Environmental Illnesses and Prevention Measures

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Table of Contents

Problem
The Causes of Environmental Illnesses
Prevention Measures
Reaction
References

Problem

The global ecological crisis points to anthropogenic pollution of the Earth, leading to the emergence of environmental diseases. Inorganic and organic substances pollute the planet; the toxicity of these substances cannot positively affect the population’s health. Humankind has already crossed the permissible limits and exhausted resources, threatening the extinction of all popularity. The main reasons for exceeding the limits of Earth pollution were uncontrolled population growth and rapid technological progress. The prevention of environmental diseases is the responsibility of all humanity, and the only way out is to stop global pollution.

The Causes of Environmental Illnesses

The leading cause of environmental diseases is the pollution of the surrounding environment. Atmospheric air suffers daily from exhaust gases, emissions from industrial enterprises, and various aerosols. Against this background, various respiratory system diseases develop bronchial asthma, lung cancer, and respiratory failure. The nervous system suffers less often: excessive air pollution provokes headaches and migraines, causing a general decrease in performance. Oil and gas have become not only the basis of the material well-being of many countries but also the cause of pollution. The main reason for this is the production of energy based on fossil fuels. More than nine milliard units of burned fuel emit more than 20 million tons of carbon dioxide into the environment (Kramer, 2020). The main number of harmful emissions into the environment is produced by motor vehicles (Ho et al., 2019). The greatest danger is carbon monoxide, which does not allow oxygen to saturate the blood; human reflexes and the ability to think clearly suffer from this process.

Brake tires and car exhausts emit heavy metals into the environment. The soot in these emissions contributes to ingesting heavy metals into animal and human organisms (Alengebawy et al., 2021). Metallurgical enterprises, power plants and various industries also contribute to the ingress of heavy metals into the soil and air (Alengebawy et al., 2021). Human health is particularly at risk due to the increased concentration of heavy metals in the food chain (Alengebawy et al., 2021). Environmental diseases are provoked by toxic metals accumulating in the human body.

Environmental Illnesses Examples

Water and air pollution expose the human body to the most harmful effects. Up to 22% of the global disease burden is associated with environmental pollution; the general population is inevitably exposed to environmental pollutants (Tsai et al., 2021). Due to man-made harm, diseases that should have remained in the past – cholera, and dysentery – again threaten the health and well-being of the population in many countries.

Chronic Environmental Illnesses

Polluted air, water and food cause chronic diseases that can be deadly. The human respiratory system is particularly at risk due to air pollution; oncological diseases are becoming more common. Industrial emissions and sewage leaks lead to water pollution. The use of contaminated water in food causes diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Eating fruits and vegetables contaminated with synthetic fertilizers can lead to the development of allergies and dysbiosis.

Minamata Disease

Minamata disease is provoked by toxic mercury compounds that enter the body of animals and humans. Mercury becomes especially dangerous due to aquatic microorganisms (Semenov, 2018). Predatory fish are able to accumulate toxic trace elements, spreading them along the food chain. Minamata disease can lead to death, provoking nervous disorders and visual disturbances (Semenov, 2018). The use of fish products, where mercury is contained in large quantities, leads to the risk of developing this disease.

Itai-Itai Disease

Itai-Itai disease occurs as a result of eating rice containing harmful compounds. Cadmium compounds, when ingested, pose the greatest threat to human health (Kimura et al., 2019). The disease is deadly, causing damage to internal organs and softening of bone tissues (Kimura et al., 2019). The human body accumulates cadmium in the kidneys and liver, and when the maximum permissible dose is reached, the development of the disease begins. Cadmium gets into food due to the operation of thermal power plants and the production of fertilizers for agricultural needs.

Chornobyl Disease

One of the most serious man-made disasters of the 20th century – the explosion of the reactor at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant – provokes the development of the Chornobyl disease. The local population exposed to radiation emissions experienced weakness, severe headaches, and tumors developed (Yaroshenko et al., 2019). The area exposed to radiation is still not considered completely safe for life. Over the next decades, the number of heart diseases increased in the affected area, collective immunity suffered, and the birth rate dropped sharply.

Prevention Measures

Reducing the number of environmental diseases takes a long way by overcoming the ecological crisis. The ecological crisis is the gradual degradation of the environment and the parallel inability of the state to take the necessary measures to address the current situation. The solution can be the creation of environmental technologies, environmental protection, new legal norms and environmental education. The development of the crisis, if concerted actions are not taken to end the crisis by the whole world, will inevitably result in a global catastrophe.

The creation of environmentally friendly technologies, introducing waste-free or low-waste production, and improving technological processes will be effective. The development of the economic mechanism of environmental protection should become a target task. It is also necessary to make environmental protection a part of the production and commercial activities. Administrative and legal impact to improve environmental discipline is required at all levels of government. Environmental education – the development of the system of environmental education, upbringing, the restructuring of consumer attitudes to nature and the ecological revolution in human thinking should become the course of advanced countries.

To overcome the current problem, it is necessary to work with the education of all segments of the population. Ecology as an academic discipline should become an integral part of the training of specialists in any field of scientific research. Investigating and finding the proper scientific and technical solutions to solve the current problem should be the goal of educational and research institutions. It is necessary to work with the consciousness of the population and introduce personal responsibility for the environmental threat on the planet into the self-consciousness of each of the inhabitants of the planet. The crisis can be overcome if people understand that life on the planet absolutely and completely depends on people’s attitude to nature and their work to harmonize cooperation with the natural world.

Reaction

Studying the topic of environmental problems has strengthened my idea that people have exhausted the Earth’s resources. If this process is not stopped, humanity can expect famine and epidemics, which will lead to the extinction of our species. Environmental problems seem extremely dangerous when thinking about them on a global scale. Air, water, and food pollution are problems for developing countries and humankind.

Specific diseases, such as Itai-Itai, or Minamata, do not seem to be too familiar. However, when thinking about what health issues all people experience due to pollution, the scale of the problem is evident. The growing prevalence of oncological diseases is most likely due to the environmental crisis. Cardiovascular diseases, and complicated colds, appear as a result of air pollution in almost all large cities. The consequences of the Chornobyl disaster indicate what could happen to all of humanity. The explosion of one nuclear power plant unit has poisoned a vast territory for many years. Genetic mutations and chronic diseases will be a problem for the region’s population for a long time. Nowadays, the same Chornobyl disaster is happening, only stretched over decades.

Solving environmental problems to overcome the crisis will help prevent environmental diseases. However, the effective ways seem too time-consuming, and measures should be taken now. From my point of view, it is necessary to start by raising the level of awareness of the population. There should be events where people will be educated on environmental issues. First of all, it is necessary to convince the population of the need to sort garbage and come to conscious consumption. Only the joint efforts of all humankind can stop the spread of environmental diseases.

References

Alengebawy, A., Abdelkhalek, S. T., Qureshi, S. R., & Wang, M. Q. (2021). Heavy metals and pesticide toxicity in agricultural soil and plants: Ecological risks and human health implications. Toxics, 9(3), 42.

Ho, H. J., Iizuka, A., & Shibata, E. (2019). Carbon capture and utilization technology without carbon dioxide purification and pressurization: A review on its necessity and available technologies.Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 58(21), 8941-8954.

Imura, J., Tsuneyama, K., & Ueda, Y. (2019). Novel pathological study of cadmium nephropathy of Itai-Itai disease. In Cadmium Toxicity (pp. 39-50). Springer.

Kramer, D. (2020). Negative carbon dioxide emissions.Physics Today, 73(1), 45-51.

Semionov, A. (2018). Minamata disease.World Journal of Neuroscience, 8(2), 178-184.

Tsai, H. J., Wu, P. Y., Huang, J. C., & Chen, S. C. (2021). Environmental pollution and chronic kidney disease.International Journal of Medical Sciences, 18(5), 1121-1129.

Yaroshenko, Z., Guriev, S., & Iskra, N. (2019). Disease incidence for first-generation offspring individuals born from residents of radiation-contaminated territories of Ukraine as a result of the Chornobyl accident. The observation period is 18 years from the date of birth. Journal of Education, Health and Sport, 9(9), 1222-1236.

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