Introduction
Often tied to availability of food and employment opportunities, this term refers to the tendency of people to move to cities, and is a growing environmental health issue in developing countries that do not have adequate infrastructure to support the influx of people.
Urbanization
A major factor that should be accounted for in study designs, the systematic deviation of results from truth, or the processes leading to such deviation, is also known as _______.
Bias
Commonly used in clinical medicine and in toxicology, this term refers to the amount of a substance that is administered at one time.
Dose
People who adhere to this principle of environmental policy believe that the person or entity who creates the pollution in the environment should bear the expenses associated with cleaning it up.
The polluter-pays principle
An insect or any living carrier that transports an infectious agent from an infected individual or its wastes to a susceptible individual or its food or immediate surroundings.
Vector
Arsenic is one example of this term that means a chemical or substance that is capable or suspected of causing cancer.
Carcinogen
The World Health Organization estimates that approximately what percentage of global deaths are attributed to an unhealthy environment?
25%
This London surgeon was the first individual to describe an environmental cause of cancer by observing that chimney sweeps had a high incidence of scrotal cancer.
Sir Percival Pott
In a dose-response curve, this term refers to the lowest dose at which a particular response may occur.
Threshold
The process of making decisions by 1) defining the problem, 2) setting the agenda, 3) establishing policy, 4) implementing policy, then 5) reassessing the policy is part of a process known as…
The policy cycle
Endemic to warmer areas of the world and responsible for nearly a quarter billion cases each year globally, this parasitic infection is dependent on a complex life cycle of mosquitos and human hosts.
Malaria
This heavy metal was outlawed as an additive to paints in the US in 1978 after it became apparent that its exposure can lead to serious health problems, especially among children.
Lead
This term, which accompanies the demographic transition, describes the shift in morbidity and mortality from mainly infectious and communicable diseases to chronic and degenerative diseases
Epidemiologic Transition
Often reported in case-control and cross-sectional studies, this measurement tells you the number of existing cases in a population at a given time, but cannot tell you the risk of developing disease over time.
Prevalence
Slightly differing from a toxin, this term is used to describe a toxic substance that is man made or results from human activity.
Toxicant
This principle states that preventative, anticipatory measures should be taken when an activity raises threats of harm to the environment, wildlife, or human health, even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established.
Precautionary principle
Probably most well known to cause “the black death” during the Middle Ages, this disease, caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis, can be harbored by rodents and transmitted by the bite of a flea.
Plague
This process occurs when a substance, such as mercury, is ingested by lower organisms and becomes more concentrated as it moves up the food chain.
Bioaccumulation
According to demographic risk transition theory, a population in the first stage of the demographic transition would have a population that is primarily ________.
Young
This measurement can provide the researcher with the lethality of disease, defined as the number of deaths in a specified time period divided by the number of cases in that time period, multiplied by 100.
Case fatality rate (CFR)
Lasting from a few seconds to several decades, this term refers to the time period between the initial exposure to a hazard and a measurable response.
Latency
This concept strives for the equal treatment of all people in society, irrespective of their race, country of origin, and socioeconomic status.
Environmental justice
An emerging zoonotic disease, this virus, first recognized in Central Africa in 1976, may result in hemorrhagic fever among patients who are infected with it.
Ebola
Copper, zinc, and iron are examples of this classification of metal, which are important for human function at trace amounts, but may be toxic at high levels.
Essential metals
With an estimated value of 2.1 per woman to maintain a stable population, this term describes the average number of childbirths per woman in a population.
Completed fertility rate (total fertility rate)
One of the strongest observational study designs that can estimate risk, this type of study classifies subjects according to their exposure and observes them over time.
Cohort study
This process involves using clinical, epidemiologic, toxicologic, environmental data to provide a qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to a health hazard.
Risk assessment
Established in 1974, this United States environmental protection act authorized the EPA to establish minimum standards to protect public water supplies from more than 90 contaminants.
The Safe Drinking Water Act
Caused by the bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, this disease is transmitted by the bite of an infected black-legged tick, and its geographic distribution is growing each year in the Midwest United States.
Lyme disease
Naturally occurring in soil and groundwater, chronic exposure to this toxic metalloid is associated with melanosis.
Arsenic