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Environmental Health Definitions and Principles

World Health Organization definition

"Environmental health comprises those aspects of human health, including quality of life, that are determined by physical, chemical, biological, social, and psychosocial processes in the environment.  It also refers to the theory and practice of assessing, correcting, controlling, and preventing those factors in the environment that can potentially affect adversely the health of present and future generations" (WHO, 1993)

IOM Committee on Enhancing Environmental Health Content in Nursing Practice

The committee recognizes a need to distinguish between issues of environmental health and issues more specific to the science of ecology.  The primary focus of this report is on the adverse health outcomes that may be associated with exposure to environmental hazards rather than efforts to conserve natural resources.   This is in no way intended to diminish the importance of ecological issues. The environmental hazards of concern in this report fall into four widely accepted classes: chemical, physical, biological, and psychosocial. Such hazards may be naturally occurring, such as radon or ultraviolet light from the sun, or they may be manmade (or"constructed") such as particulate and gases released into the environment from automotive exhaust, industrial sources or tobacco smoke.  As these examples demonstrate, environmental hazards may be encountered in the home, workplace, and community environments.  Thus, adverse health outcomes related to environmental conditions include worker and childhood lead poisoning, childhood and occupational induced asthma, and repetitive motion injury, among many others.  Taken in this context, use of the term environmental health throughout this report refers to freedom from illness or injury related to exposure to toxic agents and other environmental conditions that are potentially detrimental to human health.

Excerpted from: Pope, AM, Snyder, MA and Mood, LH eds., Nursing, Health, and the Environment Strengthening the Relationship to Improve the Public's Health, Committee on Enhancing Environmental Health Content in Nursing Practice, Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Institute of Medicine, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. 1995.  Click here for more information on the IOM report. 

General Principles

• Human may be exposed to chemical, biological, and radiological risks in all of the "environments" in which they live, work, play and learn. Human health can be impacted by these exposures.
• Many factors influence the relationship between environment and health. Host factors such as age, gender, genetic makeup, and underlying diseases can effect disease outcomes.
• Chemical and radiological exposures can be accumulative. Nurses must assess a person's total exposure to environmental risks in order to understand and address potential health threats.
• Environmental (and occupational) health is based on a public health model with an emphasis on prevention. Prevention in environmental health includes pollution prevention, product design, engineering controls, and education.
• Although most U.S. standards are "health-based", they often are not sufficiently protective of our most vulnerable populations. Like occupational standards, they are based on the health risks to an otherwise healthy, 70 kilogram (154 pound), white male. This may not provide sufficient protection to pregnant women and fetuses, young children, the frail, the elderly, as well as the immunocompromised.