HISTORICAL

PERSPECTIVES
OF
ENVIRONMENTAL
HEALTH

Prehistoric and Ancient Civilization

Religious laws, such as Moses Law, writings in the Old and New
Testaments and laws in the Koran, played major roles in the lives of
ancient peoples.
These laws mainly concentrated on the provision of personal
hygiene. Dead bodies and contaminated surfaces were known to be
unclean or unhygienic to touch.
The importance of burying human faeces was also strongly
indicated.
The importance of body cleanliness before praying was a motive for
maintaining the integrity of hygiene with a religious practice.
2

The importance of hygiene and sanitation flourished at the

times of Greek, Roman and Egyptian civilisation.
The use of private and public baths and latrines, cleaning
of the body, shaving the head for protection from lice
infestation, and the construction of water pipelines and
sewage ditches were widely observed.
The transmission of schistosomiasis (bilharzia) was linked
to bathing and swimming in the Nile River. In these
civilisations, the focus was on personal hygiene (hygiene)
and human waste management (sanitation).
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Modern Times
A number of discoveries in the 19th century were important
events for the understanding of communicable diseases.
For example, the link between contaminated water and
cholera was discovered by John Snow in 1854;
The importance of hygienic handwashing before attending
delivery of a baby was noted by Dr. Semmelweis in 1845;
and the discovery that microorganisms (very small
organisms only visible under a microscope) cause disease
was made by Louis Pasteur around this time.
4

Industrial Revolution (1800)

Industrial pollu.on resul.ng from technology
based on iron and steel
n Widespread pollu.on
n Local concentra.on of pollu.on at factory site
n UK rst country to suer industrial pollu.on;
n Principal health concerns: communicable
diseases
n

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

THE FIRST ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS

n Europe; 19th century

Public health problems: associated with

adulterated food and water
contamina.on

Characteriza*on:
1. No public health science to address chemical
pollu.on although there was an
understanding of health eects of toxic
chemical exposures
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

2.

Applied chemistry and chemical engineering

(1700s & early 1800s) introduced pollu.on-
genera.ng processes e.g. produc.on of
sulphuric acid, soap, bleach, and soda ash (sodium
carbonate)

3. Organic chemistry: synthe.c chemicals (mostly

biodegradable)

4. Advanced Engineering and Chemistry (before and

during WW II): synthe.c rubber, solvents, plas.cs
and pes.cides dicult to breakdown by natural
process and as a result persisted in the
environment.

Government Initiative:
n Public Health Act (1848);
environmental problems water and
health hazards related to infectious
diseases

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

THE 2ND WAVE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN

n

mid to late 20th century

Characteriza;on:
n Dominated by 2 broad movements together called
the Environmental or Ecology Movement

First Movement
n Priori.es: conserva.on of natural resources and
preserva.on of special sites of natural or historic
signicance

Mid 20th achievement: designa.on of areas for

parks, wilderness areas, and other protected lands.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Second Movement:
n
Focus: substances toxic to humans or damaging to
the environment (but le\ out carbon dioxide &
other rela.vely nontoxic chemicals such as CFC)

n
Ini.a.ves:
1.
Pure food and drug movement adopted as their
central issue environmental pollutants

2. Public movements and UN Conference on the
Human Environment (1972): legisla.ons to curb
industrial pollu.on by limi.ng emissions or
euents of pollu.on
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

10

THIRD WAVE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN

n 1980s to 1990s
Characteriza*on:
n Accelerated rate of ecomomic development
combined with substan.al increase in world
popula.on

1987: sustainable development as focus of

environmental planning and economic development

New environmental concerns:

1. Chemicals that disrupt the endoctrine system and are
persistent in the environment
2. Global environmental change
n

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

11