Environmental Burden of Disease
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The environment is an important determinant of population
health, formally defined by WHO (2006) as the physical, chemical
and biological factors external to a person, and all the related
behaviours. Environmental burden of disease is a measure of
the proportion of the human disease burden that may be attributed
to environmental causes. EBD calculations can be used to gauge the
impact of our environment on population health. This can be done
by estimating the fraction of the human disease burden attributable
to different environmental causes. Other indicators of risk, such
as years of life lost or the reduction in life expectancy due to
environmental causes, can also be used to describe the environmental
burden of disease. Evaluation of the environmental burden of disease
can be helpful in setting priorities for environmental health risk
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interventions. More generally, evaluation of the environmental burden of disease
provides a basis for: (1) monitoring progress towards enhancing environmental
health; (2) identifying potentially vulnerable populations and subgroups; (3)
performing economic evaluations of the impact of the environment on the population;
and (4) developing policies and strategies for addressing environmental health
risks.
Examples of Global Burden of Disease Estimates
- WHO (2006) has estimated that 25% of the global disease burden is due to the environment. WHO has also made a preliminary estimate of the environmental burden of disease for Canada of 13%. (This figure is lower than the global estimate because of the higher rate of mortality from communicable diseases and injuries among developing countries.)
- Air pollution (PM10) has been estimated to be responsible for 4%
of cardiopulmonary disease, 5% of lung cancer, 1% for acute respiratory
infections in children, and 1% of overall mortality (Cohen et al.,
2004).
- Both indoor and outdoor air pollution have been estimated to lead to a reduction of 2 months in life expectancy in Mexico.
- Residential radon has been estimated to be responsible for 10% of the human lung cancer burden, with most of the radon related lung cancer deaths occurring at exposures below 100 Bq/m3.
- At least 60% of all cancer deaths are thought to be associated with tobacco smoking.
- Other possible causes of cancer include infections (2-5%), obesity (4-10%), and diet (4-30%), depending on smoking status (Peto, 2001).
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