Environmental risk assessment, Assignments of Public Health

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Environmental Risk Assessment

PUBH

Ana Maria da Silva

ID 00296695T

Torrens University

Executive Summary Environmental Health is a branch of Public Health that uses as a conceptual and legal basis, for its physical and service structuring, the definition that health is not only the absence of disease. The population's health levels express the country's social and economic organization and, in this sense, health and well-being depend on the interaction between several determining and conditioning factors, including food, housing, basic sanitation, the environment, work, income, education, transport, leisure, etc. Thus, the health of populations depends on intersectoral actions and interfaces, with an emphasis on sanitation and the environment, with the purpose of establishing conditions that ensure universal and equal access to actions and services for their promotion, protection, and recovery. This work aims to assess the environmental risk related to the lack of water treatment in Brazil due to the disorganized population growth. Considering the high degree of complexity in the relationship between health and environment, this work adopted as a tool the study of the driving force, pressure, state, exposure and effect indicators to be understood, achieved and monitored through the framework proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in order to establish an understanding of the cause and effect of environmental factors, human development and health, as well as the necessary actions to solve problems and promote health.

public policy implementation problems, especially for mitigating the impacts of the rapid urbanization process.  Pressure The driving forces unleash pressures on the environment and the consumption of natural resources, on the means of production, on urban infrastructure and also on health services. These pressures are expressed as a consequence of productive processes, or also as a result of the technology used, the adoption of policies and human occupation. Among the pressures that negatively alter the situation of the environment, affecting vulnerable populations and which may have adverse health effects, are the lack of treatment of water for human consumption and sewage; the low coverage of treated water; the use of polluted springs; the use of polluting technologies; inadequate occupation of urban and rural spaces; low awareness of socio-environmental issues and energy consumption (fossil and hydroelectric fuels) (Tobin, 2016). The evolution of water supply coverage for the urban population in Brazil, although insufficient, has grown since the 1960s when investments started to have greater volume and regularity. Between 2000 and 2010 there was an increase in water supply in Brazil but even with this increase, there is a deficit of almost 10 million households in the country without access to water distributed by a general network. These 10 million households are equivalent to a population greater than 40 million inhabitants (Water.org, 2019).  State The pressures impose changes in the socio-environmental situation, alter the quality of environmental resources and the provision of services, interfering for example in the quantity and quality of water for human consumption available and offered to the population. The degradation and contamination of soils and surface and groundwater, the decrease in the availability of these waters and the degradation of supply sources contribute to human exposure to chemical and biological contaminants and produce harmful effects on human health (Sobral, Machado de Freitas, et al. 2011) The vulnerability of populations in environments without water supply or other components of sanitation are expanded by the sum of the populations receiving water without any kind of treatment, from different forms of supply. At least 23% of the country's water supply systems provide water without any type of treatment to the population, through a general supply network (Vigiagua, 2016). The high percentage of water supplied without treatment shows the disorganization of sanitation in some parts of Brazil and the regional inequality in this regard. In the North and

Northeast regions, this problem is more evident and coincides with the high population growth and poverty indicators. The lowest human development indicators are also found in these regions, which reinforces the inequity in the supply of water for human consumption in the country.  Exposure The driving forces, pressures and situations described determine or condition the existence of exposed populations. The lack of implementation of sanitation policies, especially related to water supply, can affect the vulnerable population, deprived of social benefits foreseen in the Brazilian laws that determine the water supply must be a universal service. The portion of the population that receives water through alternative means (from wells, weirs) and not through the water supply system is considered vulnerable, since the water is supplied without any type of treatment necessary to make it drinkable, guaranteeing its quality and offering no health risks. This exposed population is proportionally larger in the North Region than in the South region.  Effect The indicators previously analysed may have direct or indirect effects on the health of the population. The urbanization rate, for example, can indirectly generate an increase in hospitalizations and deaths related to inadequate environmental sanitation, as it can indicate the disorganized growth of the city, which results in the lack of services such as basic sanitation, housing and access to health. Thus, the lack of sanitation actions, highlighting the collection, treatment and distribution of water within the ideal potability standard can cause several problems to the population, since the provision of drinking water for human consumption implies that the population has access to water in sufficient quantity for all purposes and with compatible quality, in order to guarantee its potability and that it does not offer a risk to health. The water offered outside the required standard and in insufficient quantities for ingestion, food preparation and personal hygiene is responsible for a large number of waterborne diseases. 1.1 Social, political and economic influences

- Support and strengthen the participation of local communities, prioritizing social control to improve water and sanitation management. (pp. 157-177) Government agencies that implement actions that contribute to reaching the goal: Ministry of Health; National Health Foundation; Ministry of the Environment; Ministry of National Integration; Ministry of Social Development; Ministry of Cities; Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications; Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services; Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply; Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger; Defense Ministry; Ministry of Foreign Affairs; National Water Agency; Ministry of Social Development. 2.1 Suggestions One of the main actions to reverse risk situations for the population is the investment in improving infrastructure in urban and rural areas. These investments bring a series of benefits in several areas such as job and income creation and, consequently, reduction in health expenses. They promote environmental recovery in degraded areas and the creation of healthy environments and strengthen cooperation between the union, states and municipalities. Contributes to medium and long-term planning, encouraging the development of plans and projects in water treatment and sanitation. There is also a need for sustainable production and consumption processes; integrated actions with intersectoral planning and management; education, information, communication and knowledge production for the population. References IBGE, I. B. de G. e E. (2010). Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica - Censo 2010 (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics - Census 2010). Retrieved April 6, 2020, from Censo 2010 website: https://censo2010.ibge.gov.br/sinopse/index.php?dados=4&uf= IPEA, I. for A. E. R. (2019). 2030 AGENDA SDG-National Targets of Sustainable Development Goals. Machado de Freitas, C., Luiz Giatti, L., & Deane, M. (2010). Sustentabilidade ambiental e de saúde na Amazônia Legal, Brasil (Environmental sustainability and health in the Legal Amazon, Brazil). Retrieved April 6, 2020, from Organização Pan-Americana de Saúde website: http://bvsms.saude.gov.br/bvs/publicacoes/sustentabilidade_ambiental_saude_amazonia.pdf P. Cunningham, W., & Woodworth Saigo, B. (2006). Environmental Science: A Global Concern 9th ed.

Sobral, A., Machado de Freitas, C., Barcellos, C., C. Gurgel, H., & Moraes Pedroso, M. de. (2011). Saúde Ambiental - Guia Básico para Construção de indicadores (Environmental Health - Basic Guide for Building Indicators). Retrieved from http://www.saude.gov.br/bvs Tobin, R. J. (2016). “Environment, Population, and the Developing World”. In Environmental Policy. Vigiagua. (2016). Indicadores institucionais do Programa Nacional de Vigilância da Qualidade da Água para Consumo Humano 2016 (Institutional indicators of the National Water Quality Surveillance Program for Human Consumption 2016). Retrieved from http://bvsms.saude.gov.br/bvs/publicacoes/indicadores_programa_ Water.org. (2019). Brazil’s Water Crisis - Water In Brazil 2019 | Water.org. Retrieved April 8, 2020, from https://water.org/our-impact/brazil/ World Bank. (2016). Brazil may be the Owner of 20% of the World’s Water Supply but it is still Very Thirsty. Retrieved April 8, 2020, from World Bank website: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2016/07/27/how-brazil-managing-water-resources- new-report-scd