Categories of Human Environmental Hazards, Essay Example

The term environmental hazard refers to a situation or event, which brings threats to the natural environment surroundings and affects the health of the people adversely. These environmental hazards are categorized into four main types (Wargo, 2009). The first type is the cultural hazards also known as lifestyle hazards. They result from the places where one lives, behavioral choices, individual’s occupation and ones socioeconomic status. For example, if one smokes, the choice gets made from a behavioral decision. Although it is an individual’s decision, secondhand smoke exposure of the smoke may not be under the individual’s control. The second type is chemical hazards. These hazards include synthetic chemicals yielded by the society. Examples of the chemicals include pesticides, disinfectants and other compounds that bring reproductive problems to animals. Other hazardous chemicals are produced naturally.

Environmental factors may influence the existence of diseases such as asthma, heart diseases, cancer and respiratory disorders. These hazards are the most common as many people have access to chemicals almost on a daily basis (Wargo, 2009). Ecological interactions among organism lead to the production of biological hazards that belong to the third environmental hazards. They consist of virus or bacterial infections and other infections from pathogens. These hazards come in the form of communicable or transmissible diseases such as malaria, influenza, tuberculosis and cholera (Wright & Nebel, 2009).

Although it is possible to destroy these hazards, they spread from one individual to the other on a daily basis. Finally, the fourth environmental hazards are the physical hazards also identified as natural disasters. Examples of these hazards include volcano eruptions, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and drought. When the hazards occur, they bring a lot of devastation and destructions to individuals. Since they are natural, they cannot be prevented from occurring although measures can be taken to reduce their effects (Wright & Nebel, 2009).

References

Wargo, J. (2009). Green intelligence: creating environments that protect human health. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.

Wright, R. T. & Nebel, B. J. (2009). Environmental science: toward a sustainable future (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.