ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS (CONCLUDING PART)

Biological Hazards and their Adverse Health Effects

Now let’s talk about another aspect of environmental hazard, and that is the Biological hazards.

So what are biological hazards? Biological hazards, which are also known as bio-hazards, refer to biological substances that pose a threat to the health of living organisms, primarily that of humans.

This can include medical waste or samples of a microorganism, virus or toxin that can affect human health.

These bio-hazards generally fall into two broad categories: those that produce adverse health effects through infection and those which produce adverse effects in non-infective or allergic ways.

Biological hazards that have effects through infections could in form of Avian Influenza virus (bird flu), HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis viruses, Norovirus (Norwalk virus), Salmonella bacteria, Mycobacterim tuberculosis bacteria, Vibrio cholerae bacteria (cholera), MRSA superbugs, Plasmodium parasites (malaria) and hundreds of other microorganisms.

These Bacteria, viruses and parasites are responsible for the bulk of the 18.4 million deaths worldwide from communicable diseases in 2004 estimated by the World Health Organization plus additional deaths from non-communicable diseases and cancers.

Pathogens currently infects billions of people and trends indicate a rising number of pathogen deaths and infections from population growth in developing countries, urbanization, poor sanitation, broken water infrastructure, reduced food safety, globalization, international travel, extreme weather, and the rising costs of new drugs, vaccines and antibiotics.

Meanwhile, Recreational water which is heavily contaminated with pathogens, notably coliform bacteria, has been shown to be associated with an increased risk of gastrointestinal and other infectious illness, usually self-limiting.

Some biohazards in our environment also produce adverse effects in peoples’ health in non-infective or allergic ways.

Allergies manifest in a number of very specific ways, including nasal and eye symptoms, allergic asthma, eczema, hives and anaphylaxis. It is common for a person to have more than one allergic disease.

The immune system in people with allergies reacts in a specific way to allergens. Allergens are those things that trigger allergic symptoms. Common allergens include materials and particles in the air and environment such as dust mites, molds, pet dander, tree pollen, grasses and weeds, foods, drugs and stinging insect venoms.

Many allergens such as grass pollen grains, or faecal material from house dust mites may cause attacks of asthma or "hay fever". Hay fever, is also called allergic rhinitis, causes cold-like signs and symptoms, such as a runny nose, itchy eyes, congestion, sneezing and sinus pressure. There is evidence that high exposure to these allergens early in life increases the risk of suffering from asthma later on in life.

An increasing number of studies suggest that airborne chemical pollution can act synergistically with naturally occurring allergens and result in effects on lung function at concentrations lower than those at which either the allergen or the chemical irritant on its own would have produced an adverse effect.

The so-called "clinical" waste is also a bio-hazard that is not merely an occupational hazard for health care workers but is now becoming an increasingly more important risk for everyone, even at home.

We have discussed how substances present in our environment affect our health, but the essence of the discussion is to call for action. Individuals, groups, communities and the governments of countries around the world have roles to play in safeguarding their environments.

As individuals, we need to take good care of both our immediate and outside environments. Our homes, street, workplace are all important to our lives and that of our children.

As a community, it is imperative for us to be our neighbours’ keepers. We have to be careful of what pesticide we use on our farms, the type of food we plant, the cleanliness of our streets, how we trash the dirt, do we just dump them at a site? Do we recycle them? Do we keep the gutters clean to avoid floods? All these are things we do as a community to keep the environment healthy for all.

And as government, either at the local, state or federal level, there should be strict implementation of policies, laws and agreements that dwell on the environment.

Remember You are your environment, and your environment is you.

NAHIMAT ADEKOGA