Review on the problem of sanitary-epidemiological welfare of the population in the Siberian Federal District (SFD) was conducted based on literature data and authors own research in the period of 2002-2014. Authors provided broad information on the health and demographic and epidemiological characteristics of SFD population. SFD in comparison with other regions of the Russian Federation overcomes one of the most adverse situations including mortality rates from external causes. SFD population’s infectious and somatic morbidity rates were analyzed. Analysis demonstrated that the situation relating to priority epidemiologically and socially important infections (HIV-infection, parenteral viral hepatitis, tuberculosis etc.) on the territory of the SFD remains tense. Authors provided information on the increase in the level of the actual for Siberian regions natural-foci tick-borne infections. Detailed analysis for the environment anthropogenic pollution impact for the epidemic, infectious and vaccine induced processes. Authors suggest that anthropogenic (biological) environmental pollution is one of the most important factors influencing the epidemiological welfare of the Siberian population. A new strategic direction in epidemiological research associated with the problem of comorbid diseases is planned.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury provided a mandate for action against global mercury pollution. However, our knowledge of mercury exposures is limited because there are many regions and subpopulations with little or no data.
We aimed to increase worldwide understanding of human exposures to mercury by collecting, collating, and analyzing mercury concentrations in biomarker samples reported in the published scientific literature.
A systematic search of the peer-reviewed scientific literature was performed using three databases. A priori search strategy, eligibility criteria, and data extraction steps were used to identify relevant studies.
We collected 424,858 mercury biomarker measurements from 335,991 individuals represented in 312 articles from 75 countries. General background populations with insignificant exposures have blood, hair, and urine mercury levels that generally fall under [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text], respectively. We identified four populations of concern: a) Arctic populations who consume fish and marine mammals; b) tropical riverine communities (especially Amazonian) who consume fish and in some cases may be exposed to mining; c) coastal and/or small-island communities who substantially depend on seafood; and d) individuals who either work or reside among artisanal and small-scale gold mining sites.
This review suggests that all populations worldwide are exposed to some amount of mercury and that there is great variability in exposures within and across countries and regions. There remain many geographic regions and subpopulations with limited data, thus hindering evidence-based decision making. This type of information is critical in helping understand exposures, particularly in light of certain stipulations in the Minamata Convention on Mercury. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3904.
The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is among the Arctic species exposed to the highest concentrations of long-range transported bioaccumulative contaminants, such as halogenated organic compounds and mercury. Contaminant exposure is considered to be one of the largest threats to polar bears after the loss of their Arctic sea ice habitat due to climate change. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive summary of current exposure, fate, and potential health effects of contaminants in polar bears from the circumpolar Arctic required by the Circumpolar Action Plan for polar bear conservation. Overall results suggest that legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including polychlorinated biphenyls, chlordanes and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), followed by other perfluoroalkyl compounds (e.g. carboxylic acids, PFCAs) and brominated flame retardants, are still the main compounds in polar bears. Concentrations of several legacy POPs that have been banned for decades in most parts of the world have generally declined in polar bears. Current spatial trends of contaminants vary widely between compounds and recent studies suggest increased concentrations of both POPs and PFCAs in certain subpopulations. Correlative field studies, supported by in vitro studies, suggest that contaminant exposure disrupts circulating levels of thyroid hormones and lipid metabolism, and alters neurochemistry in polar bears. Additionally, field and in vitro studies and risk assessments indicate the potential for adverse impacts to polar bear immune functions from exposure to certain contaminants.
Despite being a pressing problem, the influence of urbanization on mental health is still underestimated in Russia. Although few studies on the topic in recent years were available, viewpoints of the expert community in Russia will be presented. Intensive urbanization impacts on the living conditions of the majority of the country's population being associated with mass migration of the population, a change in the structure of employment, the restructuring of family relations, and the need to adapt to unaccustomed living conditions.
Modern urbanization can adversely affect mental health due to stressful factors related to overpopulation, environmental contamination, poverty, violence, and lack of social support.
The main factors that directly affect mental health in Russia are consequences of urbanization such as:The society and the Government are taking a number of measures to prevent the consequences of urbanization (restrictions in the consumption of alcohol and tobacco, mass green plantations, a ban on noise in the evening, closure of landfills, etc.).
(1) To develop a framework for understanding the holistic effects of climate change on the Saami people; (2) to summarize the scientific evidence about the primary, secondary, and tertiary effects of climate change on Saami culture and Sápmi region; and (3) to identify gaps in the knowledge of the effects of climate change on health and well-being of the Saami.
The Saami health is on average similar, or slightly better compared to the health of other populations in the same area. Warming climate has already influenced Saami reindeer culture. Mental health and suicide risk partly linked to changing physical and social environments are major concerns. The lifestyle, diet, and morbidity of the Saami are changing to resemble the majority populations posing threats for the health of the Saami and making them more vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. Climate change is a threat for the cultural way of life of Saami. Possibilities for Saami to adapt to climate change are limited.
Department of Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, One University Ave, Lowell, MA, 01854, USA. daniel_obrist@uml.edu.
We review recent progress in our understanding of the global cycling of mercury (Hg), including best estimates of Hg concentrations and pool sizes in major environmental compartments and exchange processes within and between these reservoirs. Recent advances include the availability of new global datasets covering areas of the world where environmental Hg data were previously lacking; integration of these data into global and regional models is continually improving estimates of global Hg cycling. New analytical techniques, such as Hg stable isotope characterization, provide novel constraints of sources and transformation processes. The major global Hg reservoirs that are, and continue to be, affected by anthropogenic activities include the atmosphere (4.4-5.3 Gt), terrestrial environments (particularly soils: 250-1000 Gg), and aquatic ecosystems (e.g., oceans: 270-450 Gg). Declines in anthropogenic Hg emissions between 1990 and 2010 have led to declines in atmospheric Hg0 concentrations and HgII wet deposition in Europe and the US (- 1.5 to - 2.2% per year). Smaller atmospheric Hg0 declines (- 0.2% per year) have been reported in high northern latitudes, but not in the southern hemisphere, while increasing atmospheric Hg loads are still reported in East Asia. New observations and updated models now suggest high concentrations of oxidized HgII in the tropical and subtropical free troposphere where deep convection can scavenge these HgII reservoirs. As a result, up to 50% of total global wet HgII deposition has been predicted to occur to tropical oceans. Ocean Hg0 evasion is a large source of present-day atmospheric Hg (approximately 2900 Mg/year; range 1900-4200 Mg/year). Enhanced seawater Hg0 levels suggest enhanced Hg0 ocean evasion in the intertropical convergence zone, which may be linked to high HgII deposition. Estimates of gaseous Hg0 emissions to the atmosphere over land, long considered a critical Hg source, have been revised downward, and most terrestrial environments now are considered net sinks of atmospheric Hg due to substantial Hg uptake by plants. Litterfall deposition by plants is now estimated at 1020-1230 Mg/year globally. Stable isotope analysis and direct flux measurements provide evidence that in many ecosystems Hg0 deposition via plant inputs dominates, accounting for 57-94% of Hg in soils. Of global aquatic Hg releases, around 50% are estimated to occur in China and India, where Hg drains into the West Pacific and North Indian Oceans. A first inventory of global freshwater Hg suggests that inland freshwater Hg releases may be dominated by artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM; approximately 880 Mg/year), industrial and wastewater releases (220 Mg/year), and terrestrial mobilization (170-300 Mg/year). For pelagic ocean regions, the dominant source of Hg is atmospheric deposition; an exception is the Arctic Ocean, where riverine and coastal erosion is likely the dominant source. Ocean water Hg concentrations in the North Atlantic appear to have declined during the last several decades but have increased since the mid-1980s in the Pacific due to enhanced atmospheric deposition from the Asian continent. Finally, we provide examples of ongoing and anticipated changes in Hg cycling due to emission, climate, and land use changes. It is anticipated that future emissions changes will be strongly dependent on ASGM, as well as energy use scenarios and technology requirements implemented under the Minamata Convention. We predict that land use and climate change impacts on Hg cycling will be large and inherently linked to changes in ecosystem function and global atmospheric and ocean circulations. Our ability to predict multiple and simultaneous changes in future Hg global cycling and human exposure is rapidly developing but requires further enhancement.
Notes
Cites: Environ Microbiol Rep. 2014 Oct;6(5):441-7 PMID 25646534
Cites: Environ Sci Technol. 2009 Jul 1;43(13):4802-9 PMID 19673268
Cites: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Sep 22;112(38):11789-94 PMID 26351688
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ORISE, National Exposure Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA, Fax: +919-541-0905.
Children's exposures to chemical and non-chemical stressors from their everyday environment affects their overall health and well-being. American-Indian/Alaska-Native (AI/AN) children may have a disproportionate burden of stressors from their built and natural environments when compared to children from other races/ethnicities. Our objectives were to identify chemical and non-chemical stressors from AI/AN children's built and natural environments and evaluate their linkages with health and well-being outcomes from the peer reviewed literature. Library databases (e.g. PubMed) were searched to identify studies focused on these stressors. References were excluded if they: did not discuss AI/AN children or they were not the primary cohort; discussed tribes outside the United States (U.S.); were reviews or intervention studies; or did not discuss stressors from the built/natural environments. Out of 2539 references, 35 remained. Sample populations were predominantly (70%) in New York (NY) and Alaska (AK); 14 studies reported on the same cohort. Studies with matching stressors and outcomes were few, ruling out a quantitative review. Respiratory and developmental outcomes were the main outcomes evaluated. Primary non-chemical stressors were residential proximity to polluted landscapes, lack of indoor plumbing, and indoor use of wood for heating or cooking. The main chemical stressors were volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter (PM2.5), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), p,p'-DDE, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), lead, and mercury. Our qualitative review was suggestive of a potential increase in respiratory illness from indoor wood use or no plumbing, which can be used as a guide to promote healthy environments for AI/AN children. We identified limited studies (
The first Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) report was published in 1998 and followed by three assessment reports of human health (AMAP 2003, 2009 and 2015). The focus area of the AMAP reports was to monitor levels of environmental contaminants in the Arctic and to assess the health effects connected with detected levels in Arctic countries. This review gives an overview of temporal trends of contaminants and their health effects in humans of the Arctic based on data published by AMAP, as well as Russian scientific literature. Several time series of 31 contaminants in humans of the Arctic from different cohorts are reported. The lengths of time series and periods covered differ from each other. International restrictions have decreased the levels of most persistent organic pollutants in humans and food webs. Percentage changes for contaminants in human biological matrices (blood samples from children, mothers and males and breast milk samples) for the period of sampling showed declining trends in most of the monitored Arctic locations, with the exception of oxychlordane, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexabromodiphenyl ether (PBDE153) and perfluorinated compounds (PFCs).
Notes
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Cites: Int J Circumpolar Health. 2012 Jul 10;71:18594 PMID 22789518
Cites: Arctic Med Res. 1988;47 Suppl 1:659-65 PMID 3078512
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aDivision of Nephrology bDepartment of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco cPriscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California, USA.
We aim to review recent updates on the epidemiology of chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Recent analyses from the National Health and Nutritional Examination survey describe the temporal trend in CKD prevalence in US adults. The overall prevalence of estimated glomerular filtration rate less than 60?ml/min/1.73?m increased from 4.8% in 1988-1994 to 6.9% in 2003-2004, but has since stabilized at 6.4-6.9% up to 2011-2012. Prevalence of CKD stages 1-4 has also stabilized at ~14% of adults since 2003-2004. The prevalence of diabetic kidney disease - defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate less than 60?ml/min/1.73?m and/or microalbuminuria among adults with diabetes - has similarly plateaued since the early to mid-2000s at ~26-27%. There is continued rise in CKD and diabetic kidney disease prevalence among blacks and Mexican-Americans, however, in the last decade. Worldwide, a similar pattern of stable prevalence of CKD since the early 2000s is seen in England, Norway, and Korea. Despite these optimistic findings, there are several emerging at-risk populations. Rapid increases in diabetes and hypertension in China may signal an impending growth in CKD. In parts of Central America, there is emergence of very high CKD prevalence among agricultural workers - suspected to be due to occupational and environmental exposures.
Collective efforts to undermine risk factors, such as better control of hypertension and diabetes, have likely helped to abate the growth in CKD in several developed countries within the last decade. More worldwide high-quality and geographically granular data collection on CKD would help to monitor the epidemiology of CKD and potentially assist in identifying impactful interventions.
Promoting Physical Activity Among Native American Youth: a Systematic Review of the Methodology and Current Evidence of Physical Activity Interventions and Community-wide Initiatives.
Office of Nutrition Research, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Two Democracy Plaza, Room 635, 6707 Democracy Boulevard MSC 5461, Bethesda, MD, 20892-5461, USA. sheila.fleischhacker@nih.gov.
Source
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2016 Dec; 3(4):608-624
Promoting physical activity using environmental, policy, and systems approaches could potentially address persistent health disparities faced by American Indian and Alaska Native children and adolescents. To address research gaps and help inform tribally led community changes that promote physical activity, this review examined the methodology and current evidence of physical activity interventions and community-wide initiatives among Native youth. A keyword-guided search was conducted in multiple databases to identify peer-reviewed research articles that reported on physical activity among Native youth. Ultimately, 20 unique interventions (described in 76 articles) and 13 unique community-wide initiatives (described in 16 articles) met the study criteria. Four interventions noted positive changes in knowledge and attitude relating to physical activity but none of the interventions examined reported statistically significant improvements on weight-related outcomes. Only six interventions reported implementing environmental, policy, and system approaches relating to promoting physical activity and generally only shared anecdotal information about the approaches tried. Using community-based participatory research or tribally driven research models strengthened the tribal-research partnerships and improved the cultural and contextual sensitivity of the intervention or community-wide initiative. Few interventions or community-wide initiatives examined multi-level, multi-sector interventions to promote physical activity among Native youth, families, and communities. More research is needed to measure and monitor physical activity within this understudied, high risk group. Future research could also focus on the unique authority and opportunity of tribal leaders and other key stakeholders to use environmental, policy, and systems approaches to raise a healthier generation of Native youth.
Soil Physics and Land Management Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 4, 6708PB Wageningen, The Netherlands; Civil, Surveying and Environmental Engineering, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan 2308, Australia. Electronic address: saskia.keesstra@wur.nl.
The rehabilitation and restoration of land is a key strategy to recover services -goods and resources- ecosystems offer to the humankind. This paper reviews key examples to understand the superior effect of nature based solutions to enhance the sustainability of catchment systems by promoting desirable soil and landscape functions. The use of concepts such as connectivity and the theory of system thinking framework allowed to review coastal and river management as a guide to evaluate other strategies to achieve sustainability. In land management NBSs are not mainstream management. Through a set of case studies: organic farming in Spain; rewilding in Slovenia; land restoration in Iceland, sediment trapping in Ethiopia and wetland construction in Sweden, we show the potential of Nature based solutions (NBSs) as a cost-effective long term solution for hydrological risks and land degradation. NBSs can be divided into two main groups of strategies: soil solutions and landscape solutions. Soil solutions aim to enhance the soil health and soil functions through which local eco-system services will be maintained or restored. Landscape solutions mainly focus on the concept of connectivity. Making the landscape less connected, facilitating less rainfall to be transformed into runoff and therefore reducing flood risk, increasing soil moisture and reducing droughts and soil erosion we can achieve the sustainability. The enhanced eco-system services directly feed into the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
Drexel University College of Medicine, 2900 W. Queen Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19129, United States; Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, 3641 Locust Walk #210, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States; Center for Public Health Initiatives, 3620 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States. Electronic address: aeiser09@gmail.com.
Finland has the highest death rate from dementia in the world and its environmental features can be instructive in understanding hidden causes of dementia. Environmental factors there include: 1) a climate that is both very cold and humid resulting in housing frequently harboring molds that are capable of producing a neurotoxic mycotoxin 2) the Gulf of Finland as well as Finnish lakes harbor cyanobacteria that produce the neurotoxin, beta-N-methyl amino-L-alanine, known to cause dementia and related disorders 3) the aforementioned toxins can be potentiated by the presence of mercury and methyl mercury which can be found in Finnish waters 4) soil in Finland is naturally low in selenium and selenium deficiency may reduce the quantity and effectiveness of glutathione's ability to protect against neurotoxins. A high rate of fatal dementia could be the consequence of these environmental factors. Studies that can support or disprove this hypothesis are suggested. Such environmental toxins are likely to promote Alzheimer's disease elsewhere in the world where such a combination of neurotoxins may also occur.
Public health has always been, and remains, an interdisciplinary field, and engineering was closely aligned with public health for many years. Indeed, the branch of engineering that has been known at various times as sanitary engineering, public health engineering, or environmental engineering was integral to the emergence of public health as a distinct discipline. However, in the United States (U.S.) during the 20th century, the academic preparation and practice of this branch of engineering became largely separated from public health. Various factors contributed to this separation, including an evolution in leadership roles within public health; increasing specialization within public health; and the emerging environmental movement, which led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with its emphasis on the natural environment. In this paper, we consider these factors in turn. We also present a case study example of public health engineering in current practice in the U.S. that has had large-scale positive health impacts through improving water and sanitation services in Native American and Alaska Native communities. We also consider briefly how to educate engineers to work in public health in the modern world, and the benefits and challenges associated with that process. We close by discussing the global implications of public health engineering and the need to re-integrate engineering into public health practice and strengthen the connection between the two fields.
ORISE, National Exposure Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA, Fax: +919-541-0905.
Children's exposures to chemical and non-chemical stressors from their everyday environment affects their overall health and well-being. American-Indian/Alaska-Native (AI/AN) children may have a disproportionate burden of stressors from their built and natural environments when compared to children from other races/ethnicities. Our objectives were to identify chemical and non-chemical stressors from AI/AN children's built and natural environments and evaluate their linkages with health and well-being outcomes from the peer reviewed literature. Library databases (e.g. PubMed) were searched to identify studies focused on these stressors. References were excluded if they: did not discuss AI/AN children or they were not the primary cohort; discussed tribes outside the United States (U.S.); were reviews or intervention studies; or did not discuss stressors from the built/natural environments. Out of 2539 references, 35 remained. Sample populations were predominantly (70%) in New York (NY) and Alaska (AK); 14 studies reported on the same cohort. Studies with matching stressors and outcomes were few, ruling out a quantitative review. Respiratory and developmental outcomes were the main outcomes evaluated. Primary non-chemical stressors were residential proximity to polluted landscapes, lack of indoor plumbing, and indoor use of wood for heating or cooking. The main chemical stressors were volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter (PM2.5), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), p,p'-DDE, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), lead, and mercury. Our qualitative review was suggestive of a potential increase in respiratory illness from indoor wood use or no plumbing, which can be used as a guide to promote healthy environments for AI/AN children. We identified limited studies (
Notes
CommentIn: Rev Environ Health. 2018 Dec 19;33(4):319 PMID 30530910
Responding to Climate and Environmental Change Impacts on Human Health via Integrated Surveillance in the Circumpolar North: A Systematic Realist Review.
Environments are shifting rapidly in the Circumpolar Arctic and Subarctic regions as a result of climate change and other external stressors, and this has a substantial impact on the health of northern populations. Thus, there is a need for integrated surveillance systems designed to monitor the impacts of climate change on human health outcomes as part of broader adaptation strategies in these regions. This review aimed to identify, describe, and synthesize literature on integrated surveillance systems in Circumpolar Arctic and Subarctic regions, that are used for research or practice. Following a systematic realist review approach, relevant articles were identified using search strings developed for MEDLINE® and Web of Science™ databases, and screened by two independent reviewers. Articles that met the inclusion criteria were retained for descriptive quantitative analysis, as well as thematic qualitative analysis, using a realist lens. Of the 3431 articles retrieved in the database searches, 85 met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Thematic analysis identified components of integrated surveillance systems that were categorized into three main groups: structural, processual, and relational components. These components were linked to surveillance attributes and activities that supported the operations and management of integrated surveillance. This review advances understandings of the distinct contributions of integrated surveillance systems and data to discerning the nature of changes in climate and environmental conditions that affect population health outcomes and determinants in the Circumpolar North. Findings from this review can be used to inform the planning, design, and evaluation of integrated surveillance systems that support evidence-based public health research and practice in the context of increasing climate change and the need for adaptation.
Arctic residents can be exposed to a wide range of contaminants through consumption of traditional (country) foods (i.e. food from wild animals and plants that are hunted, caught or collected locally in the Arctic). Yet these foods provide excellent nutrition, promote social cohesion, meet some spiritual needs for connectedness to the land and water, reinforce cultural ties, are economically important and promote overall good health for many. The risk and benefit balance associated with the consumption of traditional Arctic foods is complicated to communicate and has been referred to as the "Arctic Dilemma". This article gives an update on health risk communication in the Arctic region. It briefly summarizes some research on risk communication methodologies as well as approaches to an evaluation of the outcomes of risk communication initiatives. It provides information on specific initiatives in several Arctic countries, and particularly those that were directed at Indigenous populations. This article also summarizes some international versus local risk communication activities and the complexity of developing and delivering messages designed for different audiences. Finally, the potential application of social media for risk communication and a summary of "best practices" based on published literature and a survey of Inuit in a few Arctic countries are described.
Several of the risk communication initiatives portrayed in this article indicate that there is only limited awareness of the outcome of risk communication messages. In some cases, risk communication efforts appear to have been successful, at least when effectiveness is measured in an indirect way, for example, by lower contaminant levels. However, due to missing effectiveness evaluation studies, uncertainty remains as to whether a specific risk communication method was successful and could be clearly linked to behavioural changes that resulted in decreased contaminant exposure.
Notes
Cites: Environ Health Perspect. 2014 Feb;122(2):178-86 PMID 24345328
Cites: Sci Total Environ. 2010 Oct 15;408(22):5165-234 PMID 20728918
Cites: Int J Circumpolar Health. 2012 Jul 10;71:18594 PMID 22789518
Cites: Arctic Med Res. 1988;47 Suppl 1:159-62 PMID 3152417
Systematic collection of DNA samples started in FINRISK during the 1992 survey and has continued in all surveys since then. At the moment, FINRISK has DNA, careful phenotyping at baseline, and prospective follow-up for incident disease for about 34,000 participants. These data have been used for genome-wide association studies by contributing to numerous large international consortia, mainly focused on cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors. In parallel, genomic data from FINRISK have been used for cardiovascular risk estimation, and our constantly improving knowledge of cardiovascular disease risk variants generates promising prospects in this field. The isolated nature of the Finnish population and recent bottlenecks in our population history, particularly in eastern Finland, provide certain advantages for sequencing studies. The power to detect low-frequency variants is stronger in isolated populations, like those in eastern Finland, than in more admixed populations. Together with country-wide and reliable electronic health records, this provides a resource that is currently widely utilized in whole exome and whole genome sequencing studies.
The first Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) report was published in 1998 and followed by three assessment reports of human health (AMAP 2003, 2009 and 2015). The focus area of the AMAP reports was to monitor levels of environmental contaminants in the Arctic and to assess the health effects connected with detected levels in Arctic countries. This review gives an overview of temporal trends of contaminants and their health effects in humans of the Arctic based on data published by AMAP, as well as Russian scientific literature. Several time series of 31 contaminants in humans of the Arctic from different cohorts are reported. The lengths of time series and periods covered differ from each other. International restrictions have decreased the levels of most persistent organic pollutants in humans and food webs. Percentage changes for contaminants in human biological matrices (blood samples from children, mothers and males and breast milk samples) for the period of sampling showed declining trends in most of the monitored Arctic locations, with the exception of oxychlordane, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexabromodiphenyl ether (PBDE153) and perfluorinated compounds (PFCs).
Wastewater management in Canadian Arctic communities is influenced by several geographical factors including climate, remoteness, population size, and local food-harvesting practices. Most communities use trucked collection services and basic treatment systems, which are capable of only low-level pathogen removal. These systems are typically reliant solely on natural environmental processes for treatment and make use of existing lagoons, wetlands, and bays. They are operated in a manner such that partially treated wastewater still containing potentially hazardous microorganisms is released into the terrestrial and aquatic environment at random times. Northern communities rely heavily on their local surroundings as a source of food, drinking water, and recreation, thus creating the possibility of human exposure to wastewater effluent. Human exposure to microbial hazards present in municipal wastewater can lead to acute gastrointestinal illness or more severe disease. Although estimating the actual disease burdens associated with wastewater exposures in Arctic communities is challenging, waterborne- and sanitation-related illness is believed to be comparatively higher than in other parts of Canada. This review offers a conceptual framework and evaluation of current knowledge to enable the first microbial risk assessment of exposure scenarios associated with food-harvesting and recreational activities in Arctic communities, where simplified wastewater systems are being operated.
Public health has always been, and remains, an interdisciplinary field, and engineering was closely aligned with public health for many years. Indeed, the branch of engineering that has been known at various times as sanitary engineering, public health engineering, or environmental engineering was integral to the emergence of public health as a distinct discipline. However, in the United States (U.S.) during the 20th century, the academic preparation and practice of this branch of engineering became largely separated from public health. Various factors contributed to this separation, including an evolution in leadership roles within public health; increasing specialization within public health; and the emerging environmental movement, which led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with its emphasis on the natural environment. In this paper, we consider these factors in turn. We also present a case study example of public health engineering in current practice in the U.S. that has had large-scale positive health impacts through improving water and sanitation services in Native American and Alaska Native communities. We also consider briefly how to educate engineers to work in public health in the modern world, and the benefits and challenges associated with that process. We close by discussing the global implications of public health engineering and the need to re-integrate engineering into public health practice and strengthen the connection between the two fields.
