Environmental Health Conditions Research Articles

The “SYSTEMS BIOLOGY” in the study of xenobiotic effects on marine organisms for evaluation of the environmental health status: biotechnological applications for potential recovery strategies

Environmental monitoring and bioremediation of imperilled habitats, and more in general disturbed sites, are amongst the focus keys of the European strategies for territory management (see Horizon 2020, the new European Program for Research and Innovation). The anthropogenic disturbance is acting on ecosystems with serious consequences for the environment and human health, driving strong social and economic impacts on the community. Often, such in the case of chemical and petrochemical productions, the areas subjected to the most intensive industrialization are located along the coastline, being a severe threat to the marine environment. Recently, the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research funded the project “SYSTEMS BIOLOGY”. The Project is articulated into two main phases: (1) a field monitoring program to evaluate the effects of toxic contaminants (e.g. heavy metals and hydrocarbons) on “sea sentinels” (organisms representing early living warning systems) purposely placed in different contaminated areas; (2) a series of controlled mesocosms-scale experiments to measure the effects, on the same sea sentinels, of different remediation actions on waters and sediments collected from the contaminated areas under inspection. The project is aimed to understand how the xenobiotic contamination induces or modifies the biological processes in aquatic species, and to evaluate the potential effectiveness of different biotechnological strategies in controlling and reducing the impact of marine pollution on the biological compartment. Each phase is accomplished through a synergic collaboration and multidisciplinary approach among eight research units and constitutes a pioneering advance in the international scenario.

Multiple Stressors in a Top Predator Seabird: Potential Ecological Consequences of Environmental Contaminants, Population Health and Breeding Conditions

Environmental contaminants may have impacts on reproduction and survival in wildlife populations suffering from multiple stressors. This study examined whether adverse effects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) increased with poor population health and breeding conditions in three colonies (60–74°N) of great skua (Stercorarius skua) in the north-eastern Atlantic (Shetland, Iceland and Bjørnøya [Bear Island]). POPs (organochlorines [OCs] and polybrominated diphenyl ethers [BDEs]) were measured in plasma of incubating birds (n = 222), concentrations differing nearly tenfold among colonies: Bjørnøya (2009) > Bjørnøya (2010) > Iceland (2009) > Shetland (2009). Reproductive success (hatching success and chick survival) showed that breeding conditions were favourable in Shetland and at Bjørnøya (2010), but were very poor in Iceland and at Bjørnøya (2009). Biomarkers indicated that health was poor in the Shetland population compared to the other populations. Females whose chicks hatched late had high POP concentrations in all colonies except at Bjørnøya (2010), and females losing their eggs at Bjørnøya (2009) tended to have higher concentrations than those hatching. Moreover, there was a negative relationship between female POP concentrations and chick body condition at hatching in Iceland and at Bjørnøya (2010). Supplementary feeding experiments were conducted, and in Iceland where feeding conditions were poor, significant negative relationships were found between female POP concentrations and daily growth-rate in first-hatched chicks of control nests, but not in food supplemented nests. This suggests that negative impacts of POPs were mitigated by improved feeding conditions. For second-chicks, there was a strong negative relationship between the female POP concentrations and growth-rate, but no effects of supplementary feeding. Lowered adult return-rate between breeding seasons with increasing POP loads were found both at Bjørnøya (2009) and in Shetland, especially related to BDEs. This indicates stronger fitness consequences of POPs following seasons with very poor breeding conditions and/or high reproductive effort. This study suggests that the impacts of POPs may differ depending on population health and breeding conditions, and that even low concentrations of POPs could have ecological consequences during adverse circumstances. This is important with regard to risk assessment of biomagnifying contaminants in marine ecosystems.

Children’s Health and Indoor Air Quality in Primary Schools and Homes in Portugal—Study Design

The main aim of the research project “On the Contribution of Schools to Children’s Overall Indoor Air Exposure” is to study associations between adverse health effects, namely, allergy, asthma, and respiratory symptoms, and indoor air pollutants to which children are exposed to in primary schools and homes. Specifically, this investigation reports on the design of the study and methods used for data collection within the research project and discusses factors that need to be considered when designing such a study. Further, preliminary findings concerning descriptors of selected characteristics in schools and homes, the study population, and clinical examination are presented. The research project was designed in two phases. In the first phase, 20 public primary schools were selected and a detailed inspection and indoor air quality (IAQ) measurements including volatile organic compounds (VOC), aldehydes, particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), bacteria, fungi, temperature, and relative humidity were conducted. A questionnaire survey of 1600 children of ages 8–9 years was undertaken and a lung function test, exhaled nitric oxide (eNO), and tear film stability testing were performed. The questionnaire focused on children’s health and on the environment in their school and homes. One thousand and ninety-nine questionnaires were returned. In the second phase, a subsample of 68 children was enrolled for further studies, including a walk-through inspection and checklist and an extensive set of IAQ measurements in their homes. The acquired data are relevant to assess children’s environmental exposures and health status.

Linking social and built environmental factors to the health of public housing residents: a focus group study

BackgroundPublic housing residents have a high risk of chronic disease, which may be related to neighborhood environmental factors. Our objective was to understand how public housing residents perceive that the social and built environments might influence their health and wellbeing.MethodsWe conducted focus groups of residents from a low-income public housing community in Baltimore, MD to assess their perceptions of health and neighborhood attributes, resources, and social structure. Focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Two investigators independently coded transcripts for thematic content using editing style analysis technique.ResultsTwenty-eight residents participated in six focus groups. All were African American and the majority were women. Most had lived in public housing for more than 5 years. We identified four themes: public housing’s unhealthy physical environment limits health and wellbeing, the city environment limits opportunities for healthy lifestyle choices, lack of trust in relationships contributes to social isolation, and increased neighborhood social capital could improve wellbeing.ConclusionsChanges in housing and city policies might lead to improved environmental health conditions for public housing residents. Policymakers and researchers may consider promoting community cohesiveness to attempt to empower residents in facilitating neighborhood change.

The Survey on the Physical School Environmental Health Conditions in Kazeroon From 2013 to 2014: An Analytical Descriptive Study

Background: The intellectual capability and personalities of children, who form the future of a nation, develop in elementary school. The educational organizations help students get rightful education and guidance and to grow up happily. Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the health status of elementary schools in the city of Kazeroon, Fars Province, Iran. Materials and Methods: This research attempted to measure the physical environmental health conditions of 41 elementary schools in the educational district of Kazeroon. We used a questionnaire consisting of 88 questions prepared by Iranian Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education. Data were collected by interview with school administrators and health instructors and analyzed using SPSS, version 18 and Chi-square test. Results: According to the results obtained, 85% of the schools were equipped with fan or air condition. In addition, 17% of the schools had separate labs and the rest used school health room as a lab. The environmental health conditions in none of the school pantries complied with the article 13 of the law on food, beverage and cosmetics, in addition to lacking the basic principles of the physical school conditions. Conclusions: Many elementary schools in Kazeroon have urgent needs for restrooms, drinking water fountains, emergency exit ways, and maintenance of old buildings. The problem mostly arises from the lack of information of the school’s administrators and health instructors with the standard requirements for school environmental health quality. Therefore, it is highly recommended to upgrade the physical and school environmental health conditions, and increase awareness and update the knowledge of the education authorities about the school environmental health condition. A close cooperation between the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education is recommended to solve the health problems in the schools in order to prevent diseases and injuries to the health of the students.

Indoor environmental problems and health status in water-damaged homes due to tsunami disaster in Japan

The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011. The resulting tsunami caused extensive damage in seaside cities along the Pacific coast of the Tohoku district of Japan. The long-term presence of water in crawl spaces and wall cavities causes elevated humidity and fungal contamination, with potential implications for affecting the health of the occupants. In order to clarify the actual indoor environment and occupants' adverse health effects, a cross-sectional study in the flood-damaged homes located in the flooding areas was conducted from July to December of 2012. We randomly selected 234 dwellings, and a total of 170 responses were obtained for a main survey (Phase 2). Indoor environmental problems related to dampness and mould growth were observed in flood-damaged homes after the flooding. Exposure to poor indoor environmental quality after flooding was positively associated with adverse health effects. Persistent health and environmental problems were recognized within six months after flooding and the long-term effects of mould growth after flooding was observed at least for one year.

Multiple measures on the Environmental Public Health Tracking Network.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program is leading an initiative to build a National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (Tracking Network) that integrates data into a network of standardized electronic data to provide valid scientific information on environmental exposures and adverse health conditions, as well as spatial and temporal relations between them. The Web-based Tracking Network is designed for different audiences including government, the academic community, and the public. A primary goal of the Tracking Network is to allow the exploration of data on health effects, environments, and demographics. The wide variety of data types along with stratifications present a complex problem when developing system functionality to query and display disparate data simultaneously in a comparable way using charts, tables, and maps. While the ability to query and display data that span across geographies and multiple time periods for a single type of data has been the main feature set of the Tracking Network, allowing the same for multiple data types is needed to enable users to explore trends and possible associations among health and environmental data. As a first step, a multidisciplinary team was formed to address complex issues related to developing the ability to view multiple measures on the Tracking Network. The team then iterated through steps involving requirements gathering, the segmentation of the requirements into functional areas, submission of proposals to address those functional areas, and finally evaluation of the proposals to address functional areas. Adding the ability to view multiple measures is an important step to improve Tracking Network users' exploration of the environmental health status of their communities. With this capability, public health practitioners and other users can formulate hypotheses, analyze trends, and explore possible relationships across a wide variety of environmental and health information.

English

Seven species of tropical seagrass found at seagrass bed located in Johor, Malaysia were analysed for As, Cu and Cd accumulation. The species were identified as Enhalus acoroides, Halophila minor, Halophila spinulosa, Halophila ovalis, Thalassia hemprichii, Halodule uninervis and Cymodocea serrulata. Seagrass plant is rapidly becoming one of the methods to determine the overall health condition of aquatic environment. Each seagrass samples were collected and divided into three parts i.e roots, rhizomes and leaves. Samples were grinded, digested and the correlation between each part was analysed using SPSS version 16. Each part of seagrass tissues have the ability to assimilate metals for example the concentration of As, Cu and Cd in tropical seagrass were in the range of 5-48, 6-60 and 10-69 μg/gDW, respectively. Halophila minor and Halophila ovalis indicates positive correlations to translocate metals (As, Cu and Cd) in plants parts (leaves-rhizomes, rhizomes-roots and roots-leaves). Seagrass can accumulate metals depending on pollution that occur, seasonal variation and internal capabilities to translocate metals. The seagrass species especially Halophila ovalis and Halophila minor can act as bioindicator for metal pollution.

Climate Change and Livestock Nutrient Availability: Impact and Mitigation

Climate Change and Livestock Nutrient Availability: Impact and Mitigation Livestock is an integral part of any agricultural system all over the world. Optimized livestock production is depended upon many factors like environmental stresses, climatic factors, health status, nutrient availability, and genetic potential. In the changing climate scenario, nutritional stress act as the most important indirect stress affecting livestock leading to decreased performance, lower efficiency, increased mortality and it also affects the immune system. The animals in tropics faces the problem of low feed availability during summer and this leads to severe nutritional stress to livestock grazing in the low pasture lands. Under nutrition reduces the quality and quantity of milk production, effects growth potential and reduces body condition score (BCS), induces seasonal weight loss (SWL) and it also declines the reproductive capacity of the animals, it reduces the fertility rate, embryo quality, expression of oestrus behaviour, altering follicular development, compromising oocyte competence, and inhibiting embryonic development, reduced calf birth weight, reduced sperm output, decreased sperm motility and an increased proportion of morphologically abnormal spermatozoa in the ejaculate. The reduced nutrient availability also alters the endocrine and hormonal activity in livestock leading to physiological changes and decline in reproductive efficiency. The animals exposed to environmental stress are found to cope up with the adverse effects of the stress when the nutritional requirements are not compromised. Thus in order to sustain the productivity, suitable nutritional interventions are to be adopted like management of forage for the dry period, utilization of the non-conventional feed resources as alternatives, antioxidant supplementations during the stress period, and also water management strategies for both surface and ground water resources, at both local and national levels, as fresh and contamination free water is crucial for animal production. These efforts will ensure economically viable returns in livestock farms in the changing climate scenario..

Application of Environmental Geochemistry Research to Public Health Issues in Nigeria

Public health is threaten by imbalances in the distribution of chemical elements in the environment resulting from natural or/and anthropogenic activities. Of significance are toxicities resulting from anthropogenic activities such as mining, ore mineral processing, indiscriminate waste disposal, and the use of pesticides in agriculture etc. To reduce the impact of these chemical elements on the environment and their consequence human health effects, there is need for the establishment of toxicological health facility in the vicinity of the mining communities in other to minimize the problem of wrong diagnosis as often is the case. Unfortunately, modern geochemical data are rarely available for developing countries, or may be inadequate for environmental purposes, having been collected principally for mineral exploration. Geochemical surveys (ideally incorporating data for soil, stream-sediment, natural/mine dust, vegetation and water samples) are of considerable value in studies linking the environment, food and health. Geochemical maps are pointers to potential areas of chemical element deficiency or toxicity, enabling expensive veterinary or medical investigations to be better targeted. The understanding of the geochemistry of the environment is necessary for the development of sound principles, strategies, programs and approaches that will minimize public health risks. Thus, to comprehensively and extensively address the issues of public health emanating from chemical element toxicities and deficiencies, mine/natural dust associated with geologic material, mining and mineral processing, there is need for closer collaboration, synergy and partnership among the public health researchers (physicians, environmentalists, nutritionists, geochemists, botanists, biochemists, atmospheric chemists and others). On the part of public health centres, there should be enhanced and improved medical record-keeping, sources from which reliable epidemiological data about incidence, prevalence and trends in disease occurrence can be extracted. The analytical capacity of research centres should be enhanced to enable the contents of nutritional and toxic elements to be measured at the very low concentrations needed for making tangible correlations between geology and environmental health conditions.

서울시 환경보건정책 로드맵 수립

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to introduce the establishment process and results of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's road map on environmental health policy. Methods: The process consisted of expert group meetings, civic participation, research, and questionnaire survey for priority environmental health policy agenda items in Seoul. Results: The announced vision for the environmental health policy was "a healthy environment, safety in Seoul". This policy was established in order to define environment health policy initiatives for a period of five years with an aim to protect Seoul citizens' health from hazardous environmental factors. The resulting Seoul environmental health policy consisted of four areas and 16 key agenda items. The four areas were "Protection for children against hazardous materials", "Enhancement of health and safety of all", "Carcinogen-free and endocrine-disrupting chemical-free Seoul (reducing environmental exposure to hazardous materials), and "Establish the foundation of environmental health policy". Sixteen key agenda items include the enhancement of management of spaces for children, certification of environmental health status at schools, establishment of a unit responsible for the environmental health of children, strengthening environmental health management for susceptible populations (children, the aged, and the socioeconomically vulnerable), management of hazardous materials, physical hazardous factors (noise, radiation, etc.), indoor air quality, and the enhancement of monitoring, research, and regulation of environment health. Conclusion: The Seoul Metropolitan Government established an environmental health policy road map for a five-year period (2013-2017). To implement this environmental health policy, budget allocation, and detailed execution plans are required.

The quality of life conditioning with reference to the local environmental management: A pattern in Bivona country (Calabria, Southern Italy)

The increasing landscape urbanization, through goods and services production, as required by people needs, is often cause of environmental decay producing a sharp decrease in quality life for resident population.This paper aims to study some negative environmental feedbacks and the increase of geomorphological hazards in the coastal area, roughly urbanized, of Bivona country (Vibo Valentia, Calabria, Southern Italy). The analysis shows how the wrong and chaotic urban development, without any appropriate town planning scheme, has produced growing conditions of environmental decay with time. Consequently, it has been detected a decrease of prices in market estate commonly used as a marker of Human Quality Life. For this purpose, it has been applied the Hedonic model able to supply useful information about the gained or the reduced values of building industry caused by the improvement or by the worsening of environmental health conditions. The results highlight, with quantitative data, how the sustainable development of landscape must be realized through goods and services production respecting the environmental limits, in order to avoid negative territorial feedbacks able to decrease Human Quality Life. It has also been proposed a graphical representation about the trend of Human Quality Life in function of goods and services production.

Air Pollution and Biological Exposure near Petrochemical Industrial Complex

Yeosu(southern coastal region, Repubulic of Korea) industrial complex has produced a majority of petrochemical products since 1979. In spite of a huge industrial growth during the last 4 decades, there has been a heavy environmental pollution in the surrounding areas. As the public are worried about their environmental health status, this study investigated the air pollution and biological exposure in the surrounding areas of industrial complex. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were monitored at 10 sites in the residential areas by distance from the petrochemical complex. Biological exposure was assessed using questionnaire, and urine and blood samples of 600 residents. Ambient concentrations of VOCs and PAHs in the surrounding area were higher when compared to those of the area far from the industrial complex. The concentration of benzene (2.01 ppb) in several areas exceeded the annual standard (1.5 ppb). The geometric mean levels of urinary metabolites of all VOCs and PAHs, such as t,t-muconic acid, hippuric acid, methylhippuric acid, phenylglyoxlic acid, mandelic acid, 1-hydroxypyrene, 2-naphthol, 2-hydroxyfluorene, and 1-hydroxyphenanthrene in the residents living nearby were 45.17, 213.34(mg/g-cr), 307.38, 284.05, 303.30, 0.22, 4.74, 0.36, and 0.41 ug/g-cr, respectively, whereas those of residents far from the petrochemical industrial complex were 39.49, 197.86(mg/g-cr), 298.46, 228.06, 252.32, 0.21, 3.83, 0.25, and 0.16 ug/g-cr, respectively. Multi-regression analysis showed that residential region, gender, and smoking habit contributed to the concentrations of pollutants in urine and blood. The ratio of diagnostic experience on the chronic and acute disease such as diabetes, asthma, COPD, and allergic disease in questionnaire (about 30 diseases) did not show statistically significant relationship between regions.

Reference Values for Blood Lead, Mercury and Urinary Cadmium in School-Aged Children and Adolescents: Korea Environmental Health Survey in Children and Adolescents (Korehs-C) 2012-2013

Background Children and adolescents, who represent a biologically vulnerable population, are major victims of environmental exposure and often prioritized in environmental health policy. Objectives Korea Environmental Health Survey in Children (KorEHS-C) (III) purposed to collect a representative data of children and adolescents for monitoring environmental exposure and related health status on a national level. Materials and Methods The sampling plan was established by stratifying school-age children and adolescents by school year and region. A study for 1817 children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years in elementary, middle and high schools were recruited from the all regions. Selected exposure biomarkers, i.e., lead(µg/?), mercury(µg/l) in blood and cadmium (µg/g creatinine) in urine were analyzed. Statistical analyses were weighted using the KorEHS-C survey weights generated by Statistics Korea. Results The geometric means (upper 95%) of the blood lead, mercury and urinary cadmium levels were 1.15 (2.11) µg/?, 1.92 (3.77) µg/l and 0.26 (0.55) µg/g creatinine, respectively. Within samples we found that levels of lead in Korean children and adolescents were significantly higher than subjects from Canada and the US. However, in German studies levels were shown to be lower in comparison (table 1). The levels of mercury and cadmium were significantly higher than subjects from Canada, Germany and the US (table 1). Conclusion Our study suggests that developing policies to reduce exposure to hazardous materials for the protection of the health of Korean children and adolescents are needed.

Disability correlates in Canadian Armed Forces Regular Force Veterans

Purpose: This study was undertaken to inform disability mitigation for military veterans by identifying personal, environmental, and health factors associated with activity limitations. Method: A sample of 3154 Canadian Armed Forces Regular Force Veterans who were released during 1998–2007 participated in the 2010 Survey on Transition to Civilian Life. Associations between personal and environmental factors, health conditions and activity limitations were explored using ordinal logistic regression. Results: The prevalence of activity reduction in life domains was higher than the Canadian general population (49% versus 21%), as was needing assistance with at least one activity of daily living (17% versus 5%). Prior to adjusting for health conditions, disability odds were elevated for increased age, females, non-degree post-secondary graduation, low income, junior non-commissioned members, deployment, low social support, low mastery, high life stress, and weak sense of community belonging. Reduced odds were found for private/recruit ranks. Disability odds were highest for chronic pain (10.9), any mental health condition (2.7), and musculoskeletal conditions (2.6), and there was a synergistic additive effect of physical and mental health co-occurrence. Conclusions: Disability, measured as activity limitation, was associated with a range of personal and environmental factors and health conditions, indicating multifactorial and multidisciplinary approaches to disability mitigation.Implications for RehabilitationConsider activity limitations in all veterans with health problems, particularly women or veterans with current or lost marital relationship; post-secondary non-degree education; low income; junior non-commissioned member rank; high life stress; chronically painful conditions; musculoskeletal disorders; or mental health conditions.Comorbidity indicates the need for coordinated multidisciplinary care, especially between physical and mental health care services.Since disability is associated with psychosocial factors, service providers should be aware of the broad range of services and interventions available to mitigate disability in veterans.Do not be led astray by the absence of combat deployment history since disability occurs in former military personnel who have not deployed.

Environmental Health Condition of Slum Dwellers of Ijora-Badia Area of Lagos State, Nigeria

It has been established that poverty such as lack of access to clean water, inadequate sanitation, poor waste disposal, indoor air pollution and overcrowding in housing, are the major determinants of environmental health conditions of the slum dwellers. In this paper the relationship between environmental condition and health condition of slum dwellers in Ijora-Badia was investigated. Some of the environmental variables were compressed as environmental factors and health condition variables were compressed as health factors. The health factors served as dependent variables while environmental factor served as independent variable and other factors remained constant. Data were collected via questionnaires, personal interview, direct observation and focus group discussion. The research population was based on the total number of existing buildings from which the total numbers of household head were determined and 5% of the total household head population was taken for the interview. Findings reveal that, environmental condition has direct effect on the health of respondents (“P”value for environmental factors is 0.003 which is less than 0.05) the environment has direct effect on the health condition of dwellers. The better the environment the better the health condition of the dwellers. The paper suggests that while a total clearance of the slum in the study areas may not be feasible because of the cost elements, inconvenience and other logistic problems it might cause. It is evidence from the study that the level of deterioration is still redeemable. Programme like Urban Basic Service (UBS) which encompasses provision of facilities, environmental campaign will not only reduce the environmental health risks of slum dwellers but will also usher in a functional, livable and aesthetically pleasing environment. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2014.v3n4p79

Survival in the Midst Of Challenges: Tale from Ijora-Badia Slum Dwellers of Lagos State, Nigeria

The history of slum development can be traced back to the era of industrial revolution and urbanization which was characterized by migration of people from rural areas to urban centres seeking a better means of livelihood because of the desire and anticipated opportunities at the urban centres. In this paper, the environmental health condition of slum dwellers in Ijora-badia was examined. Some of the environmental health conditions data were collected via questionnaires, direct observation, personal interview, and focus group discussion. Some of the environmental health variables considered were major disease vector found, major disease suffered in the last one year health facilities patronized among others The research population was based on the total number of existing buildings from which the total numbers of household head were determined and 5% of the total household head population was taken for the interview. The total numbers of 189 questionnaires were administered and responses were taken. Findings reveal that mosquitoes accounted for 77.8% of major disease vector found in various homes which is vector for malaria disease; malaria is the most prevalent environmental health disease which the respondents suffered in the last one year. The paper concludes that the healthcare facilities should be provided and located within the localities for easy accessibility of the people. In this wise, the federal, state and local governments ‘Primary Health Care Delivery Programme’ should be extended to the area and made affordable for the people. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n3p131

English

An environmental health assessment of 210 households located in four communities in the Ezulwini Valley, Swaziland, is summarized. The assessment focused on household-scale environmental health in the context of four key resource sectors: drinking water, energy, solid waste and human waste, with availability and perceived adequacy considered for each sector. The survey was administered in the field by small teams of students alongside Swazi community members, utilizing a snowball sampling strategy with stratification by economic class. Electronic administration via mobile devices assisted in geolocating records, minimizing entry error and rapidly compiling results for daily review and analysis. Results indicate challenges in household access to basic resources and resource impacts, even in this relatively developed part of Swaziland; these results varied considerably by community and economic class, and were only somewhat comparable to previous national-scale assessments. In a larger context, international efforts toward improving household-scale environmental health conditions (e.g., via related UN Millennium Development Goals) are laudable, yet these results corroborate other research suggesting that progress can be difficult to measure, and is decidedly uneven by household location and socioeconomic status. Key words: Swaziland, environmental health, water, sanitation, solid waste, fuelwood, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Combining chemical and biological endpoints, a major challenge for twenty-first century's environmental specimen banks.

Environmental specimen banks (ESBs) are not a new phenomenon, but in the last decades, the steep rate in the establishment of new ESBs is a sign to address new research approaches for scientists. In this way, environmental biobanking is becoming a well-organized and effective vehicle to collect samples of high quality making them available for future researchers. The endpoints promoted in the ESBs are mainly based on chemical approaches, but the necessity to add biological endpoint is fundamental (e.g., assessment of the environmental health status). Moreover, advances and development of high sensitive, high-throughput techniques along with ecotoxicological approaches based on biomarkers are stimulating a new demand for stored specimens and associated data. Like in chemically targeted environmental specimen banking, the banked samples for the assessment of biological effects also require guidance informed by knowledge of their practices and challenges, along with policies for the correct advancement of research goals and appropriate and effective biobank governance.

국민환경보건기초조사의 현황 및 전망

National Institute of Environmental Research, Environmental Health Research Division, Korea ABSTRACTObjectives: The purpose of this review is to suggest future directions for the Korean Environmental HealthSurvey (KoNEHS) in terms of an environmental health monitoring system and recent environmental healthissues in Korea.Methods: The national scale biomonitoring program and environmental health researches which conducted byMinistry of Environment was reviewed for this study. The scope, contents and utilization of results of KoNEHSas a biomonitoring program and other basic function for environmental health monitoring was analyzed.Results: Biomonitoring survey was conducted for basic functions, such as evaluating exposure levels ofenvironmental chemicals and analyzing exposure factors. In order to expand the basic purposes of KoNEHS, thebiomonitoring function should be strengthened by enlarging the range of chemicals analyzed and including allage groups in the biomonitoring and health status monitoring functions by using official health-care andmortality data. Exposure factors such as time-activity patterns and micro-environmental pollution levels werestudied. The data from the environmental health study were established into a standardized database system forsupporting environmental health policy. A definition and concept of environmental health services should beestablished. Conclusion: To achieve the aims of environmental health, changes in environmental health status and relatedfactors must be observed and predicted reflecting real conditions. In this regard, improving the methodology andsystem through diverse approaches is necessary for KoNEHS.Keywords: Environmental health survey, Biomonitoring, Methodology, Exposure factor