Biologists and economists have recently begun to use a new term - "ecosystem services", which refers to the many ways in which nature supports human activities. Forests filter our drinking water, birds and bees pollinate crops, and both "services" are of high economic and biological value.
If we do not understand the laws of the natural ecosystem and do not take care of it, then the system will cease to provide the “service” we need and even begin to persecute us in forms that we still have very little idea of. An example is the emergence of new infectious diseases, in which most epidemics - AIDS, Ebola, West Nile, acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Lyme disease, and hundreds of others that have occurred in recent decades, did not happen by themselves.
As it turns out, the disease is largely environmentally conditioned. 60% of human infectious diseases are zoonotic, that is, they originate from animals. And more than two-thirds of them originate in the wild.
Several teams of veterinarians and environmentalists, together with medical scientists and epidemiologists, are making efforts at a global level to understand the "ecology of disease." Their work is part of a project called Predict, which is funded by the US Agency for International Development. Experts are trying to understand how, based on knowledge of man-made changes in the landscape, for example, the construction of a new farm or road, it is possible to predict exactly where new diseases for humanity will penetrate to us, and how to detect them in time, that is, before they have time. spread. Researchers take samples of blood, saliva and other biomaterials from animals of those species that pose the greatest threat to the spread of infection in order to compile a kind of catalog of viruses: having it, it will be possible to quickly identify the virus if it infects a person. Experts are looking for ways to treat forests, their fauna and domestic animals that would prevent the emergence of diseases from forest areas and their growth into new pandemics.
This is not only about health care, but also about the economy. The World Bank has calculated that a ferocious flu epidemic, for example, could cost the global economy $3 trillion.
The problem is exacerbated by poor livestock conditions in poor countries: this factor can significantly increase the threat of the spread of infections carried by wild animals. Recently, the International Institute for Animal Research published information that annually more than 2 million people die from diseases transmitted to humans from wild and domestic animals.
Nipah virus in South Africa and the closely related Hendra virus in Australia (both from the genus Henipah) are the most recent examples of how ecosystem disruption can lead to the spread of disease. The source of these viruses are flying foxes (Pteropus vampyrus), also known as fruit bats. They eat very sloppily and this is an important factor in the transmission scenario. Resembling Dracula in their appearance, tightly wrapped in a webbed cloak, they often hang upside down and eat fruits: the pulp is chewed, and the juice and seeds are spit out.
Flying foxes and Henipah viruses originated millions of years ago and co-evolved, so that the host rarely becomes seriously ill when exposed to a virus, except perhaps the flying fox equivalent of our cold. When the virus breaks through to those species that are not its traditional symbiont, something similar to the scenario of a horror movie can happen, as happened in rural areas Malaysia in 1999. Apparently, a flying fox dropped a piece of chewed fruit pulp into a pigsty located in the forest. The pigs contracted the virus, amplified it, after which it passed to humans. Its lethal power was astounding: of the 276 people infected in Malaysia, 106 died, and many of the survivors were left with lifelong disabilities suffering from neurological complications. There is no vaccine or cure for Henipah infection. Since the first outbreak of the disease, 12 more have occurred in South Asia, albeit on a smaller scale.
In Australia, where 4 people and several dozen horses died from the Hendra virus, the scenario was different: the expansion of the suburbs led to the fact that infected bats, which have always inhabited exclusively forests, have chosen yards and pastures. If Henipah viruses have evolved to be ready to be transmitted through casual contact, then you have to worry about whether he can leave the jungle and spread first to Asia and then to the world. "Nipah is leaking out and we're seeing small clusters of cases so far, but it's only a matter of time before a strain will emerge that can spread very effectively in humans," says Jonathan Epstein, a veterinarian with the EcoHealth Alliance, New York. York organization studying environmental reasons diseases.
Emerging infectious diseases are either new types of pathogens, or old but mutated, as is the case with influenza every year. For example, man acquired AIDS from chimpanzees in the 1920s, when African hunters of wild animals killed them and consumed them.
Throughout history, diseases have emerged from forests and wildlife to make their way into human populations: plague and malaria are just two examples of such infections. Over the past 50 years, however, the number of re-emerging diseases, according to experts, has quadrupled, mainly due to the ever deeper penetration of humans into the wild, especially in the infectious “hotspots” of the planet, most of which are located in tropical regions. . Thanks to the possibilities of modern air transport and the stable demand for wildlife, the likelihood of a large-scale outbreak of any infectious disease in large settlements high enough.
The key to predicting and preventing a future pandemic, experts say, is understanding the so-called “protective effect” of nature undisturbed by human intervention. For example, scientific analysis shows that in the Amazon, deforestation of just 4% of forests has led to a 50% increase in the incidence of malaria, because mosquitoes that transmit the infection multiply much more actively when combined sunlight and water, that is, in the conditions created in the clearing areas. Making ill-conceived actions in relation to forests, a person opens a Pandora's box - and this kind of cause and effect is studied by a newly created team of specialists.
Public health experts are beginning to incorporate the environmental factor into their population health models. Australia, for example, is launching a massive multi-million dollar Hendra virus and bat ecology project.
However, the implementation human civilization into the tropical landscape is not the only factor contributing to the emergence of new infectious diseases. West Nile virus came to the United States from Africa, but spread because one of its favorite hosts is the robin, which thrives in America, in the edge of clearings and agricultural fields. Mosquitoes that spread the disease find robins particularly attractive. "The health impact of the virus in the United States has been so significant because it uses species that get along well with humans," says Marm Kilpatrick, a biologist at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Because of the leading role in the spread of this disease, the robin is called a "super-carrier".
The scourge of the American east coast, Lyme disease, is also largely a product of human intervention in the environment, namely, the result of the reduction and fragmentation of extensive forest areas. The human invasion has scared away natural predators - wolves, foxes, owls and hawks. This resulted in a five-fold increase in the number of white-footed hamsters, which are an excellent "reservoir" for Lyme bacteria, possibly because they have a very weak immune system. In addition, they take very poor care of their fur. Possums and gray squirrels comb out 90% of the tick larvae that spread the virus, and hamsters destroy only 50%. “In this way, hamsters produce a huge number of infected pupae,” says Richard Ostfeld, a specialist in Lyme disease.
“When our actions in an ecosystem, such as tearing apart a single forest area and plowing the vacated area into farmland, damage biodiversity, we get rid of those species that perform a protective function,” says Dr. Ostfeld. “There are several species that are reservoirs of infection, and quite a few that are not. By intervening, we encourage those who play the role of reservoirs to breed.
Dr. Ostfeld observed the emergence of two infectious diseases carried by ticks - piroplasmosis (babesiosis) and anaplasmosis - and he was the first to raise the alarm about the possibility of their spread.
The best way to prevent new disease outbreaks, experts say, is through a worldwide program they call the "One Health Initiative," which includes the work of more than 600 scientists and other professionals and promotes the idea that the health of people, animals and ecosystems as a whole are inextricably linked. , and when planning certain innovations affecting nature, they must be approached as a whole.
“This does not mean that you need to leave the virgin forests virgin and not let people go there,” explains Simon Anthony, a molecular virologist at the Center for the Study of Infection and Immunity at Columbia University: “But you need to understand how to do it without harm. If we can find the mechanism that triggers the occurrence of the disease, we will be able to make changes in the environment without negative consequences.”
This is a task of enormous scale and complexity. According to experts, today science has studied approximately 1% of all viruses that live in the wild. Another complicating circumstance is that wildlife immunology as a science is just beginning to develop. Raina K. Plowright, Pennsylvania biologist state university, who studies disease ecology, has found that outbreaks of Hendra virus in flying foxes in rural areas are quite rare and much higher in urban and suburban animals. She hypothesizes that urban bats become sedentary and are less exposed to the virus than wild ones, and therefore get sick more easily. This means that an increasing number of flying foxes - whether as a result of poor nutrition, loss of natural environment, or for other reasons - become infected themselves and bring the virus into the yard to humans.
The fate of a future pandemic may depend on the work of the Forecast project. EcoHealth and its partners, UC Davis, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the Smithsonian Institute for Global Predictions in Virology, study and catalog viruses that infect tropical wildlife. The focus is on primates, rats and bats, which are the most likely vectors of human diseases.
Project Prognoz researchers monitor those sites where the existence of deadly viruses is an established fact and at the same time a person breaks into a forest zone, as is happening along a new highway connecting the Atlantic coast with the coast Pacific Ocean across the Andes to Brazil and Peru. “By mapping forest invasion sites, you can predict where the next outbreak might occur,” says Dr. Dazak, president of EcoHealth. roads are being built. We talk to people living in these zones and explain to them that their activities are very risky.”
It may also be necessary to speak to traditional game hunters, as well as those who build farms in areas that are the natural habitat of bats. In Bangladesh, where the Nipah virus has caused outbreaks on several occasions, flying foxes have been found to visit collector containers of date juice that people have been drinking. The containers were covered with bamboo mats (costing 8 cents each) and the source of the disease was eliminated.
EcoHealth specialists also organized luggage scanning at airports to check imported exotic animals, which are highly likely to be carriers of viruses that are fatal to humans. EcoHealth has a special PetWatch program designed to warn fans of keeping exotic pets brought to market from wild forests in infectious hot spots of the planet.
Dr. Epstein, EcoHealth veterinarian, believes that the knowledge gained over the past few years about the ecology of disease allows us to worry a little less about the future. “For the first time in history, we are taking coordinated action from 20 countries around the world to develop a system of timely warnings about the potential threat of outbreaks of zoonotic infections,” he says.
Jim ROBBINS
Sections: Geography, Ecology
Lesson topic: environmental diseases.
Lesson Objectives:
- Give the concept of global environmental pollution, the impact on human health of heavy metals, radiation, biphenyls and emerging environmental diseases. Show ways to solve the problem of global environmental pollution. Give the concept of environmental safety of the population.
- Continue developing the skills to prepare messages, analyze, compare, draw conclusions.
- Education of respect for health and nature.
Equipment: photos, slides, tables.
DURING THE CLASSES
I. Organizing moment
a) Announcement of the topic of the lesson. ( Application
. slide 1)
b) Familiarization with the lesson plan. ( Application
. slide 2)
II. Presentation of new material
1. Global environmental pollution.
Teacher: At the beginning of the 21st century, humanity has fully felt the global environmental crisis, which clearly indicates the anthropogenic pollution of our planet. The most dangerous environmental pollutants include many inorganic and organic substances: radionuclides, heavy metals (such as mercury, cadmium, lead, zinc), radioactive metals, polychlorinated biphenyls, polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Their constant impact causes serious disturbances in the activity of the basic vital functions of the body. Probably, man has crossed the permissible ecological limits of influence on all components of the biosphere, which ultimately endangered the existence of modern civilization. We can say that a person has approached a limit that cannot be crossed under any circumstances. One careless step and humanity will "fall" into the abyss. One thoughtless move and humanity could disappear from the face of the earth.
(Application
. slide 3)
Global environmental pollution has occurred mainly for two reasons:
1) The steady growth of the world's population.
2) A sharp increase in the course of the scientific and technological revolution in the consumption of various energy sources.
Consider the first case: Application . slide 4)
So, if the population in 1900 was 1.7 billion people, then by the end of the twentieth century it reached 6.2 billion people. 1950 - the share of the urban population - 29%, 2000 - 47.5%. Urbanization in Russia - 73%.
(Application
. slide 5) Every year 145 million people are born in the world. 3 people appear every second. Every minute - 175 people. Every hour - 10.5 thousand people. Every day - 250 thousand people.
(Application . Slide 5) The largest urban agglomerations are: Tokyo - 26.4 million people. Mexico City - 17 million people New York - 16.6 million people Moscow - 13.4 million people
Urbanization has also affected Russia, where the share of the urban population is about 73%. In large cities, the situation with environmental pollution has become threatening (especially from vehicle emissions, radioactive contamination due to accidents at nuclear power plants).
(Application
. Slide 6) A city with a population of 1 million people consumes 2,000 tons of food per day, 625,000 tons of water, thousands of tons of coal, oil, gas and products of their processing.
In one day, a million-strong city throws out 500,000 tons of sewage, 2,000 tons of garbage and hundreds of tons of gaseous substances. All cities of the world annually emit into the environment up to 3 billion tons of solid industrial and domestic waste and about 1 billion tons of various aerosols, over 500 cubic meters. km, industrial and domestic wastewater. (Write in notebook)
Teacher. Let's consider the second case.
FROM mid-nineteenth century, as a result of the industrial and then the scientific and technological revolution, mankind increased the consumption of fossil fuels tenfold. With the advent of new vehicles (steam locomotives, steamships, automobiles, diesel engines) and the development of thermal power engineering, the consumption of oil and natural gas has increased significantly.
(Application
. slide 7)
Over the past 50 years, the consumption of fossil fuels in the world has increased: coal by 2 times, oil by 8 times, gas by 12 times. So, if oil consumption in the world in 1910 amounted to 22 million tons, then in 1998 it reached 3.5 billion tons.
The basis of the socio-economic development of modern civilization is mainly energy production, based mainly on fossil fuels.
On the one hand, oil and gas have become the foundation of the well-being of many countries, and on the other, a powerful source of global pollution of our planet. Every year, more than 9 billion tons of fuel are burned in the world. tons of standard fuel, which leads to the release of more than 20 million tons of fuel into the environment. tons of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and more than 700 million tons of various compounds. Currently, about 2 billion tons of oil products are burned in cars.
In Russia total emissions of pollutants from all modes of transport is about 17 million tons per year, with more than 80% of all emissions coming from motor vehicles. In addition to carbon monoxide, car emissions contain heavy metals, they enter the air and soil.
Mostly, about 84% carbon monoxide (CO) is emitted into the environment from vehicles. Carbon monoxide prevents the absorption of oxygen by the blood, which weakens the thinking abilities of a person, slows down reflexes, and can cause loss of consciousness and death.
Teacher. Let's move on to the next question.
2. The impact of heavy metals on the human body
A significant amount of heavy metals gets into the air and soil not only from car emissions, but also from abrasion of brake pads and wear of tires. A particular danger from these emissions is that they contain soot, which contributes to the deep penetration of heavy metals into the human body. In addition to vehicles, sources of heavy metals entering the environment are metallurgical enterprises, thermal power plants, nuclear power plants, as well as the production of fertilizers and cement.
All heavy metals can be divided into three hazard classes: we write it down in a notebook. ( Application
. slide 8)
I class- arsenic, cadmium, mercury, beryllium, selenium, lead, zinc, as well as all radioactive metals;
II class- cobalt, chromium, copper, molybdenum, nickel, antimony;
III class- vanadium, barium, tungsten, manganese, strontium.
Effects of exposure to heavy metals on human health
| Elements | Consequences of exposure to the elements |
Sources |
Elevated concentrations |
||
Nervous disorders (minamata disease). |
Pollution of soil, surface and ground waters. |
|
Cancers of the skin, intonation, |
Soil pollution. |
|
Destruction of bone tissue, delayed protein synthesis in the blood, impaired nervous system and kidneys. |
Polluted soils, surface and ground waters. |
|
Organic changes in tissues, bone tissue breakdown, hepatitis |
Pollution of soils, surface and underground waters. |
|
cirrhosis of the liver, impaired renal function, |
Soil pollution. |
The conclusions on the table are made by the student. ( Application . slide 10)
Conclusions: Heavy metals are very dangerous, they have the ability to accumulate in living organisms, increasing their concentration along the food chain, which, ultimately, poses a great danger to humans. Highly toxic and radioactive metals, getting into the human body, cause so-called environmental diseases.
3. Environmental diseases is our next question.
Teacher: Guys, you prepared material on this issue, now we will hear you. In the course of the message, you must fill in the table.
environmental diseases.(Application . slide 11)
Message from the first student. ( Application . Slides 12, 13, 14 (Photos of views of Japan)
In 1953, more than a hundred residents of the town of Minamata in southern Japan fell ill with a strange disease.
Their eyesight and hearing quickly deteriorated, coordination of movements was upset, convulsions and convulsions cramped muscles, speech was disturbed, and serious mental deviations appeared.
The most severe cases ended in complete blindness, paralysis, insanity, death ... In total, 50 people died in Minamata. Not only people, but also domestic animals suffered from this disease - half of the cats died in three years. They began to find out the cause of the disease, it turned out that all the victims ate sea fish caught off the coast, where industrial waste from the enterprises of the Tiso chemical concern was dumped,
containing mercury (minamata disease). ( Application
. slide 15)
Minamata disease - disease of humans and animals caused by mercury compounds. It has been established that some aquatic microorganisms are capable of converting mercury into highly toxic methylmercury, which increases its concentration along food chains and accumulates in significant quantities in the organisms of predatory fish.
Mercury enters the human body with fish products, in which the mercury content may exceed the norm. Thus, such fish may contain 50 mg/kg of mercury; moreover, when such fish is eaten, it causes mercury poisoning when raw fish contains 10 mg / kg.
The disease manifests itself in the form of nerve disorders, headache, paralysis, weakness, loss of vision, and can even lead to death.
Message from the second student. ( Application . Slide 16 - photo about Japan, slide 17 - "itai-itai" disease).
Itai-tai disease poisoning of people caused by eating rice containing cadmium compounds. This disease has been known since 1955, when wastewater Concern "Mitsui", containing cadmium got into the irrigation system of rice fields. Cadmium poisoning can cause lethargy, kidney damage, bone softening, and even death in people.
In the human body, cadmium mainly accumulates in the kidneys and liver, and its damaging effect occurs when the concentration of this chemical element in the kidneys will reach 200 mcg / g. Signs of this disease are recorded in many regions of the globe, a significant amount of cadmium compounds enters the environment. Sources are: combustion of fossil fuels at thermal power plants, gas emissions from industrial enterprises, production of mineral fertilizers, dyes, catalysts, etc. Assimilation - absorption of water-food cadmium is at the level of 5%, and air up to 80%. For this reason, the content of cadmium in the body of residents of large cities with their polluted atmosphere can be ten times higher than that of rural residents. Typical "cadmium" diseases of citizens include: hypertension, coronary heart disease, kidney failure. For smokers (tobacco strongly accumulates cadmium salts from the soil) or employed in production using cadmium, emphysema is added to lung cancer., And for
non-smokers - bronchitis, pharyngitis and other respiratory diseases.
Message from the third student. ( Application . Slide 18 - photo about Japan, slide 19 - Yusho disease).
Yusho disease - Poisoning of humans by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) has been known since 1968. In Japan, in a rice oil refinery, befinils from refrigeration units got into the product. The poisoned oil was then marketed as food and animal feed. At first, about 100 thousand chickens died, and soon the first symptoms of poisoning appeared in people. This was reflected in changes in skin color, in particular darkening of the skin in children born to mothers who suffered from PCB poisoning. were later discovered severe lesions internal organs (liver, kidneys, spleen) and the development of malignant tumors.
The use of some types of PCBs in agriculture and public health in some countries to control the vectors of infectious diseases has led to their accumulation in many types of agricultural products, such as rice, cotton, vegetables.
Some PCBs enter the environment with emissions from waste incineration plants, which poses a health hazard to urban residents. Therefore, many countries limit the use of PCBs or use them only in closed systems.
Message 4 student. ( Application . Slides 20-21 - photo about Altai)
Disease "yellow children"- the disease appeared as a result of the destruction of intercontinental ballistic missiles, which led to the release of toxic components of rocket fuel into the environment: UDMH (unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine or gentyl) - the main component of rocket fuel, as well as nitrogen tetroxide (both belong to the first hazard class). These compounds are highly toxic; they enter the human body through the skin, mucous membranes, upper Airways, gastrointestinal tract. As a result, children began to be born with
pronounced signs of jaundice. The incidence of newborns increased by 2-3 times. The number of newborns with lesions of the central nervous system. Infant mortality has risen. Due to the release of these substances, skin "burns" appeared - pustular diseases that can appear after swimming in local rivers, hiking in the forest, direct contact of naked parts of the body with soil, etc. ( Application
. Slide 23 - yellow children disease).
Message 5 student. ( Application . Slide 23 - drawing of the Chernobyl accident).
"Chernobyl disease"(Application . Slide 24 - "Chernobyl disease")
April 26, 1986 An explosion occurred at the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The release of radionuclides amounted to 77 kg. (Hiroshima - 740 gr.). 9 million people were affected. The area of pollution was 160 thousand km. sq. The composition of radioactive fallout included about 30 radionuclides such as: krypton - 85, iodine - 131, cesium - 317, plutonium - 239. The most dangerous of them was iodine - 131, with a short half-life. This element enters the human body through the respiratory tract, concentrating in the thyroid gland. The local population had symptoms of the "Chernobyl disease": headache, dry mouth, swollen lymph nodes, oncological tumors of the larynx and thyroid gland. Also, in the areas affected by the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the incidence of the cardiovascular system has increased, outbreaks of various infections have become more frequent, and birth rates have significantly decreased. The frequency of mutations among children increased by 2.5 times, anomalies occurred in every fifth newborn, about a third of children were born with mental disorders. Traces of the Chernobyl "event"
in the genetic apparatus of mankind, according to doctors, will disappear only after 40 generations.
(Application . slide 25)
Teacher. How can the impact of industrial pollution on the environment be reduced?
(Application . slide 26)
1. Use of treatment facilities
2. Non-traditional energy sources.
3. Replacing old technologies with new ones.
4. Rational organization of traffic.
5. Prevention of accidents at nuclear power plants and other industrial enterprises.
Teacher. Let's move on to the last question.
4. Environmental safety of the population
Teacher. The issue of environmental safety of the population worries each of us. What is environmental security? We look at the slide, write out the definition and basic laws. ( Application . slide 27)
The ecological safety of the population is the state of protection of the vital ecological interests of a person and, above all, his rights to a favorable environment.
Human health currently also depends on the state of the environment. "You have to pay for everything" says one of Barry Commoner's laws. And we pay with our health for the environmental problems we have created. In recent years, in many countries, due to the increase in the number of environmentally caused diseases, special attention has been paid to the legal issues of environmental protection. Important federal environmental laws have been adopted in our country: “On the Protection of the Environment” (1991), the Water Code of the Russian Federation (1995), “On the Radiation Safety of the Population” (1996), “On the Sanitary and Epidemiological Well-Being of the Population” (1999). The "Concept of the transition of the Russian Federation to sustainable development" was developed in 1996. In the decision environmental issues It has great importance the international cooperation.
Conclusion (Application . slide 28)
Nature has been and always will be stronger than man. She is eternal and endless. If you leave everything as it is, then soon after only 20-50 years, the Earth will respond to humanity with an irresistible blow to destruction!
Reflection(Application . Slides 29, 30 are fun drawings).
III. Fixing the material
(Application . Slides 31-35). Checking the filling of the table "Environmental diseases".
IV. Homework
Learn the material in the table .
Literature:
1. Vovk G.A. Ecology. Textbook for students 10 cells .
educational institutions.
Blagoveshchensk: Publishing house of BSPU, 2000.
2. Vronsky V.A. environmental diseases. Journal "Geography at School No. 3, 2003.
3. Korobkin V.I., Peredelsky L.V. Ecology. Rostov n-D: publishing house "Phoenix", 2001.
4. Kuznetsov V.N. Ecology of Russia. Reader. M: JSC "MDS", 1996.
5. Rozanov L.L. Geoecology. Tutorial 10 -11 cells. Elective courses. Bustard, 2005.
Federal Agency for Education
State educational institution of higher professional education
AMUR STATE UNIVERSITY
(GOUVPO "AmSU")
Faculty of Economics
Department of World Economy, Tourism and Customs
Specialty 036401.65 - Customs
ESSAY
On the topic: Environmental human diseases
In the discipline "Ecology"
Executor
student of group 075a _____________________ T.M. Boy
Checked by ____________________ T.V. Ivanykin
Blagoveshchensk
2011
CONTENT
1 PEOPLE'S HEALTH
People's health is the main feature, the main property of the human personality and community, their natural state, reflecting both individual health and the ability of society in specific conditions to most effectively implement its biological and social functions. The quality of public health is one of the most important global problems of our time, which is constantly discussed by scientists and politicians around the world.
The concept of “individual health is not strictly determined, which is associated with a variety of factors affecting human health, and a large range of individual fluctuations in the main indicators of the vital activity of the body.
For practical and theoretical medicine and human ecology, it is more important to define the concept of "practical health", or "norm", the deviation from the boundaries of which can be considered a disease (pathology).
To solve scientific and practical problems related to human health, it is necessary to evaluate or measure its quality. The measurement of health quality includes various indicators: average life expectancy, standardized mortality, infant mortality, maternal mortality, causes of death, years of potential life lost, morbidity, hospitalization, temporary disability, disability.
The following factors influence the formation of population health:
- natural conditions (climate, surface and ground waters, geological structure territory, soil cover, vegetation and animal world, sustainability natural conditions);
lifestyle and socio-economic conditions, including the quality of medical care;
environmental pollution and degradation;
production conditions.
2 ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGES AND DISEASES
2.1 Environmental damage
Environmental damage is understood as a significant regional or local violation of environmental conditions, which leads to the destruction of local ecological systems, local economic infrastructure, seriously threatens the health and life of people and causes significant economic damage. Environmental damage is:
1) sharp, sudden, catastrophic, associated with emergency situations (ES); 2) extended in time, when the lesion is a long-term, gradually fading consequence of an emergency or, conversely, arises and is detected as a result of gradually increasing negative changes. The scale of such defeats can be no less catastrophic. The latter, in turn, are divided into:
1-P) natural disasters and natural disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, floods, natural fires, hurricanes, heavy snowfalls, avalanches, epidemics, mass breeding of harmful insects, etc.) and
1-A) anthropogenic (technogenic) disasters (industrial and communication accidents, explosions, collapses, destruction of buildings and structures, fires, etc.).
The greatest environmental hazard is man-made disasters, which are accompanied by the release of harmful chemical and radioactive materials into the environment.
A significant cause of environmental damage is also the overdensity of many human populations. The growth of human population and population density along with the weakening of immunity (in broad sense words) have become the main internal factor of vulnerability of huge masses of people. This applies almost without exception to all external factors affecting people - from unpredictable natural disasters or the emergence of a new deadly virus to carefully planned wars. Migration to cities and densely populated coastal areas exacerbates the situation.
Environmental damage caused by economic activity is not necessarily associated with accidents and disasters. They may be the result of incomplete or erroneous consideration of the environmental components of any territorial activity. The main ones are:
1) a significant excess of the maximum permissible technogenic load on the territory;
2) incorrect placement of production, economic facilities, in which economic feasibility excessively prevails over environmental acceptability;
3) an erroneous assessment of the environmental consequences of the distribution of productive forces and anthropogenic transformation of natural landscapes.
2.2 Diseases of civilization
Diseases of civilization are diseases and other injuries of people that have arisen as a result of the costs of industrial and scientific and technological revolutions, accompanied by environmental deformation as a result of the destruction of natural ecosystems.
There are many immediate causes of the diseases of civilization. The most serious phenomena are the decay of the human genome as a result of the destruction of its own ecological niche and the accumulation of a colossal genetic load, the growth of psychosocial stress, overnutrition, drug abuse, smoking, alcohol, and ever-increasing environmental pollution.
2.2.1 Tobacco smoking
In terms of scale and prevalence, this is the most dangerous of these causes. Tobacco leaves contain nicotine - a strong poison, which in large doses leads to paralysis, respiratory arrest and cessation of cardiac activity.
Smoking-related diseases are important reason ill health and premature death in the developed countries, that the fight against cigarette smoking in these countries could do more to improve health and increase life expectancy than any other single intervention in any field of preventive medicine.
2.2.2 Addiction
Drug addiction is a disease of socially and genetically predisposed individuals, characterized by an irresistible craving for drugs and a state of temporary or chronic intoxication of the body. The causes of the disease are socio-psychological factors.
The clinical picture of the action of opiates and cocaine is different, but the successive stages of the development of drug addiction are similar. At the first stage of feeling "high", euphoria, a sense of bodily comfort play a decisive role in "drawing" into drug addiction. At the same time, resistance is growing: in order to cause euphoria, doses must be increased by 2-3 times. The second stage of drug addiction is characterized by a pronounced physical dependence. The growth of resistance to the drug is pronounced, the duration of action of even an increased dose is noticeably reduced, the former “high” disappears, the drug becomes only a necessary dope to restore working capacity, vigor and appetite. Exacerbated somatic ailments. Skin flakes, hair splits, nails break, teeth crumble. Characterized by unusual pallor, anemia, constipation. Sexual desire fades, impotence occurs in men, amenorrhea in women. Sexual activity can be manifested only in a passive form, including homosexual, in the form of prostitution in order to obtain money for drugs. The probability of contracting AIDS, viral hepatitis, and other diseases is sharply increasing.
The third stage of drug addiction is not common, since not all drug addicts live up to it. Extreme exhaustion, asthenia and apathy make the patient unable to work. Interest is saved only to the drug. Death occurs from concomitant diseases.
2.2.3 Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a chronic disease characterized by a combination of internal and mental disorders, one of the most common substance abuse. The reason is the systematic abuse of alcoholic beverages containing ethyl alcohol. Typical signs of alcoholism: a change in resistance to alcohol, a pathological attraction to intoxication, the development of a deprivation syndrome - alcohol withdrawal. The problem of the treatment of alcoholism is associated to a large extent with the development of means of suppressing the craving for alcohol.
The life expectancy of patients with alcoholism is shortened by 15-20 years due to the increased incidence of internal organs. The most serious losses are brought not so much by advanced alcoholism, but by the systematic consumption of alcohol by people of working age and relatively healthy people, which significantly increases the number of traffic accidents, the destruction of families, suicides and domestic murders.
4 Noncommunicable diseases
4.1 Genetic cargo
Disabling the mechanisms of natural selection, advances in hygiene and medicine, saving many patients and translating acute diseases into chronic forms; replacement of the protective ails of the body with medicines and procedures, saving the lives of people with burdened heredity, environmental pollution, stress, smoking, alcohol, drugs - all this did not contribute to the preservation of a healthy species gene pool.
Humanity has accumulated a dangerous genetic load through mutations, most of which would not have preserved the axis if natural selection had continued to operate as it does in natural animal populations.
The number of identified forms of hereditary diseases and deviations increased
etc.................
Throughout the lifespan of a person, there are quite a few interesting and fascinating events that have a direct impact on the lives of many generations. Since ancient times, man has sought to create more comfortable conditions for his existence, was in search of the source of all diseases, disasters and other problems that plague the planet. The life expectancy of ancient people was no more than 20-25 years, gradually this period increased and reached 30-40 years, people received hope that after 100-200 years they would be able to live for 100 or more years and not get sick and completely don't get old. Indeed, development modern medicine allow this dream to come true, but one very capricious and righteous force - nature will not allow.
Man, in his impulse to transform everything and everything, completely forgot about nature - an invincible force that gave rise not only to all living things, but also to man himself. Huge industrial giants whose chimneys emit incalculable amounts of smoke poisoning the atmosphere, billions of cars, mountains of garbage that accumulate around large cities, waste that hides at the bottom of the seas and deep crevices - all this is detrimental to health. Having been born completely healthy and strong, the child after a while begins to get sick and possibly even dies. According to sad statistics, about 50 million people die every year due to poor ecology in the world, most of them are children who have not reached school age.
We list some diseases associated with poor environmental conditions:
- Crayfish. The main disease of the new century is not AIDS or other rapidly spreading diseases, such a disease is cancer - a small tumor, which is extremely rare to detect in a timely manner. A cancerous tumor appears in any part of the body, affecting the brain and spinal cord, internal organs, vision, chest and so on. It is impossible to prevent the occurrence of the disease, as well as to reliably predict who will develop it. Thus, all of humanity is at risk.
- Diseases accompanied by diarrhea, leading to dehydration and severe painful death. Oddly enough, in a world where sanitary conditions are prioritized for everyone else, there is simply a huge number of countries where people have absolutely no idea about hygiene, the need to wash their hands, fruits and vegetables, and wash things. And this is connected, first of all, with the upbringing of a whole separate world, which prefers to get sick and die, rather than learn something new. The cause of these diseases is the same - poisoned air, water and soil heavily watered with pesticides for the speedy growth of plants. Approximately 3 million people worldwide die from these diseases every year.
- Respiratory infections. The main cause of respiratory diseases, that is, those that are transmitted by airborne droplets, is polluted atmosphere. That is why residents of big cities so often get the flu, pneumonia, and other diseases. It is estimated that pneumonia alone kills 3.5 million children a year.
- Tuberculosis. Appearing with the advent of machines, this lung disease still remains incurable, although more than one hundred years have passed since its discovery. Large masses of people who work and live in the same room are most susceptible to infection, because every 5th resident of the city is in the infection zone. Statistics say that more than 3 million people die from tuberculosis caused by a lack of clean air every year.
Every year new strains of viruses and diseases appear in the world, the number of forests and fields, uncultivated and untouched areas of nature is decreasing, tuberculosis affects not only some specific people, very soon this disease will affect the entire Earth. The ongoing tree planting activities are nothing compared to how many are cut down in a day. It will take a young tree several years to grow, during which it will be affected by drought, strong wind, storms and hurricanes. It is likely that out of hundreds of seedlings planted, only a few will reach the state of mature trees, while thousands and thousands of trees will die during this time.
Never before has a world armed to the teeth with weapons and medical supplies been as close to destruction as it is now. It is worth thinking about why high in the mountains people live for more than a hundred years, and at the same time do not get sick. Probably their secret is not in a special diet, but in remoteness from machines and technological innovations, which gradually shorten a person's days.
Svetlana Kosareva "Bad ecology and diseases modern world» especially for the Eco-life website.
Introduction
Mankind has long been interested in the influence of the environment on health and the occurrence of diseases. As early as 500 BC, Hippocrates (Clifton, 1752) in his work "On Air, Water and Situation" wrote about the importance of the environment for human health, where he described the influence of weather and different seasons, water characteristics and the location of cities. He urged to consider the conditions in which the population lives, as well as their habits: "do they like to eat and drink too much, how much they like to work, and whether they like physical activity." Over the centuries, this concern for the state of the environment has shifted from general theories on the occurrence of diseases associated with the environment, to today's highly focused and mechanistic formula directed at specific agents or groups of agents, and certain diseases.
Occupational diseases are a group of diseases arising exclusively or mainly as a result of exposure to adverse conditions labor and occupational hazards. The profession of a firefighter in itself implies that from time to time they expose themselves to increased physical and psychological stress, as well as to serious chemical and physical hazards that workers in other modern workplaces do not usually expose themselves to. Injuries, burns and smoke inhalation are the biggest health hazards for firefighters. The occupational risks of firefighters deserve more attention because of the well-known constant exposure to toxic substances.
CHEMICAL POLLUTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN HEALTH.
Currently economic activity more and more people
becomes the main source of pollution of the biosphere. Into the natural environment
increasing amounts of gaseous, liquid and solid
production waste. Various chemical substances located in
waste, getting into the soil, air or water, pass through the ecological
links from one chain to another, eventually enter the body
person.
The body's response to pollution depends on individual
features: age, gender, health status. As a rule, more
vulnerable children, the elderly and the elderly, sick people.
Highly biologically active chemical compounds may
cause a long-term effect on human health: chronic
inflammatory diseases of various organs, changes in the nervous system,
effect on the intrauterine development of the fetus, leading to various
abnormalities in newborns.
Doctors have established a direct link between the increase in the number of people sick
allergies, bronchial asthma, cancer, and environmental degradation
situation in this region. It is well established that such waste
production, such as chromium, nickel, beryllium, asbestos, many pesticides,
They are carcinogens, meaning they cause cancer.
Smoking causes great harm to human health. The smoker is not only
itself inhales harmful substances, but also pollutes the atmosphere, exposes
danger to other people. It has been found that people in the same
room with a smoker, inhale even more harmful substances than he himself.
BIOLOGICAL CONTAMINATION AND HUMAN DISEASES.
In addition to chemical contaminants, natural environment meet and
biological, causing in humans various diseases. it
pathogens, viruses, helminths, protozoa. They can
be in the atmosphere, water, soil, in the body of other living organisms, in
including the person himself.
The most dangerous pathogens of infectious diseases. They have
different stability in environment. 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 enter the human body if the skin is damaged, with unwashed food, or if the rules of hygiene are violated.
Pathogenic microorganisms can enter groundwater and become
cause of human infectious diseases. Therefore, water from artesian
wells, wells, springs must be boiled before drinking.
Open water sources are especially polluted: rivers, lakes,
ponds. Numerous cases are known when contaminated water sources
caused epidemics of cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery.
People and pets can become infected with natural focal diseases,
entering the natural habitat. These diseases include plague,
tularemia, typhus, tick-borne encephalitis, malaria, sleeping sickness.
INFLUENCE OF SOUNDS ON HUMANS.
Man has always lived in a world of sounds and noise. For all living organisms, including humans, sound is one of the environmental influences.
Sounds and noises of high power affect the hearing aid,
nerve centers, can cause pain and shock. That's how it works
noise pollution.
The quiet rustle of leaves, the murmur of a stream, the voices of birds, the light splash of water and
the sound of the surf is always pleasing to man. They calm him down
stress. But the natural sounds of the voices of nature are becoming more
rare, disappear completely or are drowned out by industrial transport and
other noises.
Prolonged noise adversely affects the organ of hearing, lowering
sound sensitivity. It leads to a breakdown in the activity of the heart, liver, to exhaustion and overstrain of nerve cells.
The noise level is measured in units expressing the degree of sound
pressure, - decibels. The noise level of 20-30 decibels (dB) is practically harmless to humans, this is a natural background noise. A sound of 130 decibels already causes a painful sensation in a person, and 150 becomes unbearable for him.
The level of industrial noise is also very high. At many jobs and noisy
production, it reaches 90-110 decibels or more. Not much quieter
us at home, where more and more new sources of noise appear - the so-called
Appliances.
Very noisy modern music also dulls the hearing, causes nervous diseases. Noise has an accumulative effect, that is, acoustic irritation, accumulating in the body, increasingly depresses the nervous system.
Therefore, before hearing loss from exposure to noise, there is
functional disorder of the central nervous system. Especially
noise has a harmful effect on neuropsychic activity
organism. Noises cause functional disorders of the cardiovascular system; have a harmful effect on the visual and vestibular analyzers, reduces reflex activity, which often causes accidents and injuries.
Studies have shown that inaudible sounds can also be harmful.
impact on human health. So, infrasounds have a special effect on the mental sphere of a person: all types of intellectual activity are affected, mood worsens, sometimes there is a feeling of confusion, anxiety, fright, fear, and at high intensity - a feeling of weakness, as after a strong nervous shock.
Ultrasounds, which occupy a prominent place in the range of industrial noise,
are also dangerous. The mechanisms of their action on living organisms are extremely
are diverse.
WEATHER AND HUMAN WELL-BEING
In any phenomenon of nature around us, there is a strict repetition
processes: day and night, ebb and flow, winter and summer.
During historical development man has become accustomed to a certain
the rhythm of life, due to rhythmic changes in the natural environment and
energy dynamics of metabolic processes.
Currently, many rhythmic processes in the body are known,
called biorhythms. These include the rhythms of the heart, breathing,
bioelectrical activity of the brain. Our whole life is
constant change of rest and activity, sleep and wakefulness,
fatigue from hard work and rest.
The central place among all rhythmic processes is occupied by diurnal
rhythms that have highest value for the body. It turned out that the study of changes in circadian rhythms makes it possible to detect the occurrence of certain diseases at the earliest stages.
The climate also has a major impact on human well-being,
influencing it through weather factors. Weather include in
complex physical conditions: atmospheric pressure, humidity,
air movement, oxygen concentration, degree of disturbance
magnetic field Earth, the level of atmospheric pollution.
With a sharp change in the weather, physical and mental performance decreases, diseases become aggravated, the number of errors, accidents and even deaths increases.
Examples of some environmental diseases
Minamata disease - disease of humans and animals caused by mercury compounds. It has been established that some aquatic microorganisms are capable of converting mercury into highly toxic methylmercury, which increases its concentration along food chains and accumulates in significant quantities in the organisms of predatory fish.
Mercury enters the human body with fish products, in which the mercury content may exceed the norm.
The disease manifests itself in the form of nerve disorders, headache, paralysis, weakness, loss of vision, and can even lead to death.
Itai-itai disease - poisoning of people caused by eating rice containing cadmium compounds. This poisoning can cause lethargy, kidney damage, bone softening, and even death in humans.
In the human body, cadmium mainly accumulates in the kidneys and liver, and its damaging effect occurs when the concentration of this chemical element in the kidneys reaches 200 µg/g.
Sources are: combustion of fossil fuels at thermal power plants, gas emissions from industrial enterprises, production of mineral fertilizers, dyes, catalysts, etc. The content of cadmium in the body of residents of large cities with their polluted atmosphere can be ten times higher than that of rural residents. Typical "cadmium" diseases of citizens include: hypertension, coronary heart disease, kidney failure. For smokers (tobacco strongly accumulates cadmium salts from the soil) or employed in production using cadmium, lung cancer is added
emphysema, and for non-smokers - bronchitis, pharyngitis and other respiratory diseases.
"Chernobyl disease" - caused by the impact of radionuclides on the human body, released as a result of the explosion of the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The local population had symptoms of the "Chernobyl disease": headache, dry mouth, swollen lymph nodes, oncological tumors of the larynx and thyroid gland. Also, in the areas affected by the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the incidence of the cardiovascular system has increased, outbreaks of various infections have become more frequent, and birth rates have significantly decreased.
The frequency of mutations among children increased by 2.5 times, anomalies occurred in every fifth newborn, about a third of children were born with mental disorders.
Occupational diseases are a group of diseases that arise exclusively or mainly as a result of exposure to the body of unfavorable working conditions and occupational hazards.
In my essay, I want to draw attention to the professional dangers that firefighters expose themselves to.
Putting out a fire is enough extraordinary occupation, and although there is an idea of \u200b\u200bit as a dirty and dangerous business, nevertheless, it is absolutely necessary and prestigious. The public respects firefighters for the extraordinarily important work they do. And firefighters are fully aware of the dangers they may face. Their work itself implies that from time to time they expose themselves to increased physical and psychological stress, as well as to serious chemical and physical hazards, to which workers in other modern workplaces do not usually expose themselves.
Occupational hazards to which firefighters expose themselves can be divided into the following categories: physical (mainly unsafe environment, overheating and ergonomic stress), chemical and psychological.
Physical dangers
.
There are many physical hazards in the firefighting process that result in serious physical injury. Walls, ceilings and floors suddenly collapse, dragging firefighters with them. Sudden increase in fire and bursts of flame in an enclosed space, which may result from the sudden ignition of combustible gaseous products released by burning or incandescent materials when interacting with superheated air. A sudden burst of flames can engulf a firefighter or cut off his escape route. The number and severity of injuries can be minimized through intensive training, work experience, competence and good physical condition. However, the nature of the job is such that firefighters can also be placed in a dangerous situation due to miscalculation, circumstance, or during a rescue operation.
Some fire departments have developed computerized databases of buildings, materials, and potential hazards they may encounter while fighting a fire in their area. Quick access to the database of such a database helps the team respond to emerging hazards in a timely manner and predict the occurrence of hazardous situations.
Thermal hazards
Overheating during firefighting can occur as a result of contact with hot air, thermal radiation, hot surfaces, as well as due to internal heat generated during work by the human body, which cannot be cooled until the fire is extinguished. The insulating properties of protective clothing and physical fatigue resulting from excess heat generated by the body can cause overheating during firefighting. Overheating can cause injuries such as burns or general overheating, which can lead to dehydration, heatstroke, and heart attack.
The hot air itself usually does not pose a serious threat to the firefighter. Dry air is not able to retain heat for a long time. Steam or hot, moist air can cause serious burns because there is much more heat energy in water vapor than in dry air. Luckily, steam burns don't happen that often.
Thermal radiation is often quite intense during a fire. In the presence of only thermal radiation, you can get burned. Some firefighters experience changes in the skin due to constant exposure to heat.
Chemical hazards
More than 50 percent of fire-related fatalities are the result of exposure to smoke rather than fire. One of the significant factors contributing to deaths and diseases as a result of a fire, is hypoxia due to the lack of oxygen in the atmosphere, which leads to a loss physical activity, disorientation and loss of mobility. The constituents of smoke, individually and together, are also toxic. Figure 95.3 shows a firefighter using a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) rescuing an unprotected firefighter caught in a very smoky fire from a burning tire warehouse. (The rescued firefighter was out of breath, took off his breathing apparatus to take a deep breath, and was lucky enough to be rescued before it was too late.)
Rice. 95.3 One firefighter rescues another caught in toxic smoke from a fire in a closed warehouse
Any smoke, including smoke from a burning tree, is dangerous and potentially fatal if a concentrated dose is inhaled. Smoke is made up of a combination of different components. The toxicity of smoke primarily depends on the fuel, the heat capacity of the flame, and how much oxygen is available to burn it, or whether it is available at all. At the scene of a fire, firefighters are often exposed to carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen cyanide, aldehydes and such organic matter like benzene. Combinations of different gases represent different levels of danger. Only carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide are released in lethal concentrations in building fires. Carbon monoxide is the most common, specific and very serious fire hazard. Due to the related proximity of carbon monoxide to hemoglobin, carboxyhemoglobin rapidly accumulates in the blood as it stays in an atmosphere containing carbon monoxide. The high accumulation of carboxyhemoglobin may be primarily due to the fact that severe fatigue increases ventilation in the lungs, and thus the intake of air into the lungs in the absence of protective equipment during fire fighting. There is no clear relationship between smoke intensity and the amount of carbon monoxide in the air. During the cleanup procedure, when combustible materials are smoldering and not yet completely burned, firefighters should avoid smoking, as this increases the level of carbon monoxide in the blood. Hydrogen cyanide is produced by low-temperature combustion of nitrogen-rich materials, including natural fibers such as wood and silk, as well as less common synthetic materials such as polyurethane and polyacrylonitrile.
When hydrocarbon fuels are burned at low temperatures, light hydrocarbons, aldehydes (such as formaldehyde) and organic acids can be formed. Significant amounts of nitric oxide are formed at high temperatures - as a result of the oxidation of nitrogen contained in the atmosphere, and at low combustion temperatures of fuels that contain a lot of nitrogen. If the fuel contains chlorine, hydrogen chloride is formed. Polymeric plastic materials present a particular hazard. These plastic materials began to be used in construction and decoration of buildings in the fifties and later. They burn, turning into especially dangerous substances. Acrolein, formaldehyde, and volatile fatty acids are common smoldering products of some polymers, including polyethylene and natural cellulose. The danger of cyanine formation increases with an increase in the combustion temperature at which polyurethane and polyacrylonitriles burn: at temperatures above 800, but below 1000 degrees Celsius, acrylonitrile, acetonitrilepyridine, benzonitrile are released in large quantities. For finishing buildings, it is preferable to use polyvinyl chloride because of its self-extinguishing, thanks to high content chlorine. Unfortunately, the material releases in large quantities hydrochloric acid, and sometimes, if the fire continues long enough, and dioxides.
Synthetic materials are especially dangerous in the process of smoldering, and not in conditions of high temperature. Cement retains heat quite effectively and can act as a "sponge", accumulating gases that then escape through the porous material, releasing hydrogen chloride and other toxic fumes long after the fire has been extinguished.
Psychological dangers
Firefighters work in situations that other people diligently avoid, dramatically exposing themselves to much more risk than any other civilian profession. At any level of fire intensity, many things can go wrong, and the course of a major fire is often unpredictable. In addition to personal safety, a firefighter must take care of the safety of other people who are threatened by fire. Rescuing victims is a particularly stressful job.
The life of a professional firefighter is an endless series of intense expectations and crisis situations full of stress. Firefighters, however, enjoy many of the positive aspects of their job. Rarely is there a profession so respected in society. Safety at work is provided by the fire department that hired the firefighter, and wages here are usually higher than in other professions. Firefighters also have a strong sense of camaraderie and affection for their colleagues. These positive aspects of the job outweigh the stressful moments and save the firefighter from the emotional consequences of repetitive stress.
At the sound of the alarm, the firefighter immediately experiences a sense of anxious anticipation of the unpredictability of the situation that he will have to face. The psychological stress experienced at the moment is as great or even greater than in the process of extinguishing a fire. Psychological and biochemical stress sensors reveal what firefighters on duty experience psychological stress, which reflects the subjectively perceived factors of psychological stress and the level of activity during duty.
Lungs' cancer.
In epidemiological studies of firefighters, lung cancer is most difficult to distinguish from other types of cancer. The main question is whether the use of synthetic materials in building and finishing materials since the fifties increased the risk of cancer among firefighters due to the contact of firefighters with combustion products. Despite apparent exposure to inhaled smoke carcinogens, it has been difficult to document and consistently document an increase in lung cancer mortality in light of occupational exposure.
There is evidence that firefighters increase the risk of lung cancer. This is especially evident among firefighters, who expose themselves to the greatest danger and have the longest work experience. The additional risk may be superimposed on an even greater risk from smoking.
Reflections on the relationship between firefighter work and lung cancer suggest that such a relationship is weak and does not lead to the conclusion that this risk should be attributed to the profession. Certain cases with unusual characteristics, such as cancers among relatively young, non-smoking firefighters, may support this conclusion.
Other types of cancer.
It has recently been shown that other types of cancer are more consistently associated with firefighters than lung cancer.
AT various literature different data are given for cancer of the brain and central nervous system, and this is not surprising, since in all reports the number of cases described is relatively small. It is unlikely that this connection would be clarified in the near future. Thus, it is reasonable to recognize the risk of this disease as an occupational disease of firefighters based on the available evidence.
It seems that the risk of cancer of the lymphatic and hematopoietic systems- high enough. However, the small number of cases of these rare cancers makes it difficult to determine the significance of their association with the profession. Because these cancers are rare, epidemiologists treat them as one group for statistical purposes, which makes them even more difficult to interpret because they don't make sense from a medical point of view.
Heart diseases.
There is no conclusive answer to the question of whether people are at increased risk of dying from heart disease. Although the only large study showed an 11% increase in it, and another study claimed a 52% increase in mortality from coronary heart disease, most researchers have not concluded that there is an ever-increasing risk for the entire population. Even if the higher estimates are correct, there are still not enough relative risk estimates to make an assumption about the risk in each individual case.
There is evidence, mostly from clinical practice, that exposure to carbon monoxide can cause sudden decompensation of the heart muscle and the risk of a sudden overexertion heart attack. This does not translate into an increased risk of having a heart attack later, but if a firefighter had a heart attack during the fire or the day after, it could be related to his job. Therefore, each case should be considered on an individual basis, but such evidence does not imply an overall increased risk for all firefighters.
lung disease
Enough intense contact with secretions of burning plastic can, of course, cause severe lung damage and even permanent disability. Putting out a fire can cause short-term changes like asthma that go away over time. This does not appear to lead to a life-long risk of dying from chronic lung disease, unless the poisoning was severe enough (probability of death from the effects of smoke inhalation) or exposure to smoke with unusual properties (especially from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) fires) .
Chronic lung disease among firefighters has been extensively studied. There is no confirmation of their connection with the profession, and therefore it is impossible to make such assumptions. The exceptions are those rare cases when a chronic illness is a consequence of a dangerous contact, which is confirmed by a medical certificate of the complications received.
The general assumption of risk is not justified in the case of weak links with professional activity, or when the disease is common in the general population. A more productive approach may be to study individual cases by examining various factors risk and big picture risk. The general risk assumption is more applicable to unusual disorders with high level relative risk, especially if they are unique or specific to certain professions. Table 95.1 lists specific recommendations and criteria that refute or question predisposition in each individual case.
Injuries.
Injuries received in the process of extinguishing a fire are predictable - these are burns, falls, falling under falling objects. Mortality from these causes among firefighters is much higher than among workers in other professions. Firefighting work involves a high risk of burns, especially when entering a fire and extinguishing it while inside the flame, for example, holding a hose. Burns are also easy to get when fighting a fire in a basement, from an injury received shortly before this incident, and from training outside the fire department in which the firefighter currently works. Falls are most common when using self-contained breathing apparatus and when working on firefighting in transport companies.
conclusion.
Putting out a fire is a very serious task that often takes place in extreme conditions. The need to extinguish a fire is always unexpected, by no means predictable, and is characterized by long periods of waiting alternating with short bursts of intense activity.
Firefighters experience constant stress at a fairly intense level as soon as a fire starts. Any additional load in the form additional equipment or rescuing a victim, no matter how necessary for protection, reduces their productivity, since firefighters are already "using themselves" to the maximum. The use of personal protective equipment imposed new psychological burdens on firefighters, but removed others, lowering the level of danger.
During firefighting, body temperature and heart rate cycle through several minutes, rising slightly in response to preparatory work to enter a building, then rising further due to the ambient heat, and rising sharply as a result of workloads in a hot atmosphere. After 20 to 25 minutes, the normal work time allowed for a firefighter to be inside a building using a self-contained breathing apparatus, the psychological load remains within the limits tolerated by an ordinary person. However, when fighting long fires that require re-entry into the building, there is not enough time between changes of air containers in the SCBA to cool the body, which leads to heat build-up, increases body temperature and increases the risk of heat stroke.
