All processes in the biosphere are interconnected. Humanity is only an insignificant part of the biosphere, and man is only one of the types of organic life. Reason singled out man from the animal world and gave him enormous power. For centuries, man has striven not to adapt to the natural environment, but to make it comfortable for his existence. Now we have realized that any human activity has an impact on the environment, and the deterioration of the state of the biosphere is dangerous for all living beings, including humans. A comprehensive study of a person, his relationship with the outside world has led to the understanding that health is not only the absence of disease, but also the physical, mental and social well-being of a person. Health is a capital given to us not only by nature from birth, but also by the conditions in which we live.
Chemical pollution of the environment and human health
Currently, human economic activity is increasingly becoming the main source of pollution of the biosphere. Gaseous, liquid and solid industrial wastes enter the natural environment in increasing quantities. Various chemicals in waste, getting into soil, air or water, pass along ecological links from one chain to another, eventually getting into the human body.
It is almost impossible to find a place on the globe where pollutants are not present in one concentration or another. Even in the ice of Antarctica, where there are no industrial industries, and people live only at small scientific stations, scientists have discovered various toxic (poisonous) substances of modern industries. They are brought here by atmospheric streams from other continents.
Substances that pollute the natural environment are very diverse. Depending on their nature, concentration, time of action on the human body, they can cause various adverse effects. Short-term exposure to low concentrations of such substances can cause dizziness, nausea, sore throat, and coughing. The ingestion of large concentrations of toxic substances into the human body can lead to loss of consciousness, acute poisoning and even death.
The body's response to pollution depends on individual characteristics person: age, gender, health status. As a rule, children, the elderly, the elderly, and the sick are more vulnerable.
With the periodic intake of toxic substances into the body, relatively little occurs chronic poisoning.
Signs of chronic poisoning are a violation of normal behavior, habits, as well as neuropsychiatric abnormalities: rapid fatigue or a feeling of constant fatigue, drowsiness or, conversely, insomnia, apathy, weakening of attention, distraction, forgetfulness, strong mood swings.
In chronic poisoning, the same substances in different people can cause different damage to the kidneys, hematopoietic organs, nervous system, liver.
Biological pollution and human health
In addition to chemical pollutants, there are also biological, causing various diseases in humans. These are pathogens, viruses, helminths, protozoa. They can be found in the atmosphere, water, soil, in the body of other living organisms, including in the person himself.
The most dangerous pathogens infectious diseases. Often the source of infection is the soil, which is constantly inhabited by pathogens of tetanus, botulism, gas gangrene, and some fungal diseases. They can get into the human body if the skin is damaged, with unwashed food, if the rules of hygiene are violated.
Pathogens can penetrate groundwater and cause infectious diseases in humans. There are numerous cases when contaminated water sources have caused epidemics of cholera, typhoid fever, and dysentery.
With an airborne infection, infection occurs through the respiratory tract by inhaling air containing pathogens. Such diseases include influenza, whooping cough, mumps, diphtheria, measles, and others. The causative agents of these diseases enter the air when sick people cough, sneeze, and even talk.
A special group is made up of infectious diseases transmitted by close contact with the patient or by using his things, for example, a towel, handkerchief and other items used by the patient. These diseases include sexually transmitted diseases (AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhea), trachoma, anthrax, scab.
Man, invading nature, often violates the natural conditions for the existence of pathogens and becomes a victim himself. natural focal diseases.
People or pets can become infected with natural focal diseases, getting into the territory of existence of their pathogens. Such diseases include plague, tularemia, typhus, tick-borne encephalitis, malaria, and sleeping sickness.
Diseases such as plague, psittacosis are transmitted by airborne droplets. When in areas of natural foci of diseases, special precautions must be taken.
The effect of sounds on a person
Man has always lived in peace sounds and noise. Sound is called such mechanical vibrations of the external environment, which are perceived by the human hearing aid.(from 16 to 20,000 vibrations per second). Oscillations of higher frequency are called ultrasound, smaller - infrasound. Noise-- these are loud sounds that have merged into a discordant sound.
For all living organisms, including humans, sound is one of the effects of the environment.
In nature, loud sounds are rare, the noise is relatively weak and short-lived. The combination of sound stimuli gives animals and humans the time necessary to assess the nature of the sound and form a response. Sounds and noises of high power affect the hearing aid, nerve centers, and can cause pain and shock. This is how it works noise pollution.
The quiet rustle of foliage, the murmur of a stream, bird voices, a light splash of water and the sound of the surf are always pleasant to a person. They calm him down, relieve stress.
Prolonged noise adversely affects the hearing organ, reducing the sensitivity to sound. This leads to a breakdown in the activity of the heart, liver, exhaustion and overstrain of nerve cells. Weakened cells of the nervous system cannot coordinate the work of various body systems clearly enough. Hence, violations of their activities arise.
Noise level is measured in units expressing the degree of sound pressure, - decibels. Sound pressure is not perceived infinitely. A noise level of 20-30 decibels (dB) is practically harmless to humans, since this is a natural background noise. As for loud sounds, here the permissible limit is approximately 80 decibels. A sound of 130 decibels already causes a painful sensation in a person, and 150 becomes unbearable for him.
Each person perceives noise differently. Much depends on age, temperament, health status, environmental conditions.
Some people lose hearing even after brief exposure to relatively low-intensity noise.
Noise is insidious, its harmful effect on the body is carried out invisibly, imperceptibly. Violations in the body are not immediately detected. In addition, the human body is practically defenseless against noise.
Currently, doctors talk about noise sickness, which develops as a result of exposure to noise, with predominant damage to the hearing and nervous system.
Physical factors of the environment and human well-being
In any phenomenon of the nature around us, there is a strict recurrence of processes: day and night, ebb and flow, winter and summer. Rhythm is observed not only in the movement of the Earth, Sun, Moon and stars, but is also an integral and universal property of living matter, a property that penetrates into all life phenomena from the molecular level to the level of the whole organism.
During historical development a person has adapted to a certain the rhythm of life, due to rhythmic changes in the natural environment and energy dynamics of metabolic processes.
Each person from birth lives in his own way biological clock. Currently, many rhythmic processes in the body are known, called biorhythms. These include the rhythms of the heart, respiration, and bioelectric activity of the brain. Our whole life is a constant change of rest and vigorous activity, sleep and wakefulness, fatigue from strenuous work and rest. In the body of every person, like the ebb and flow of the sea, a great rhythm eternally reigns, arising from the connection of life phenomena with the rhythm of the Universe and symbolizing the unity of the world.
The discrepancy between the internal rhythms of a person and the rhythms of the environment can cause painful phenomena in his health (insomnia, loss of working capacity, etc.).
The central place among all rhythmic processes is occupied by circadian rhythms, which are of the greatest importance for the body.
The climate also has a serious impact on the well-being of a person, influencing him through the weather.
Weather include a complex of physical factors: atmospheric pressure, humidity, air movement, oxygen concentration, the degree of disturbance of the Earth's magnetic field, the level of atmospheric pollution.
Changes in the weather affect the well-being of different people differently. In a healthy person, when the weather changes, the physiological processes are timely adjusted to the changed environmental conditions.
As a result, the protective reaction is enhanced and healthy people practically do not feel the negative influence of the weather.
In a sick person, adaptive reactions are weakened. Therefore, the body loses its ability to quickly adapt.
The influence of weather conditions on a person's well-being is also associated with age and individual susceptibility of his body.
Human nutrition and health
Everyone knows that food is necessary for the normal life of the body, as it is the source of the building materials and energy necessary for the body.
Doctors say that complete balanced diet-- an important condition for maintaining the health and high performance of adults, and for children also a necessary condition for growth and development.
For normal growth, development and maintenance of vital functions, the body needs proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and mineral salts in the right amount.
Poor nutrition is one of the main causes of diseases of the heart and blood vessels, digestive organs, as well as diseases associated with metabolic disorders.
Regular overeating, consumption of excessive amounts of carbohydrates and fats - the cause of the development of metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. They cause damage to the cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive and other systems, sharply reduce the ability to work and resistance to disease, reducing life expectancy by an average of 8-10 years.
Balanced diet- the most important and indispensable condition for the prevention of not only metabolic diseases, but also many others.
But now a new danger has appeared - chemical contamination of food. A new concept has also appeared - environmentally friendly products.
Plants are able to accumulate in themselves almost all harmful substances. That is why agricultural products grown near industrial enterprises and major highways are especially dangerous.
Landscape as a factor in health
A person always strives for the forest, mountains, the coast of the sea, river or lake. Here he feels a surge of strength and vivacity.
The surrounding landscape (general view of the area) can have a different effect on our psycho-emotional state. Contemplation of the beauty of nature stimulates vitality and calms the nervous system.
Plant biocenoses, especially forests, have a very strong healing effect. Their coolness, harmony of various sounds and colors, variety of smells are especially pleasant to a person.
With the development of industrial production in the city and its environs, a huge amount of waste has appeared that pollutes the environment. In our time, there is not only the growth of cities, but also their fusion among themselves, giant urban formations appear, which received the name megacities.
Various factors associated with the growth of cities, in one way or another, affect the formation of a person, his state of health. This forces scientists to study more and more the influence of the habitat on urban residents. It turns out that the mood of a person, his ability to work depends on the conditions in which a person lives, what height of ceilings in his apartment and how sound permeable are its walls, how a person gets to the place of work, with whom he communicates on a daily basis, how people around him relate to each other. , activity, that is, his whole life.
In cities, a person creates thousands of devices for the convenience of his life: hot water, a telephone, different kinds transport, road, service and entertainment. However, in big cities, the disadvantages of life are especially pronounced: housing and transport problems, an increase in the incidence rate. To a certain extent, this is due to the simultaneous effect on the body of two, three or more harmful factors, each of which has an insignificant effect, but in aggregate leads to serious troubles for people. This is why the craving for natural landscapes is especially strong among urban dwellers.
The solution of the problems of a modern city is possible only if we consider it as an ecosystem in which the most favorable conditions for human life will be created. Consequently, these are not only comfortable dwellings, transport, and a varied service sector. This is a favorable habitat for human life and health: clean air, pleasing to the eye urban landscape, green corners, where everyone could relax in silence, admiring the beauty of nature.
The urban landscape should not be a monotonous stone desert. In the architecture of the city, architects strive for a harmonious combination of social (buildings, roads, transport, communications) and biological (green areas, parks, squares) aspects. Landscape architects can play a big role in this.
It is no coincidence that environmentalists believe that in a modern city a person should not be cut off from nature. Therefore, the total area of green spaces in cities should occupy more than half of its territory.
Human health and the environment
Does a person need to be healthy?
A lonely living speck of dust is our planet Earth. The earth is a dandelion. The life of man - the only intelligent living creature - is not eternal. Each person will inevitably die: one earlier, the other later. Life terms for a person are uncertain. But any early death- tragedy. To prolong a long and happy life, you need to learn to value and protect nature as an irreplaceable environment for life and the cradle of humanity. except natural environment the health and longevity of a person determine the conditions of his work and life, therefore, from school, it is important to master the scientific and spiritual culture of his people. And, of course, only a healthy lifestyle contributes to the realization of all the possibilities provided by nature to man. The person, however, is frivolous about his health. One of the compelling reasons for this attitude towards one's own health can be considered modern medicine and some discrepancy between the high level of well-being and the growth of the culture of the population. Free medical care, available at any hour of the day or night, in a large city and in a taiga mine, highly specialized and qualified, reliable and diverse (clinics, sanatoriums), on the one hand, had a positive effect on human health, but on the other hand, it dulled people's fear of disease. The second important reason for thoughtless attitude to one's own health can be considered insufficient conviction in the inevitability of punishment for a “crime” committed against health. It seems to a person that bad things can happen to anyone, but not to him. You never know that someone died of diabetes or obesity, crashed. He was simply a failure, inept, unhappy. And I'm lucky, nothing bad will happen to me. I will be able to "get out" ... But it is often not possible to get out. The third reason is a clear perspective. Many people argue whether I will take care of my health or not, but since the average life expectancy in the country is 72 - 76 years, then I will live to at least 80 years. Of course, these are just a few reasons, but taking care of your health is the main task of a person. One might get the impression that maintaining and enhancing health is not only laborious, but also joyless. But this is the deepest delusion. After all, no one demands to give up the joys of a fulfilling life. There is an aphorism: “It's good to live. A good life is even better". The essence of this aphorism is that any life is better than death, but a good life is better than just life. But in order for life to be good, you need health. And to be healthy you need to want it.
Health and the environment.
Health and disease risk factors.
The ancient Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus wrote that he is happy who is healthy in body, receptive in soul and malleable to upbringing.
The Charter of the World Health Organization refers to the highest standard of health as one of the basic human rights. Equally important is the human right to information about those factors that determine human health or are risk factors, that is, their impact can lead to the development of a disease. One of the most important inherited properties of a healthy organism is the constancy of the internal environment. This concept was introduced by the French scientist Claude Bernard (1813 - 1878), who considered the constancy of the internal environment a condition for a free and independent life of a person. The internal environment was formed in the course of evolution. It is primarily determined by the composition and properties of blood and lymph. The constancy of the internal environment is a wonderful property of the organism, which to some extent freed it from the physical and chemical influences of the external environment. However, this constancy - it is called homeostasis - has its limits, determined by heredity. Therefore, heredity is one of the most important health factors.
The human body is adapted to a certain quality of physical (temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure), chemical (composition of air, water, food), biological (various living things) indicators of the environment.
If a person stays in conditions for a long time that differ significantly from those to which he is adapted, the constancy of the internal environment of the body is disturbed, which can affect health and normal life.
In our age, man, like all living organisms, is subject to external influences that lead to changes in hereditary properties. These changes are called mutational (mutations). The number of mutations increased especially in recent times... Deviations from certain familiar environmental properties can be attributed to disease risk factors (see appendix). So, the data given in the table indicate that morbidity and mortality are associated, first of all, with environmental conditions and people's lifestyle. Each of us has the right to know about all environmental changes taking place both in the area where he lives and throughout the country. We must know everything about the food we eat, the state of the water we drink, and doctors must explain the danger of life in areas contaminated with radiation. A person must be aware of the danger that threatens him and act accordingly. For a person, the external environment is not only nature, but also society. Therefore, social conditions also affect the state of the body and its health. The living and working conditions, as well as the character and habits of a person, shape the way of life for each of us. Lifestyle - food culture, movement, profession, use of free time, creativity - affects mental and physical health, strengthening or destroying it, prolonging or shortening life. For the growing and developing organism of schoolchildren, adherence to the daily regimen (the correct routine of educational work and rest, good sleep, sufficient stay in the fresh air) is of particular importance. So, a correct lifestyle is a health factor, and an unhealthy one is a risk factor. A morally responsible person understands the need to follow the rules and regulations, prohibitions and regulations. Conscious and responsible attitude to health should become the norm of life and behavior of each of us.
Labor and health.
Labor is the basis for the creation of material and spiritual values. It is also necessary for the optimal course of biological processes in the body, therefore, has a large impact on health. Under the influence of labor, biological processes in human body significantly transformed. Features of the structure of the skeleton, the development of muscles, the work of the sensory organs - all this is ultimately the result of human labor activity. So, the efficiency of labor increased from the fact that one hand - the left, began to improve in supporting the object of labor, and the other - the right, improved in its processing. The concepts of "work" and "work" are not unambiguous. The term "work" means all types of activities associated with the expenditure of energy and the release of the body from a state of rest. For example, a child throwing a ball into the air expends a certain amount of energy and, therefore, from a physical point of view, does work. However, no one will attribute this occupation to labor. Thus, for any type of labor, work is performed, but not all work can be considered labor activity. It is customary to divide labor into physical and mental. This division is conditional, since no work activity is possible without the regulating role of the central nervous system, without volitional efforts. When assessing physical efforts, the concept of "severity of labor" is used, reflecting the load on skeletal muscles, cardiovascular and other physiological systems. To characterize mental activity, the concept of "labor intensity" is adopted, reflecting the predominant load on the central nervous system. Physical labor is characterized by high energy consumption, rapid development of fatigue and, at the same time, relatively low productivity. In working muscles, blood flow increases, delivering nutrients and oxygen, carrying away decay products. Physiological changes occur in the body, providing muscle activity. With increasing severity of physical labor, oxygen consumption increases. There is a limit to the maximum amount of oxygen that a person can consume - the so-called oxygen ceiling. Usually it does not exceed 3-4 l / min. During runtime, very hard work the delivery of oxygen to the body reaches its limit, but the need for it becomes even greater and is not satisfied in the process of work. At this moment, a state of oxygen deficiency occurs in the body - hypoxia. Moderate hypoxia trains the body. But if hard physical labor continues for a long time, or a person is not accustomed to heavy loads, and his respiratory and cardiovascular systems poorly provide muscle work, hypoxia becomes a damaging fact. When performing work of great severity and duration, performance decreases, fatigue develops, which is subjectively perceived by us in the form of a feeling of fatigue. If the working capacity does not have time to recover by the beginning of the next day, fatigue develops, accompanied by chronic hypoxia, impaired nervous activity - neuroses, diseases of the cardiovascular and other systems. The severity of mental work during study increases even more due to the fact that it passes against the background of static stress associated with the need to maintain a certain posture for a long time. A full-fledged rest, as the classic of Russian physiology I.M. Sechenov pointed out, is not idleness, but a change of activity. "You work while sitting - rest while standing," he wrote. Therefore, mental work, study must necessarily alternate with physical activity. Physical education minutes spent in the lesson at a time when signs of the excitatory phase of fatigue are observed can significantly postpone the onset of pronounced fatigue, make work full and effective.
Profession and health.
Normal job satisfaction contributes more to longevity than physical structure, a way of eating, no smoking and longevity of parents.
M. Burnet.
The way of life largely depends on the profession that a person has acquired. Each of us, by nature and upbringing, has a complex of individual (biological and social) characteristics that must be taken into account when choosing a profession. These characteristics: abilities, aspirations, interests - everyone should know or at least think about them. For if there is no harmony (correspondence) between personality traits, the nature of activity and the surrounding living conditions, then sooner or later this will negatively affect the functions of the body and the quality of work. The professions of the first type are distinguished on the basis of the "man-nature" relationship. This includes livestock breeders, beekeepers, foresters, agronomists, geologists and many others. The second type unites professions associated with the relationship "person - technology". This group includes the profession of a locksmith, seamstress, engineer, and so on. Painters, graphic designers, painters - "a person is an artistic image." Whichever profession you choose, in order to achieve success, you must learn to work. The main source of job satisfaction is the job itself. At the same time, it is important to know not only what the person gives to her, but also what she gives to the person. When work captures, carries away, gives pleasure, then you don't feel tired.
However, there are also uninteresting industries where a person does not experience an emotional uplift from work due to its specifics. But even in such conditions, diligence, organization help a person in his work. Of course, much here depends not so much on the worker himself as on the organization of labor in general in production.
Your mood, and, consequently, mental well-being, a healthy psyche depends not only on you. It is important that your efforts are fairly assessed so that conflicts and disputes are resolved fairly. Everyone can and should choose a profession to their liking and on the shoulder.
Family and health.
A family - small group people based on marriage or consanguinity. Family members are linked by a common life, mutual help and moral responsibility. The modern family consists, as a rule, of spouses and children. Therefore, they say that the family is a moral and legal union of a man and a woman. Family life affects people's health. Family life determines the health of members both directly and indirectly. It is known that happily married people live longer and get sick less often. The death rate of widows is always higher than that of married women. The situation in the family, the nature of the relationship of its members, to a large extent determine the birth rate, affect the outcome of pregnancy, and affect various indicators of health. A woman's desire to have a child depends on living conditions, but this dependence is mediated by the relationship between spouses. With satisfactory living conditions and material security, but tense intra-family relations between spouses, the number of abortions among women increases. Regime, daily routine of family members is one of the indicators of lifestyle. In families with an unfavorable psychoemotional climate, children are more likely to suffer from stomach ulcers and chronic gastritis. Violation of rest, sleep, nutrition in the family leads to the development of a number of diseases in most family members: cardiovascular, neuropsychic, metabolic disorders. The family influences the development of character, the spiritual health of its members.
In general, in the city, family members communicate little with each other, often gather only for dinner, but even during these short hours, family members' contacts are suppressed by watching television programs. In large urban families, when living together in the same apartment for 2 or 3 generations, contacts of family members are often difficult due to high psychoemotional tension. All these and a number of other conditions have a significant impact on the stability of the family, and, therefore, adversely affect the health of the population as a whole.
In society, there is an acute problem of strengthening the family, the solution of which is largely determined by the culture of those entering into marriage, in particular, the understanding of the role of the family as a factor in the health of all its members.
Stresses in the modern world.
According to UN statistics, the urban population has doubled since 1950. Current estimates show that as a result of population growth and migration to cities, the number of slum dwellers is increasing by 10-15% annually. The dire conditions lead to physical overload, tension, depression, violence and illness. According to the latest statistics from the UN and the World Bank, half of the countries in Africa and Southeast Asia, with a combined population of almost 2 billion people, have an average annual per capita income of less than $ 300. Mass poverty in developing countries is the cause of hunger, malnutrition of many children, sometimes with fatal; at best, children grow up physically and mentally handicapped. Thus, hundreds of millions of people in poor countries of the world find themselves in a vicious circle of disease, suffering and death. In such conditions, acute physical, mental and social stresses arise that pose a threat to the life, health and well-being of people, diminish their self-esteem, destroy close ties between them and give rise to a feeling of inferiority. Such phenomena can, in turn, provoke reactions leading to further increases in morbidity and mortality. Scientists have found that crowded conditions, the so-called “footage stress”, have a strong negative effect on people. In a person, the constant violation of his personal space, which is characteristic of life in big cities, causes a strong neuropsychic stress, leading to pronounced stress reactions. Not only our emotions, but also the internal organs of a person react to the stresses and overloads of modern life. Exposure to stress affects the basic physiological reactions of the central nervous system, as well as the activity of the endocrine glands. Biologically active substances produced by the endocrine glands (hormones), together with nerve impulses, affect almost every cell in the body.
Thus, unsatisfactory living conditions cause serious and sometimes unbearable suffering for more than a quarter of the world's population. True, people can adapt even to extreme conditions. However, as already indicated, this comes at a price with your nerves and physical health.
First steps to health.
You can improve and improve your health by making a certain schedule of work on yourself. Not everyone can immediately take up dramatic improvement in health. In this case, you can start implementing the program gradually, for example, start with morning exercises, and then supplement it with jogging. Then we can take up the fight against excess weight. The goal should be achieved not by extraordinary measures (complete starvation or exhausting sitting in the steam room), but again by gradual reductions in the diet of carbohydrates and fats, with the exception of alcohol. Do not allow young people to drink alcohol, do not decorate the table with bottles, refuse to drink.
Our health is in our own hands. We must understand that only healthy people can survive in the modern world, therefore we must protect the most valuable that we have.
Application.
Grouping of risk factors according to their specific weight for health.
Factors influencing health | Health value in% | Risk factor groups |
Lifestyle, working conditions, living habits | 49-53 | Smoking, drinking alcohol, unhealthy diet, harmful conditions labor, stressful situations, weakness, physical inactivity, poor material and living conditions, drug use, fragility of families, high level of urbanization |
Genetics, human biology | 18-22 | Predisposition to hereditary diseases |
External environment, natural and climatic conditions | 17-20 | Air, water, soil pollution, abrupt change in atmospheric phenomena, increased cosmic, magnetic and other radiation phenomena |
Health care | 8-10 | Ineffectiveness of preventive measures, low quality of medical care, untimely provision of it |
INTRODUCTION
A person is nothing more than the sum of the following factors: parents and wet nurse, place and time, air and weather, light and sound, food and clothing; his will is the necessary consequence of all these causes.
J. Moleshot
Health ... For a long time, people have associated and continue to associate their well-being, happiness, the ability to live and work fully and raise healthy children with this concept.
Numerous definitions of this concept boil down to the fact that health is the natural state of the body, which allows a person to fully realize his abilities, without restriction to carry out labor activities with maximum preservation of duration active life... A healthy person has a harmonious physical and mental development, quickly and adequately adapts to the constantly changing natural and social environment, he does not have any painful changes in the body, he has a high working capacity. Subjectively, health is manifested by a feeling of general well-being, the joy of life. It is in this broad sense that the experts of the World Health Organization (WHO) have briefly defined health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not just the absence of physical defects or illness.
To find out how the environment affects human health, it is necessary to start by defining the concepts of "nature" and "environment".
In a broad sense, nature is the entire material, energy and informational world of the Universe. Nature is the totality natural conditions the existence of human society, which is directly or indirectly influenced by humanity, with which it is associated in economic activities. The interaction of man with nature is an eternal and at the same time modern problem: humanity is connected by its origin with the natural environment, existence and the future. Man as an element of nature is a part of the complex “nature - society” system. At the expense of nature, mankind satisfies many of its needs.
All elements of nature represent the environment. The concept of "environment" does not include objects created by man (buildings, cars, etc.), since they surround individuals, and not society as a whole. However, areas of nature changed by human activity (cities, agricultural land, reservoirs, forest belts) enter the environment, as they create the environment of society.
Human health should be viewed as a whole, as the health of a single organism, which depends on the health of all its parts. In order to live a long, full-fledged and capable life, of course, one must be born from healthy parents, receive from them, as part of the gene pool, a high resistance of inherited immunity to various harmful environmental factors and good organization vital morphological and functional structures. Hereditarily acquired biological properties of an organism are an important, but not the only link that determines human health and well-being. Man is a social being. He lives in a complex web of laws, rules of behavior, various restrictions and dependencies. The structure of society is immeasurably more complicated every year and the share of the social component in integrated assessment health of a modern person, population, society. For the enjoyment of the benefits of a civilized society, a person must live in strict dependence on the way of life adopted in society, pay with a part of his freedom. And not free, addict cannot be considered completely healthy and happy. Some part of individual freedom, given to society in exchange for the advantages of a civilized life, constantly keeps a person in a state of neuropsychic stress. In certain unfavorable stressful situations, such mental stress arising from social factors can exceed the resistance of reserve adaptive capabilities, primarily of the human nervous system, and lead to a breakdown, a serious painful condition.
And, finally, in the presence of a good social environment and rich biological properties, the state of human health may depend on one more factor - on the natural and climatic conditions of the environment. A healthy person can lose his physical, mental and social well-being even if the region of his permanent residence is in the zone of ecological disaster. The most serious consequence of biosphere pollution is genetic consequences. After all, the biosphere is not only essential element an integral natural complex, but also a unique bank of genetic resources.
The purpose of my work is to determine how the environment affects human health.
FACTORS AFFECTING HUMAN HEALTH
We have already defined what the concept of "environment" means. The category "environment" includes a combination of natural and anthropogenic factors. The latter are factors generated by a person and his economic activity and have a predominantly negative impact on a person. Changes in the health status of the population caused by the impact of environmental factors are methodologically difficult to study, since this requires the use of multivariate analysis.
The structure of the environment can be conditionally divided into natural (mechanical, physical, chemical and biological) and social elements of the environment (labor, life, socio-economic structure, information). The conventionality of this division is explained by the fact that natural factors act on a person in certain social conditions and are often significantly changed as a result of the production and economic activities of people. The properties of environmental factors determine the specificity of the impact on humans.
Natural elements affect their physical properties: hypobarium, hypoxia; strengthening of the wind regime; solar and ultraviolet radiation; changes in ionizing radiation, electrostatic air voltage and its ionization; fluctuations of electromagnetic and gravitational fields; increasing the rigidity of the climate, etc. Natural geochemical factors affect humans by anomalies in the qualitative and quantitative ratio of trace elements in soil, water, air, and, consequently, by a decrease in the diversity and anomalies in the ratios of chemical elements in agricultural products of local production. The action of natural biological factors is manifested in changes in macrofauna, flora and microorganisms, in the presence of endemic foci of diseases of the animal and plant worlds, as well as in the emergence of new allergens of natural origin.
The group of social factors also has certain properties that can affect the living conditions of a person and his state of health. So, for example, socio-economic factors are decisive and are conditioned by production relations. These include regulatory factors (labor legislation and the practice of state and public control over its observance); socio-psychological factors that can be characterized by the employee's attitude to work, specialty and its prestige, psychological climate in the team; economic factors (material incentives, a system of benefits and compensations for work in unfavorable conditions). Technical and organizational factors have an impact on the creation of material and material working conditions (means, objects and instruments of labor, technological processes, organization of production, etc.). Natural factors characterize the impact on workers of climatic, geological and biological features of the area where the work takes place. In real conditions, this complex set of factors that shape working conditions is united by a variety of mutual relationships. Everyday life has an impact through housing, clothing, food, water supply, the development of the infrastructure of the service sector, the provision of recreation and the conditions for its conduct, etc. The socio-economic structure affects a person through social and legal status, material security, the level of culture and education.
The above structure of the factors shaping the environment clearly shows that a change in the levels of exposure to any of the listed factors can lead to health problems.
A person throughout his life is under the constant influence of a whole range of environmental factors - from environmental to social. The approximate contribution of various factors to the health of the population is assessed in four positions: lifestyle, human genetics (biology), the external environment, and health care (Appendix 1). The data in the table show that lifestyle has the greatest impact on health. Almost half of all cases of diseases depend on it. The second place in terms of impact on health is taken by the state of the environment of human life (at least one third of diseases are determined by the adverse effects of the environment). Heredity accounts for about 20% of diseases.
A healthy body constantly ensures the optimal functioning of all its systems in response to any changes in the environment, for example, changes in temperature, atmospheric pressure, changes in the oxygen content in the air, humidity, etc. The preservation of the optimal life activity of a person when interacting with the environment is determined by the fact that for his body there is a certain physiological limit of endurance in relation to any environmental factor, and beyond the limit this factor will inevitably have a depressing effect on human health. For example, tests have shown that in urban conditions, human health is influenced by five main groups of factors: living environment, production factors, social, biological and individual lifestyle (Appendix 2).
Undoubtedly, both scientific and practical interest are published in the United States of America estimates of the reduction in life expectancy from various factors of the environment and lifestyle (Appendix 3).
EFFECTS OF ANTHROPOGENIC FACTORS
FOR HUMAN HEALTH
The types of anthropogenic pollution of the natural environment as a result of human economic activities are diverse. They cause chemical, physical, mechanical, acoustic, thermal, aromatic and visual changes in the quality of the natural environment, exceeding established standards harmful effects. As a result, there is a threat to the health of the population, as well as to the state of flora, fauna and accumulated material values.
Numerous anthropogenic environmental pollutants are always potentially dangerous to humans. Experimental and field studies have established that the ecopathogenic effect depends on the level and quality of the pollutant, its exposure - the so-called "dose - substance - time" effect. Changes in health status depend on the age of people, their professional activity, the initial level of health, as well as on the individual-behavioral orientation and socio-hygienic living conditions.
Chemical contaminants. The most studied effect on human health of chemical environmental factors - about 80 chemical elements are necessary to build certain components of their own cells, build hormones, enzymes, to maintain normal metabolism, etc. The problem of chemical pollution of biosphere objects is considered as a manifestation of the global ecological crisis. List of known chemical compounds approaching 20 million items, of which tens of thousands are highly toxic, and modern generation people have not developed a mechanism of protection against their aggressive effects on the body. The annual technogenic load on all objects of the biosphere is hundreds of millions of tons chemical substances, which are waste of industrial, agricultural and transport activities. The most dangerous for human health are chemical compounds that are ubiquitous, persist in environmental objects, migrate along ecological chains, entering the body with air, water, and food. The list of such substances includes the main pollutants atmospheric air large city (oxides of nitrogen, sulfur, carbon, suspended solids), heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls, pesticides, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and many others. Most of them are highly toxic (1-2 hazard classes), have a polytropic and specific effect on the human body, causing the most severe and long-term mutagenic and carcinogenic effects.
Oxides, suspended particles. Solid suspended particles, oxides of sulfur, nitrogen, carbon, phenol, formaldehyde are everywhere in the atmospheric air. Sulfur oxides SO 2, SO 3, nitrogen NO, NO 2, carbon monoxide CO are "acidic" gases with a specific, relatively uniform effect on the respiratory system. Due to the formation of weak acids in contact with mucous membranes respiratory tract they irritate and cauterize mucous membranes, thereby causing initial morphological damage to the epithelium and suppression of local immunity. The less soluble the gases are, the deeper they penetrate into the respiratory tract. Oxides, primarily sulfur dioxide, are adsorbed on solid suspended particles, the depth of penetration of which into the body depends on their size: the finer the particles, the more they enter the bronchi and alveoli. The irritation is accompanied by the release of histamines, which can lead to bronchospasm, and in the future - to the formation of astmoid bronchitis and bronchial asthma.
Acidic aerosols damage not only the respiratory system. A thin epithelial film of the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract with abundant blood supply does not prevent the rapid absorption of pollutants into the bloodstream and their spread inside the body. The widespread pollution of atmospheric air with oxides of sulfur, nitrogen, carbon is one of the causes of hypoxia in the body, since pollutants quickly combine with blood hemoglobin, forming sulfhaemoglobin, methemoglobin, carbohemoglobin, thereby blocking the delivery of oxygen to organs and tissues. Against the background of hypoxia, redox processes in the brain, internal organs (heart, liver), and body muscles are inhibited. Almost all of these oxides have a polymorphic adverse effect on the morphofunctional state of the nervous, cardiovascular system, digestive organs, organs of vision and hearing, they also have gonadotropic and embryotoxic effects.
Nitrites and nitrates, entering the body, have an expanding effect on blood vessels, causing a decrease in blood pressure. The pronounced neurotropic effect of carbon monoxide under chronic exposure causes asthenic-vegetative phenomena, mental disorders, toxic damage to the thyroid tissue, and may contribute to its hyperplasia. The constant exposure of the population to carbon oxides, sulfur, nitrogen and other pollutants creates the preconditions for a decrease in general resistance, efficiency and, in general, to chronic population fatigue, especially in large industrial cities.
Dioxins. It is a large group of highly toxic polychlorinated compounds, persistent and widespread environmental pollutants. Sources of dioxins are many sectors of the national economy: chemical, petrochemical, pulp and paper, metallurgical industry, production of transformers, capacitors, heat exchangers, pesticides, etc. Dioxins are formed during high-temperature processing of chlorine-containing products. They are characterized by thermal stability, resistance to chemical decomposition, and low solubility in water. The expansion of the scale of production of a number of chemical compounds, their use for military purposes is accompanied by the danger of exposure to dioxins not only on persons in professional contact with them, but also on the population.
The main depot for the accumulation of dioxins is the upper layers of the soil, where their half-life exceeds 10 years; in the aquatic environment, this period is more than a year; in the air - 24 days. Long-term preservation of dioxins in all objects of the natural environment contributes to the fact that they are actively transported along food chains and, thus, constantly act on living organisms. The mobility of dioxins in the natural environment increases those contained in its objects organic solvents, oil products and other organic substances.
Dioxins are the most powerful synthetic poisons, against which natural defense mechanisms have not been evolutionarily formed in humans. The main target of dioxin exposure is the liver, where not only cumulation occurs, but also the neutralization of dioxins by enzymes of the liver monooxygenase system; derivatives of this metabolism are excreted from the body with bile and urine. As a result of the toxic action of poisons, there is a degeneration of parenchymal liver cells, fibrotic changes, which is manifested through biochemical parameters and various liver dysfunctions.
Specific dioxin diseases are chloracne and Yusho-Yu-Cheng oil disease. Chloracne (chlorine acne) is a recurrent inflammation of the sebaceous glands of the skin. The disease lasts for years, practically does not lend itself to drug treatment, leads to the formation of scars on the skin, its disfigurement and pigmentation. Yusho-Yu-Cheng oil disease - massive food poisoning by dioxins of the population of the Japanese province of Yusho in 1968 and the Taiwanese Yu-Cheng in 1979. Thousands of residents were affected by the consumption of rice contaminated with several compounds from the dioxin group. In addition to skin manifestations, the victims were found to have severe liver damage, internal organs, the nervous system.
Dioxin poisoning is characterized by slow development and is manifested by severe fatigue, irritability, sleep disorders and headaches, digestive and endocrine system disorders, pain in muscles, joints, weakness in the lower extremities, loss of body weight. The accelerated aging of the body of people exposed to dioxins, the early appearance of diseases characteristic of the elderly, and premature death are associated with the suppression of the immune-enzymatic systems of the body, as well as the pronounced activation of lipid peroxidation by dioxins. In the list of dangerous effects caused by dioxins, there is a violation of reproductive function. Dioxins 2,4D and 2,4,5T cause abortion, stillbirth and neonatal pathology. Most dioxins, once in the maternal body, can penetrate the placenta and cause fetal death, deformity of newborns, growth retardation, mental underdevelopment of infants, and the appearance of tumors.
Heavy metals. Of the 108 elements of Mendeleev's Periodic Table, more than three-quarters are metals, which play an important role in the life of not only humans, but also the entire biota. Light metals include metals with a density of less than 4.5 g / cm 3 - the density of iron, which is taken as an equivalent. These are potassium, sodium, aluminum, beryllium, etc. Heavy metals - zinc, copper, chromium, lead, cadmium, mercury, thallium, selenium and many others. Arsenic (a semimetal) is usually classified as a heavy metal.
Most metals are essential, i.e. vital. They are not synthesized in the body and must come from the environment. Many essential metals are needed in small doses - these are trace elements that act as coordinators of enzymes, vitamins in the body: cobalt - vitamin B 12, chromium provides glucose tolerance, iron and copper are involved in the formation of hemoglobin, zinc is a component of many enzymes. The elements used by the body in relatively large quantities are called macronutrients: sodium, calcium, phosphorus, etc.
Some metals (zinc, chromium, nickel, copper, iron, manganese, etc.) exhibit not only essential, but also toxic effects on the body, depending on the concentration. Lead, cadmium, mercury, thallium, aluminum are toxic elements for the body, although the likelihood of their use by the body in micro doses in the process of vital activity is not excluded, however, there is no convincing evidence of this (Appendix 4).
The release of heavy metals into the environment is associated with vigorous human activity. Their main sources are industry, vehicles, boiler houses, waste incineration plants and agricultural production. Industries that pollute the environment with heavy metals include ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, mining of solid and liquid fuels, mining and processing complexes, glass, ceramic, electrical production, etc. Lead is widely used in the production of batteries, electrical cable sheaths, medical equipment, crystal, optical glass, paints, numerous alloys, etc., not to mention already about the production associated with its receipt. In agricultural production, soil pollution with heavy metals is associated with the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Transport is the source of more than half of all air emissions. Boiler houses operating on solid and liquid fuels pollute the environment not only with heavy metals, but also with various oxides. The incineration of waste is accompanied by the entry into the biosphere of a number of heavy metals: cadmium, mercury, lead, chromium, etc. The compounds of heavy metals that have entered the environment pollute the air, water, soil, and enter the plants and organisms of animals inhabiting this area. Heavy metal compounds enter the body mainly through the gastrointestinal tract with food, water, medicines, and to a lesser extent through the respiratory system.
Heavy metals affect almost all body systems, providing toxic, allergic, carcinogenic, gonadotropic effects. The embryotoxic effect of heavy metals through the fetoplacental system, as well as their mutagenic effect, has been proven. Many heavy metals are tropic - they selectively accumulate in certain organs and tissues, structurally and functionally disrupting them. The choice of a tropic organ also depends on the dose and route of entry of heavy metals into the body.
Mutagenic and carcinogenic substances. Numerous epidemiological, laboratory and clinical observations indicate the existence of causal relationships between environmental pollution and damage to the genetic information of the human body.
A mutagen is an environmental or endogenous factor capable of disrupting the genetic programs of cells and causing changes in hereditary properties in the body. Numerous and widespread pollutants of a chemical and physical nature, as well as viruses, bacteria, etc., have mutagenic activity. A wide group of hereditary diseases is caused either by deviations from the normal chromosome content, or by genetic defects as a result of mutations in certain chromosome regions.
Radionuclides, which can provoke hereditary diseases and malignant neoplasms, pose a danger to the genetic apparatus of reproductive and somatic cells. To date, radiation is the most comprehensively studied mutagenic risk factor for human health. The model of the subthreshold effect of mutagens on the body is gaining increasing recognition, especially during the period of active growth and maturation. One trillionth of a gram of dioxin is enough to disrupt the functioning of the human immune system, to distort its genetic apparatus. Low subthreshold doses of radiation pollutants also have mutagenic activity. Mutagens, acting in minimal subthreshold doses and concentrations of the pollutant, reduce the overall resistance of the organism, which causes various biological effects.
By origin, chemical mutagens can be divided into three main groups:
· Organic and inorganic compounds of natural origin (nitrogen oxides, nitrites, nitrates, alkaloids, etc.);
· Products of processing of natural compounds in energy-intensive industries (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, salts of heavy metals, etc.);
Products of chemical synthesis, previously not found in nature, and therefore very hazardous to health, since natural evolutionary defense mechanisms have not been developed for them: pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, some medications... In particular, the infamous thalidomide, as a result of its massive use by pregnant women, has caused severe congenital malformations in newborns. (hygiene, 105)
Carcinogenic is a substance (factor), the effect of which significantly increases the incidence of benign and / or malignant tumors in the human population and / or shortens the period of development of these tumors. The main criterion for the carcinogenic hazard of a substance to humans is the presence of contact with this substance, experimentally obtained data on its carcinogenicity, the results of epidemiological studies conducted using the case-control method, or cohort studies.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) ranks the studied compounds into 4 groups:
Group 1 - substances, the role of which in the occurrence of tumors in humans has been undoubtedly proven. This group includes 66 substances, including arsenic, nickel, asbestos, chromium, vinyl chloride, benzene, radon and its decay products.
Group 2 is divided into two subgroups:
subgroup 2A includes 60 substances, the carcinogenic effect of which for animals has a high degree of evidence, and for humans - limited evidence (for example, benzopyrene, beryllium and its compounds, formaldehyde, cadmium);
Subgroup 2B includes more than 230 substances that, with a certain degree of probability, cause cancer in humans, i.e. their carcinogenicity for humans has not been convincingly proven in the absence of evidence obtained as a result of experiments on animals (cobalt, acetaldehyde, atomic gasoline, carbon tetrachloride, etc.).
Group 3 includes substances that cannot be classified with respect to their tumorigenic activity in humans.
Group 4 includes substances that are non-carcinogenic to humans.
Numerous studies indicate a high level of the content of carcinogenic substances of a chemical nature in environmental objects. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nitrosamines and their precursors, heavy metals, vinyl chloride, formaldehyde, benzene and other carcinogenic compounds are the main air pollutants in cities with developed chemical and petrochemical industries. In these territories, high anthropogenic loads of actual concentrations of carcinogenic substances on different groups of the population were determined, taking into account the characteristics of the place of residence, occupational hazards, and bad habits.
NATURAL GEOCHEMICAL ANOMALIES AS A CAUSE OF POPULATION HEALTH IMPAIRMENTS
Natural and anthropogenic biogeochemical cycles of chemicals are the cause of numerous changes in the health status of the population, leading to the development of endemic, i.e. mass, diseases specific to a certain area. The causal relationship between the incidence of the population and deficiencies in the nature of iodine, selenium, fluorine has been convincingly proved. These deficiencies are accompanied by an imbalance of many other vital chemical elements in the natural environment, which in turn enhances unfavorable trends in the health of the population.
About 70 chemical elements have been discovered in humans and animals using modern analytical methods. These elements, depending on their biological significance, are conventionally divided into the following groups:
Irreplaceable elements that make up enzymes, hormones and vitamins: O, C, H, Ca, P, K, S, Cl, Na, Mg, Zn, Fe, Cu, I, Mn, V, Mo, Co, Se ;
Elements constantly determined in animal organisms, the biological significance of which has not yet been studied enough: Sr, Cd, F, Br, B, Si, Cr, Be, Ni, Li, Cs, Sn, Al, Ba, Rb, Ti, Ag, Ga , Ge, As, Hg, Pb, Bi, Sb, U, Th, Ra;
· Elements found in the body of animals and humans, in relation to which data on the quantitative content in tissues, organs and their biological role are absent: Nb, La, Pr, Sm, Tb, W, Re, Au.
Man and animals get trace elements from food, water and atmospheric air. Trace minerals are exogenous chemical factors that play a significant role in such vital processes as growth, reproduction, hematopoiesis, cellular respiration, metabolism, etc. Microelements form specific organometallic complex compounds with body proteins, which are chemical regulators of biochemical reactions. Being a part of enzymes, hormones and vitamins, microelements act as catalysts for biochemical processes. In the case of an abnormal content or a disturbed ratio of trace elements in the environment (in water, food), disturbances with characteristic clinical symptoms may develop in the human body (Appendix 5).
WATER AS A HEALTH FACTOR
The importance of water for maintaining a high level of public health is due to the role it plays in satisfying physiological and hygienic needs, as well as for recreational purposes. The main sources of pollution of the hydrosphere are industrial wastewater, drainage water from irrigated lands, organized and unorganized runoff from the territories of settlements and industrial sites, agricultural fields and large livestock complexes, as well as water transport.
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
Impact of noise on human health. One of the most common and significant environmental factors that negatively affect human health is noise, which is mainly due to the growth of industrial production, the development of urban construction, traffic, etc. Noise discomfort in everyday life is experienced by more than half of the inhabitants of large cities in many countries, which allows us to consider acoustic loads as a global risk factor for public health.
Noise is understood as a disorderly combination of sounds of different strength and frequency. Airborne noise occurs whenever any elastic medium (solid, liquid, air) is disturbed due to any impact. When a sound wave propagates in air, acoustic energy is transferred, the amount of which determines the strength of the sound. The strength, or intensity, of sound is the amount of energy per unit time passing through a unit of surface area perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the sound wave. The unit for measuring sound power is watts per square meter (W / m2). The unit of measurement for the frequency of sound is hertz (Hz) - 1 oscillation per second. The human ear perceives sounds in the frequency range 16 ... 20,000 Hz. The smallest sound power at which sound is perceived by the ear is 10 -12 W / m2 at a frequency of 1000 Hz (hearing threshold or hearing threshold). The upper threshold of perceived sound (pain threshold) is 10 2 W / m 2. The area of auditory perception lies between the minimum and pain thresholds. The wide range of noise perception led to the use of not a linear, but a decimal logarithmic scale of A. Bell (Appendix 6).
Sources of noise can be of natural (natural) and artificial (anthropogenic) origin. In natural habitats, airborne noise, as a rule, does not have any particular environmental significance. Man has created many sources of anthropogenic constant and non-constant noise:
· Stationary (industrial enterprises);
· Mobile, or mobile (aviation, automobile, railway transport, metro, underground metro lines);
· Intra-quarter (consumer service establishments, shops, markets, playgrounds, etc.);
· Intra-house (residential and household noises).
Noise has become a public scourge and a threat to the physical and mental health of the population. As a general biological irritant, noise affects all organs and systems of the body. Constant and intense noise is the cause of numerous painful disorders in the human body. Noise-induced pain is associated with mechanical displacement in the middle ear system and indicates that the tympanic membrane has become firm. Noise has an extremely strong effect on mental activity, requiring concentration and associated with the synthesis and analysis of information. Noise can adversely affect any species human activity- whether it is mental or physical work. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that noise, being one of the environmental irritants, in combination with other external and internal factors, can cause chronic fatigue, disrupt rest and sleep. Noise exposure causes a generalized reaction in the cortex and subcortical structures of the brain, which disrupts the regulatory activity of the central and autonomic nervous system.
Problems of increased natural background radiation. For thousands of years, all life on Earth has been exposed to natural radiation generated by radiation emanating from outer space and from natural radionuclides of the earth's crust, scattered in rocks, soil, air, water, as well as in food and in the human body. Stars are huge natural thermonuclear reactors that are a powerful source of cosmic radiation that reaches our planet. Radionuclides of terrestrial origin have appeared since the formation of the Earth and are represented by the radioactive families of uranium, radium, thorium. Natural radioactivity of environmental objects varies widely depending on specific physical and geographical conditions, the nature of the underlying surface (water, land), the type of rocks, soils, geochemical, climatic and other features of the territories. The natural background radiation of the biosphere averages 2 mSv per year (Appendix 7). Over the past few decades, the natural background radiation, which has been forming for millions of years, has begun to increase due to radiation as a result of human activities. It is created either artificially (new radionuclides unusual for the Earth's biosphere), or is formed as a result of anthropogenic disturbances earth shell accompanied by the redistribution and concentration of natural radionuclides, as well as other changes in the environment and centuries of established ways of living. The technogenically altered natural radiation background of the biosphere consists of radioactive contamination due to the combustion of natural fuel, the use of atomic energy, mineral fertilizers, building materials, consumer goods (for example, televisions). Medical procedures, nuclear explosions, etc. play a fundamental role in increasing its level. This technogenically altered background is no longer 2 mSv, but 3 mSv per year, and in some regions it is significantly higher.
Modern scientific data confirm the existence of mechanisms that ensure the adaptation of the body to natural levels of radiation exposure. However, if the level of natural radiation background (NRF) is exceeded, adaptation will be inadequate with one or another probability of developing a pathological condition. The prolonged influence of the increased background leads to a decrease in radio resistance, to disturbances in immunological reactivity, and morbidity is associated with the latter. The main biological effect of radiation is damage to the genome of cells, which is manifested by the growth of neoplasms and hereditary diseases. Low doses of radiation increase the likelihood of developing cancer in people. It is estimated that about 10% of cancers per year are caused by natural radiation.
Electromagnetic radiation. Life on Earth arose, developed and continues under the influence of relatively weak electromagnetic fields of natural origin, the sources of which are radiation from the sun and space, the magnetic properties of the Earth, lightning discharges, etc. influence on the vital activity of humans, animals, plants. The relationship between solar activity and the frequency of myocardial infarction, strokes, some epidemic, mental and other diseases of people is noted. In recent decades, the intensity of electromagnetic fields of anthropogenic origin in various parts of the earth's surface has increased in comparison with the natural background by a factor of millions. The development of radio wave emitting equipment (in science, industry, military affairs, in everyday life) goes along the line of not only improving its reliability, but also increasing power and resolution at large distances: powerful generators for radar and communication, widespread use of radio wave equipment in medicine, TVs, mobile communications, personal computers, microwave ovens, etc. Radio wave generators are located near cities and towns, on the roofs of houses, they work around the clock, penetrate buildings, acting on people. Sources of electromagnetic fields in laboratories, hospitals, apartments can cause "leaks". All this inevitably entails an expansion of the contingent of persons exposed to electromagnetic radiation and an increase in radiation levels. Electromagnetic pollution ("electromagnetic smog") poses an environmental hazard to the environment, as it directly or indirectly damages or threatens to damage flora, fauna and human health.
Under the influence of thermal electromagnetic radiation, organs that contain a large amount of liquid and with a poorly developed vascular network are more affected. These include the lens, vitreous body of the eye, parenchymal organs (liver, pancreas), hollow organs containing fluid (urinary and gall bladder, stomach), gonads.
The non-thermal effect of electromagnetic radiation is manifested in the form of a variety of biochemical, metabolic, immunological shifts, disorders of the central nervous system, cardiovascular, autonomic nervous systems. The clinical picture reveals three nonspecific leading syndromes: asthenic, asthenic-vegetative and hypothalamic. Patients are highly excitable, emotionally labile. In some cases, signs of early atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, hypertension are found.
CONCLUSION
No society has been able to completely eliminate the dangers to human health arising from eternal and new environmental conditions. The most advanced modern societies have already significantly reduced the damage from traditional deadly diseases, but they have also created a lifestyle and technology that entail new threats to health.
All life forms have arisen as a result of natural evolution, and their maintenance is determined by biological, geological and chemical cycles. However, Homo sapiens is the first species that is capable and willing to significantly change natural life support systems and strives to become the leading evolutionary force acting in its own interests. By mining, producing and burning natural substances, we disrupt the flow of elements through soils, oceans, flora, fauna and atmosphere; we are changing the biological and geological face of the Earth; we are changing the climate more and more, more and more rapidly depriving plant and animal species of their familiar environment. Humanity is now creating new elements and connections; new discoveries of genetics and technology make it possible to bring to life new dangerous agents.
Many environmental changes have made it possible to create comfortable conditions that increase life expectancy. But mankind did not conquer the forces of nature and did not come to their full understanding: many inventions and interventions in nature occur without taking into account the possible consequences. Some of them have already caused disastrous returns.
The surest way to avoid threatening insidious consequences of environmental changes is to weaken changes in ecosystems and human intervention in nature, taking into account the state of his knowledge about the world around him.
Caring for human health implies improvement the surrounding nature- alive and inanimate. And only we can decide in what environment our children and grandchildren live.
Annex 1
Grouping risk factors according to their share of influence on health
| Factors influencing health | Approximate share of the factor,% | Risk factor groups |
| Lifestyle | 49-53 | Smoking, alcohol consumption, unbalanced, unhealthy diet, harmful working conditions, stressful situations (distress), weakness, physical inactivity, poor living conditions, drug use, drug abuse, fragility of families, loneliness, low educational and cultural level, excessively high level urbanization |
| Human genetics (biology) | 18-22 | Predisposition to hereditary diseases |
| External environment, natural and climatic conditions | 17-20 | Air, water, soil pollution; a sharp change in atmospheric phenomena; increased cosmic, magnetic and other radiation |
| Healthcare * | 8-10 | Ineffectiveness of preventive measures, low quality of medical care, untimely provision of it |
* In Russia, this factor may be slightly higher due to the deterioration of free treatment, the fabulous rise in drug prices, the inaccessibility of treatment for pensioners in rest homes, sanatoriums, etc.
Appendix 2
Influence of various environmental factors on human health
| Factors | Recorded indicators | Influence degree,% |
| Living environment | Living space Distance to the forest park Chemical air pollution Duration of trips in transport The total impact of the living environment | |
| Production | Contact with chemical hazards Professional experience Shift and nature of work The total influence of production factors | |
| Social | Education Family status Average per capita income The total impact of social factors | |
| Lifestyle | Sleep duration Duration of homework Physical education and sports Outdoor activities Vacation out of town Cumulative impact of lifestyle | |
| Biological | The total influence of biological factors |
* In Russia, the degree of influence of the factor is more significant, especially since the beginning of "economic" reforms in 1991, which led to a low quality of life for Russians.
Appendix 3
Estimates of the reduction in life expectancy due to various reasons
| Causes | Causes | Reduction in life expectancy, days | |
| The bachelor life of men | 3500 | Accidents at work | 74 |
| Smoking cigarettes (men) | 2250 | The use of sleeping pills | 41 |
| Heart diseases | 2100 | Working with radiation sources | 40 |
| Unmarried life of women | 1600 | Fall | 39 |
| Excess weight by 30% | 1300 | Pedestrian accidents | 37 |
| Working in coal mines | 1100 | Accidents at the "safest" job | 30 |
| Malignant tumors | 980 | Fires | 27 |
| Excess weight by 20% | 900 | Energy production | 24 |
| Low educational level (below 8 grades) | 850 | Drug use (average) | 18 |
| Smoking cigarettes (woman) | 800 | Poisoning with poisons | 17 |
| Low socio-economic level | 700 | Strangulation | 13 |
| Paralysis | 520 | Accidents with firearms | 11 |
| Living in the "unfortunate" area of the country | 500 | Natural radiation | 8 |
| Army service in Vietnam | 400 | Medical X-ray diagnostics | 6 |
| Smoking cigars | 330 | Poisonous gases | 7 |
| Dangerous job | 300 | Coffee consumption | 6 |
| Pipe smoking | 220 | Bicycle accidents | 5 |
| Consuming more than 100 calories from food per day | 210 | Natural disasters | 3,5 |
| Car crashes | 207 | Fluid intake | 2 |
| Pneumonia / flu | 141 | Nuclear power plant accidents (according to the Anti-Nuclear Society of Concerned Scientists) | 2 |
| Alcohol consumption (average) | 130 | Nuclear power plant accident (according to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission) | 0,2 |
| Accidents at home | 95 | Radiative forcing of nuclear power | 0,2 |
Appendix 4
Effects of exposure to certain heavy metals
on human health
| The elements | Effects of exposure to elements |
| Elevated concentrations | |
| Lead | Destruction of bone tissue, delayed synthesis of protein in the blood (anemia), impaired nervous system (encephalopathy and neuropathy), sensory organs, kidneys (nephropathy), digestive and cardiovascular systems, decreased response of the immune system to foreign antigens |
| Mercury | Nervous disorders (Minamata disease); dysfunction of the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys; change in chromosomes |
| Arsenic | Skin cancers, intoxication, peripheral neuritis |
| Nickel | Cancer of the lungs, kidneys, sarcoma, dermatitis, eczema, asthmatic bronchitis, bronchial asthma, astheno-neurotic disorders, impaired synthesis of protein, DNA and RNA |
| Copper | Organic changes in tissues, decay bone tissue, hepatitis |
| Cadmium | Liver cirrhosis, impaired renal function, rhinitis with loss of smell, nephropathy with typical proteinuria, osteomalacia (itai-itai disease), neurotoxic syndrome, obstructive processes in the lungs with the development of pulmonary failure, lung cancer. The emriotoxic effect is enhanced by lead, a cumulative effect is manifested. |
| Chromium | Skin lesions (dermatitis and eczema), asthmatic bronchitis, bronchial asthma, lung cancer, gastritis, hepatitis, astheno-neurotic disorders |
Appendix 5
Consequences of an excess or deficiency of certain micronutrients
on human health
| Trace elements | The consequences of excess | Consequences of the lack |
| Fluorine | endemic fluorosis, damage to the teeth (enamel mottling), violation of the processes of ossification of the skeleton (generalized osteosclerosis or diffusion osteoporosis, bone deposits on the ribs, tubular bones, pelvic bones, ossification of ligaments and ossification of the joints), depletion of the body | dental caries, which contributes to the development of various diseases (tonsillitis, digestive disorders, etc.) |
| Cobalt | absorption of calcium and phosphorus decreases | |
| Manganese | has a pathogenic effect, impaired calcification processes, internal structure of bones | slowing down the growth process, impaired skeletal formation (thickening or shortening of the bones of the lower extremities, deformation of the joints) |
| Molybdenum | development of diarrhea, anemia, joint damage, osteoporosis, endemic molybdenum "gout" | |
| Zinc | growth retardation and sexual development (dwarfism and hypogonadism syndrome), hepatosplenomegaly and anemia | |
| Iodine | insufficient thyroid function, endomic goiter, hypothyroidism, cretinism, etc. | |
| Selenium | chronic selenosis (loss of nails, hair, liver damage) | endemic Keshan disease, Kashin-Beck disease - endemic osteoarthrosis, malignant neoplasms, diseases of the heart, blood vessels, joints, etc. |
Appendix 6
The intensity of various noises
Noise levels, dB
| 150 | Start space rocket Hearing and lung damage |
||
| 140 | Takeoff of a jet plane Pain threshold |
||
| 130 | Thunder | ||
| 120 | The level above which pain is felt Rock music |
||
| 110 | Crushing machine | ||
| 100 | Heavy trucks, rail transport | ||
| Demolition hammer, motorcycle Hearing damage |
|||
| 80 | Pneumatic drill Heavy traffic |
||
| 70 | Loud speech, car (internal noise) | ||
| 60 | Plain speech, noise of footsteps | ||
| 50 | Noise of tap water | ||
| 40 | Quiet apartment during the day, reading room | ||
| 30 | Countryside | ||
| 20 | Whisper, ticking clock | ||
| 10 | Rustle of foliage, winter forest in calm weather | ||
| 0 | Barely audible sounds Audible threshold |
Appendix 7
Equivalent dose of radiation received by the population per year
| Radiation sources | Dose (mSv) | The share of a specific source in the total dose,% | |
| Natural | |||
| Terrestrial origin | 1,67 | 84,13 | 54,63 |
| Including: | |||
| internal irradiation | 1,32 | 66,5 | 43,18 |
| including radon | 0,97 | 48,87 | 31,73 |
| external irradiation | 0,35 | 17,63 | 11,45 |
| Of cosmic origin | 0,315 | 15,87 | 10,3 |
| Including: | |||
| internal irradiation | 0,015 | 0,76 | 0,49 |
| external irradiation | 0,3 | 15,11 | 9,81 |
| Anthropogenic | |||
| Medicine | 1,0 | 93,28 | 32,71 |
| Nuclear power | 0,001 | 0,09 | 0,03 |
| Nuclear tests | 0,02 | 1,87 | 0,65 |
| Combustion of fossil fuels | 0,001 | 0,09 | 0,03 |
| Consumer goods | 0,05 | 4,66 | 1,64 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Hygiene and human ecology: Textbook for students. Wednesday Prof. Textbook. Institutions / N.A. Matveeva, A.V. Leonov, M.P. Gracheva and others; Ed. N.A. Matveeva. - M .: Publishing Center "Academy", 2005. - 304 p.
2. Protasov V.F. Ecology, health and environmental protection in Russia: Textbook and reference manual. - 3rd ed. - M .: Finance and statistics, 2001 .-- 672 p.
3. Stepanovskikh A.S. Applied ecology: environmental protection: Textbook for universities. - M .: UNITI-DANA, 2003 .-- 751 p.
Or other diseases, but also a strict normative approach in practical hygiene that has existed for a long time, which focuses on the study of environmental factors, and not on human health and not on the analysis of the relationship between health and environmental quality. Identifying causal relationships between the effects of environmental factors and possible changes in the state of human health is ...
We have already created not only experimental, but also industrial installations on these energy sources. They are still relatively weak. But many scientists believe that they have a great future. ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN HEALTH All processes in the biosphere are interconnected. Humanity is only an insignificant part of the biosphere, and man is only one of the types of organic life. Reason singled out a person from ...
1. Introduction.
2. Anthropogenic impact on the environment and human health.
3. And the Earth became a stepmother.
4. Self-awareness of humanity and self-awareness of nature.
5. Conclusion.
Protect these lands, these
Even a small blade
Protect all animals
inside nature,
Only kill beasts
inside yourself!
E. Evtushenko.
Global variability or global change in recent years has become a major problem in environmental research, mainly due to the enormous impact that it is likely to have on the world community.
Many natural scientists regard the term "environment" as synonymous with "nature." However, nature becomes the environment only when viewed in a social context: human society depends on nature and interacts with it and changes it on different spatio-temporal scales.
Warning about the possible consequences of the expanding human invasion of nature, half a century ago Academician V.I. Vernadsky wrote: "Man becomes a geological force capable of changing the face of the Earth." And this warning was prophetically justified.
A century and a half ago, a serious revolution took place in the geological sciences: it was proved and recognized that insignificant changes in the natural environment, lasting long enough, lead to radical transformations of the environment, i.e. if we consider the changes in the geographical environment on the scale of centuries and millennia, then the results of artificial rearrangements of nature (conscious and unintentional) look very impressive. Because human activity, albeit on a different, sometimes negligible scale, over the past 10-20 millennia has manifested itself on almost the entire land area (except for Antarctica). And everywhere man created around him centers of change, and even transformation of nature. These foci grew, they became more and more, the restructuring of the environment became radical, by our century, reaching a truly global scale, not only in prevalence, but also in intensity.
Every year a person extracts about 200 billion tons of rocks from the earth's interior, burns more than 9 billion tons of standard fuel, dissipates up to 3 billion tons of pesticides, etc. in the fields. An especially acute problem has become the problem of environmental pollution by anthropogenic toxicants: the world supply annually for carbon oxides is 25.5 billion tons, for nitrogen oxides - 65 billion tons, etc.
Industrial enterprises, vehicles, tests have a negative impact on the environment. nuclear weapons excessive use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides, etc. (Fig. 1). As a result of anthropogenic human activity on the globe, according to the Institute of World Observation, the following occurs:
annual destruction of tropical rainforests on an area of 11 million hectares;
the annual occurrence of anthropogenic deserts on an area of about 6 million hectares on the globe;
the annual loss of 26 billion tons of fertile arable land;
damage as a result of acid rain to forests on an area of more
31 million hectares.
Thousands of lakes have become biologically dead under the influence of acid rain in some countries. At least 25-30 thousand species of vascular plants, etc. are under the threat of extinction.
Intensive rates of environmental degradation pose a real threat to the existence of the person himself. A global monitoring system has been created through the UN and UNESCO, the main tasks of which are to determine the degree of anthropogenic impact on the environment, forecast its state in the future, etc. (Fig. 2.)
The emissions of industrial enterprises of energy systems and transport into the atmosphere, reservoirs and subsoil have reached such dimensions (Fig. 3.) that in a number of regions of the world the levels of pollution significantly exceed the permissible sanitary standards. This leads, especially among the urban population, to an increase in the number of people suffering from chronic bronchitis, asthma, allergies, ischemia, and cancer.
Noise, vibration, infrasound, as well as the effects of electromagnetic fields and various radiation, have an adverse effect on human life.
The human habitat - the environment - is characterized by a combination of physical, chemical and biological facts that, under certain conditions, can have a direct or indirect immediate or long-term impact on human activities and health. That is why the problem "Environment and human health" is now very acute.
For this reason, I became interested in this issue, because the state of health and our own health worries us the most, and the environment and the human body, which are the components of the science of ecology. The steady increase in the intake of toxic substances into the environment, first of all, affects the health of the population, the quality of agricultural products deteriorates, reduces productivity, prematurely destroys dwellings, metal structures of industrial and civil structures, affects the climate of certain regions and the state of the ozone layer of the Earth, leads to the death of flora and fauna. Emitted into the atmosphere oxides of carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, hydrocarbons, lead compounds, dust, etc. have various toxic effects on the human body.
Let us give the properties of some impurities (Fig. 4, Fig. 5).
CO. Colorless and odorless gas. Affects the nervous and cardiovascular system, causes suffocation. The primary symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning (the appearance of a headache) occur in a person after 2-3 hours of his stay in an atmosphere containing 200-220 mg / m3 of CO; at higher concentrations of CO, there is a feeling of a pulse in the temples, dizziness. CO toxicity increases in the presence of nitrogen in the air; in this case, the CO concentration in the air must be reduced by a factor of 1.5.
Nitrogen oxides. NO N2O3 NO5 N2O4 Nitrogen dioxide NO2, a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas that irritates the respiratory system is emitted into the atmosphere. Nitrogen oxides are especially dangerous in cities, where they interact with carbon in exhaust gases, where they form a photochemical fog - smog. Air poisoned by nitrogen oxides begins to act with a slight cough. With an increase in NO concentration, severe coughing, vomiting, and sometimes headache occurs. On contact with a moist mucosal surface, nitrogen oxides form the acids HNO3 and HNO2, which lead to pulmonary edema.
SO2 is a colorless gas with a pungent odor, already in low concentrations (20-30 mg / m3) creates an unpleasant taste in the mouth, irritates the mucous membranes of the eyes and respiratory tract.
Hydrocarbons (gasoline vapors, methane, etc.)
It has a narcotic effect, in low concentrations it causes headache, dizziness, etc. So when inhaling gasoline vapors at a concentration of 600 mg / m3 for 8 hours, headaches, coughing, and discomfort in the throat occur.
Aldehydes.
With prolonged exposure to humans, aldehydes cause irritation of the mucous membranes of the eyes and respiratory tract, and with an increase in concentration, headache, weakness, loss of appetite, and insomnia are noted.
LEAD connections.
Approximately 50% of lead compounds enter the body through the respiratory system. Under the influence of lead, the synthesis of hemoglobin is disrupted, there is a disease of the respiratory tract, genitourinary organs, and the nervous system. Lead compounds are especially dangerous for preschool children. In large cities, the lead content in the atmosphere reaches 5-38 mg / m3, which exceeds the natural background by 10,000 times.
The dispersed composition of dust and mists determines their penetrating ability into the human body. Of particular danger are toxic finely dispersed dusts with a particle size of 0.5-10 microns, which easily penetrate the respiratory system.
The formation of acid rain is associated with the release of sulfur oxide and nitrogen into the humid atmosphere. Stationary sources (thermal power plants, etc.) are especially dangerous. Acid rains reduce soil fertility and worsen the health of the population.
Among the variety of chemicals and physical factors entering the environment, the most dangerous are
CARCINOGENS- substances or factors capable of causing the development of malignant tumors in living organisms. Carcinogens are not excreted from the body.
Carcinogenic physical factors include X-rays, radioactive isotopes and other types of radioactive contamination of the environment, as well as ultraviolet rays.
High levels carcinogenic physical factors can, as a rule, manifest themselves in zones adjacent to emergency nuclear power facilities.
Figure 6 shows the consequences of human exposure to ionizing radiation, depending on the equivalent dose.
Low doses of radiation can lead to cancer, which usually manifests itself many years after exposure. Damage caused by high doses of radiation becomes apparent after a few hours or days.
An important factor is the destruction of the ozone layer.
It is believed that already in 1973, freons destroyed 1% of the ozone layer, by 2000, 3% will be destroyed, and by 2050, 10%.
The destruction of the ozone layer is especially significant above the poles of the Earth and in the flight zones of spacecraft and supersonic aviation.
Nuclear explosions in the atmosphere are especially dangerous for the ozone layer, since chlorine and nitrogen oxides enter it. A nuclear war can deplete the ozone layer by 20% or more. Reducing the concentration of O3 in the ozone layer will lead to massive skin cancer in humans, slowing down photosynthesis and the death of some plant species.
Thus, the destruction of the ozone layer will lead to the destruction of all life on Earth.
As a result of a 10-year experiment, Doctor of Medicine V. Khasnulin developed an original method of medical geophysical forecasting. This method allows you to calculate days in advance when weather, geomagnetic and gravitational conditions can cause a sharp exacerbation of cardiovascular diseases, mental disorders, and injuries. Long-term observations have shown a high validity of forecasts for bursts of exacerbations of arterial hypertension, myocardial infarction, strokes, as well as for emergencies, major traffic accidents, etc.
But don't despair. First of all, you need to be careful about your health, especially on unfavorable days.
Smoking is extremely harmful to health. A smoker not only inhales harmful substances himself, but also pollutes the atmosphere, endangers other people. It has been established that people who are in the same room with a smoker inhale even more harmful substances than he himself (Fig. 7.).
Mesmerized by political cataclysms, an increase in crime, ethnic conflicts, worries about a piece of bread and other everyday difficulties, many do not yet realize that the epicenter of the problem of survival has moved from the outside world into our body.
Environmental poisoning has led to massive degradation of health. This process is exacerbated by social and economic hardships. It is becoming more and more obvious that in the current conditions, many traditional methods of treatment and recovery are losing their adequacy.
Over the past decades, in many regions of the Earth, the external environment in terms of toxic and radio-radiation aggressiveness has become different from the one in which evolution took place. organic world... In essence, we kind of moved to another, more cruel planet, only outwardly similar to the Earth, where our body has been forming for millions of years. The body's adaptive systems turned out to be defenseless against new types of biological aggression. The tragedy of ecology has grown into a tragedy of endoecology (the prefix "endo" means "inside the body").
The pollution of the external environment has led to the pollution of the internal environment. Not only does the health of people fall catastrophically: previously unknown diseases have appeared, many diseases have become more difficult to cure than before, chronic ecologically conditioned intoxication disrupts our psyche.
Over the past 4 years, the birth rate in Russia has fallen by 30%, and the death rate has increased by 15%. 23% of children remain healthy by the age of 7, and only 14% by the age of 17. Half of the youths of military age are unfit for military service for health reasons. Since the 70s, the incidence of cardiovascular and oncological diseases has increased by 50%. Children under the age of one year die in Russia 2 times more often than in the USA. Our men live on average 7-10 years less than in developed countries. In some regions, more than half of the child population suffers from allergic diseases. You can cite many more similar, and for a number of regions and more acute facts. At the heart of all this is the pollution of the body with toxic substances and a violation of the endoecological balance.
Environmental toxic aggression is a special type of pathology. Having penetrated the body, environmental poisons do not stay in the blood, but to a large extent are concentrated in intercellular substance... The resulting disturbances are associated with prolonged, simultaneous accumulation of dozens of toxic substances in relatively low concentrations. This predetermines the originality of the distribution of poisons and their biotransformation. A combination effect is characteristic, characterized by mutual potentiation and perversion of the action of toxins. The clinical picture also goes beyond the usual concept of the disease.
The foci of "endoecological disease" are formed as a kind of epidemic. Its manifestations depend on the local characteristics of industry and agriculture, natural conditions and other factors. However, people still don't understand true reasons their ailment and habitually explain it by overwork, family or work troubles, material difficulties, social and household reasons.
Hope for a quick normalization of nature and social conditions- naive self-deception. This requires tremendous efforts and colossal funds. Even if this kind of activity will be carried out much more intensively than until now, our and, at least, the next generation is forced to exist in a toxic environment. Nature is dying from pollution - we are also perishing from pollution.
In order to maintain health and survive in the current conditions of ecological and socio-economic ill-being, it is necessary to periodically cleanse the body - to reduce the level of toxic substances accumulating in it to relatively safe limits. Well-known medicinal herbs promote the elimination of poisons from the body: black currant (leaves, preferably young), medicinal marigolds and others.
But before you take care of your health, you must first of all take care of the environment. Possible ways to optimize environmental management are shown in Figure 8.
Humanity is a great geological force endowed with self-awareness. Until now, the human mind has served primarily as a means of exercising domination over the "blind natural forces". Reason, will, organization, mutual assistance - all these qualities have long determined the special position of a person on Earth, who could withstand any natural disasters. Man created a wonderful technique, before which earthly nature is powerless, and from an all-planetary factor he became a cosmic factor, extending its influence to near-earth space, some planets.
And now, when "man has become a giant", he is more and more clearly aware of the wisdom of the truth once expressed by F. Bacon: "To conquer nature, you must obey it."
In the middle of our century, humanity began to gradually change its strategy in relation to nature. The alternative - domination or submission - had to be abandoned. Cooperation with nature, its worldwide protection!
But then it arises perennial problem contradictions between dreams and reality. Good wishes need to be realized, and after all, not all the creations of beautiful human fantasy can be realized. Man in his relationship with nature has always been guided by lush paradise tabernacles - this did not prevent him from creating man-made deserts.
Two decades ago it seemed that technical systems"... they will soon form an artificial Nature - much more complex and at the same time much more flexible and obedient to the creative genius of humanity than Mother Nature ever was." This is what the English physicist D. Bernal wrote. Now such ideas look hopelessly outdated. Artificial nature, as it turned out, neither complexity, nor flexibility, nor beauty can compete with Mother Nature.
... The most intricate modern physical device, the most "intelligent" cybernetic machine, is much simpler than an ordinary green leaf of a tree, a butterfly or a jellyfish. The better we get to know the internal biochemical life of organisms and the extraordinary complexity of the relationships of individuals, species with each other and with the environment, the more we admire the harmony of natural processes and the clearer we understand the difficulties associated with their restructuring. We begin to comprehend the implicit wisdom of Nature, which ideally adapted natural landscapes to certain physical zones of the earth's surface. This art is difficult for us. We do not have in reserve those thousands of years that nature has. We are forced to look for new, unknown natural solutions, create new landscapes, monitor their development and guide it, note the patterns of evolution in order to make informed forecasts for the near and distant future.
Understanding the past is an essential component of anticipating the future.
... The unity of nature and man must correspond to the unity of knowledge about nature and man. Only generalized knowledge, including along with the natural sciences also ethics and aesthetics, will help to rebuild nature according to the laws of both benefits and beauty.
But no matter how great our knowledge is, we should remember about ignorance. It is they who determine the harmful undesirable consequences of human activity. The successes of science do not save us from ignorance of many, many aspects of the life of nature, society, and ourselves. Therefore, not relying entirely on knowledge only - great power the scientific and technological age, one has to take into account their limitations, he knows how to doubt, strive for beauty, trust nature ...
Thus, I believe that the world around us and our body is a single whole, and all emissions and pollution entering the atmosphere is a damage to our health.
If we try to do as much positive as possible for the environment, we will prolong our life and heal our body.
And one cannot but agree with the words that everything in this world is interconnected, nothing disappears and nothing appears from nowhere.
Our the world- this is our body, protecting the environment - we protect our health.
Health is not only the absence of disease, but also the physical, mental and social well-being of a person.
Health is a capital given to us not only by nature from birth, but also by the conditions in which we live and create.
1. Belova I. Environmental protection. Textbook for technical universities, 1991
2. Newspapers "Help Yourself", 1996-97
3. A.L. Yanshin , Melua A.I. Lessons from Environmental Miscalculations. M., Thought, 1991
4. Balandin R.K. , Bondarev L.G. Nature and civilization., M., Thought, 1988
5. Magazines "Geography at School"N3-93G.,
N5-94g.,
N3-96
Tomsk Polytechnic
The university
Department of Ecology
and safety of life
Theme: "Environment and Human Health".
Completed:
withstudent gr. 8G72
Veris E.O.
Checked:
teacher of the Department of Ecology
Protasevich
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REMEMBER
Question 1. What is health?
Health - the state of any living organism, in which it as a whole and all its organs are capable of fully performing their functions; absence of ailment, illness. The sciences that study health include: dietetics, pharmacology, biology, epidemiology, psychology, and others.
QUESTIONS TO PARAGRAPH
Question 1. What does human health depend on?
Human health depends on lifestyle, food, adherence to work and rest, physical activity and psycho-emotional state.
Question 2. What is the effect of the natural and social environment on human health?
Health disorders are often caused by the ingestion of chemicals and compounds alien to its normal metabolism in volumes that exceed the protective capabilities of the immune system. The routes of entry of such substances into the human body are different. In some cases, they may depend little on a particular person, for example, the effect of artificial radiation. In other cases, some of the harmful substances, pathogenic bacteria or viruses enter the body due to non-compliance with sanitary and hygienic standards or by accident. This is also poisoning caused by low-quality products, poisonous mushrooms, and consumption poor quality water, as well as neglect of hygiene requirements. All this can lead to serious infectious and venereal diseases (amoebiasis, hepatitis, chlamydia, AIDS, etc.).
Question 3. What are environmental pollutants?
Environmental pollutants are substances introduced into the environment or emerging in it, usually with no characteristic physical, chemical or biological properties, which lead to negative impacts on the environment.
Describe the rules of human behavior in dangerous and emergency situations.
People's behavior in extreme situations is divided into two categories. Cases of rational, adaptive behavior of people are characterized by calmness and the implementation of measures of protection and mutual assistance, the organization of events that restore the disturbed order of life. This behavior is a consequence of the exact implementation of the instructions and orders of the leaders (leadership). It should be remembered that the implementation of orders and instructions prevents the spread of anxiety and anxiety, and at the same time does not impede the manifestation of initiative in the field of their protection.
Cases that are negative, pathological in nature are characterized by a lack of adaptation to the environment, when people, with their irrational behavior and dangerous surrounding actions, increase the number of victims and disorganize public order. In this case, there is either a manifestation of a state of general inhibition, when the mass of people becomes confused and lack of initiative, or, conversely, simply distraught. A particular case of severe anxiety is panic, when fear of danger takes possession of a person or a group of people. Panic usually manifests itself as a wild, erratic flight of people driven by fear. It can be accompanied by real fury, especially if there are obstacles on the way, overcoming which usually ends big amount human casualties.
THINK!
What is the main cause of environmental degradation, acutely affecting human health?
The influence of the environment on human health is quite significant. Many diseases arise from air pollution, poor drinking water, and the consumption of chemically processed food. Health is 50% dependent on lifestyle, 20% is influenced by the environment and the development of technology, 20% is affected by bad heredity, and only 10% depends on the level of health care.
Nowadays, a huge amount of pollutants enter the environment from industrial sources, be it factory pipes, industrial waste discharged into rivers, or huge landfills. Industrial toxic wastes enter the atmosphere and return to the surface of the earth with rain and dust, gradually accumulating in the soil. A huge amount of substances hazardous to health: arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium, zinc, chromium, nickel, copper, cobalt with groundwater enter the sources of drinking water supply. Together with water, these elements enter our body, slowly poisoning it and provoking serious diseases such as cancer, asthma, and various types of allergies.