Epidemiology: Open Access
Open Access

Environmental epidemiology is the study of the distribution and environmental determinants of disease. This observational science is based upon occasions occurring within human populations, soreferred to as natural experiments, from which inference is drawn to identify causes of disease. In particular, environmental epidemiology focuses on physical, chemical, and biologic agents in the environment as disorder risk factors, often affecting large populations. Here we summarize fundamental principles of environmental epidemiology, including epidemiologic measures and basic epidemiologic study designs. We also deal with some of the more salient challenges faced through environmental epidemiology, together with confounding, bias and exposure misclassification, and random sampling error, or chance, as well as strategies used to address these, such as biomarkers of exposure. We next touch upon strategies for establishing causal relations between environmental agents and disorder, using evidence from environmental epidemiology studies [1].

Examples of epidemiological studies

For example, an epidemiologic study ought to examine how the proportion of obese people in the populace has recently increased in developed countries and take a look at the links among this trend and its feasible reasons (loss of physical exercise, diets low in fruit and greens or excessive in junk meals or meals with a high content of sugar and fats, and so on). We may also examine the distribution of lung cancer in Spain, trying to identify why there are more cases in a few regions and less in others and to relate the ones findings to environmental or lifestyle factors (better incidence of smoking or a typical diet characterized through a excessive red meat content, for example) [2].

Our health is tormented by many aspects of our lives: personal factors (age and sex in addition to hereditary and socioeconomic factors); lifestyle (diet, physical activity, work-life balance); the local community and economy (income levels, investment); what we do (our jobs, how we travel, in which we live); our built environment (public spaces, road network); and the natural environment around us (green areas nearby).

Air Pollution and Health

Air pollution has many short- and long-term results on human health. Urban air pollution, generated specially through road traffic, will increase the threat of chronic respiratory diseases inclusive of lung cancer and the threat of acute situations inclusive of pneumonia and cardiovascular occasions. Air great influences us all, whether we're unwell or healthy, younger or old [3].

In a latest IS Global researcher’s located reduced development in cognitive improvement amongst number one faculty youngster uncovered to better levels of air pollution due to the proximity of their school to busy roads. The areas of the brain related to executive features such as working memory and attention essentially the prefrontal cortex and striatum have shown inflammatory responses after exposure to traffic-associated air pollutants.

In another study, IS Global researchers discovered that maternal exposure in early pregnancy to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a pollutant that comes especially from road traffic, turned into related to decreased foetal growth. The results had been based on ultrasound measurements of growth at some point of pregnancy and measures of size at birth.

Occupational epidemiology researches the distribution of health events and health associated determinants and its relation to the working environment [4]. Environmental epidemiology makes a speciality of the involuntary publicity to bodily and chemical factors in the indoor or outside surroundings which can have an effect on health patterns. Occupational and environmental epidemiology uses similar methodology even though the situations differ [5]. The environmental epidemiology studies beyond the health impact of exposure to unique environmental factors and must consider the long-time period impact of the ecosystems to nearby populations. Molecular technology permits the detection of results on the molecular level originated by very low levels of exposure. The idea of an exposome is a type of database with statistics regarding environmental exposure measurements in an existence time and corresponding biomarkers concentrations in different biospeciments, considering internal individual genetic characteristics.

1. Aldrich TE (2000) Environmental Epidemiology Forward. Chemosphere 41:59-67.

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2. Cayuela L, López-Campos JL, Otero R, Portal JA, Rodríguez-Domínguez S, et al. (2021) The Beginning of the Trend Change in Lung Cancer Mortality Trends in Spain, 1980–2018. Arch Bronconeumol (Engl Ed) 57:115-121.

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3. Hassan Bhat T, Jiawen G, Farzaneh H (2021) Air Pollution Health Risk Assessment (AP-HRA), Principles and Applications. Int J Environ Res Public Health 18:1935.

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4. Zocchetti C, Pesatori A, Consonni D (2003) Occupational Epidemiology: From Analysis of the Apparent To Investigation of the Unknown. Med Lav 94:92-100. 

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5. Steenland K (2013) Marginal Structural Models To Control for Time-Varying Confounding in Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology. Occup Environ Med 70:601-602. 

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