• Haloacetic acids– Trichloroacetic acid CCl3-COOH

– Dichloroacetic acid CHCl2-COOH

– Dichlorobromoacetic acid CCl2Br-COOH

– Dibromoacetic acid CHBr2-COOH

– Dibromochloroacetic acid CBr2Cl-COOH

– Tribromoacetic acid CBr3-COOH

Combustion products

• Gases: CO, CO2, O3, peroxyacyl nitrates, nitrogen oxides (NOX: N2O, NO, NO2), sulfur oxides (SOX: SO2, SO3)

• Particulate matter (PM)• Hydrocarbons• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Deliberate use

• Pesticides• Fertilizers• Food additives• Plasticizers• Pharmaceuticals• Waste disposal

Insecticides

• Chlorinated hydrocarbons• Organophosphates• Carbamates

Herbicides

• Broad-spectrum• Broad-leaf• Grassy-leaf

Fertilizers

• Nitrates• Phosphates

C

SNH

O

O O

Saccharin

Food additives

• Anti-oxidants• Anti-microbials• Sweeteners• Other flavoring

agents• Coloring agents• Humectants• Anti-caking agents

Plasticizers

C

C

O

O

OCH3

CH3

O

CH3

CH3

DEHP, Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate

Bisphenol A

VIRUS0.1 μm(100 nm)

BACTERIUM

1 x 2 μm

PROTOZOAN

5 μm

NANOPARTICLE

<100 nm

Red blood cell