Environmental hazard

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An environmental hazard is a substance, a state or an event which has the potential to threaten the surrounding natural environment / or adversely affect people's health, including pollution and natural disasters such as storms and earthquakes

Any single or combination of toxic chemical, biological, or physical agents in the environment, resulting from human activities or natural processes, that may impact the health of exposed subjects, including pollutants such as heavy metals, pesticides, biological contaminants, toxic waste, industrial and home chemicals.^[1]

Human-made hazards while not immediately health-threatening may turn out detrimental to man's well-being eventually, because deterioration in the environment can produce secondary, unwanted negative effects on the human ecosphere. The effects of water pollution may not be immediately visible because of a sewage system that helps drain off toxic substances. If those substances turn out to be persistent (e.g. persistent organic pollutant), however, they will literally be fed back to their producers via the food chain: plankton -> edible fish -> humans. In that respect, a considerable number of environmental hazards listed below are man-made (anthropogenic) hazards.

Hazards can be categorized in four types:

1. Chemical


2. Physical (mechanical, etc.)


3. Biological
   
   

   
   

   The international pictogram for environmental hazard.

   
   
   
   


4. Psychosocial.

Contents

• 
  1 Chemical
  


• 
  2 Physical
  


• 
  3 Biological
  


• 
  4 Psychosocial Hazards
  


• 
  5 References
  

Chemical

Chemical hazards are defined in the Globally Harmonized System and in the European Union chemical regulations. They are caused by chemical substances causing significant damage to the environment. The label is particularly applicable towards substances with aquatic toxicity. An example is zinc oxide, a common paint pigment, which is extremely toxic to aquatic life.

Toxicity or other hazards do not imply an environmental hazard, because elimination by sunlight (photolysis), water (hydrolysis) or organisms (biological elimination) neutralizes many reactive or poisonous substances. Persistence towards these elimination mechanisms combined with toxicity gives the substance the ability to do damage in the long term. Also, the lack of immediate human toxicity does not mean the substance is environmentally nonhazardous. For example, tanker truck-sized spills of substances such as milk can cause a lot of damage in the local aquatic ecosystems: the added biological oxygen demand causes rapid eutrophication, leading to anoxic conditions in the water body.

All hazards in this category are mainly anthropogenic although there exist a number of natural carcinogens and chemical elements like radon and lead may turn up in health-critical concentrations in the natural environment:

• Anthrax


• 
  Antibiotic agents in animals destined for human consumption


• 
  Arsenic - a contaminant of fresh water sources (water wells)


• 
  Asbestos - carcinogenic


• DDT


• Carcinogens


• dioxins


• Endocrine disruptors


• Explosive material


• Fungicides


• Furans


• Haloalkanes


• Heavy metals


• Herbicides


• 
  Hormones in animals destined for human consumption


• 
  Lead in paint


• Marine debris


• mercury


• Mutagens


• Pesticides


• Polychlorinated biphenyls


• 
  Radon and other natural sources of radioactivity
  


• Soil pollution


• Tobacco smoking


• Toxic waste


• Radon

Physical

A physical hazard is a type of occupational hazard that involves environmental hazards that can cause harm with or without contact.

• Cosmic rays


• Drought


• Earthquake


• Electromagnetic fields


• E-waste


• Floods


• Fog


• Light pollution


• Lighting


• Lightning


• Noise pollution


• Quicksand


• Ultraviolet light


• vibration


• X-rays

Biological

Biological hazards, also known as biohazards, 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 (from a biological source) that can affect human health.

• Allergies


• Arbovirus


• Avian influenza


• 
  Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)


• Cholera


• Ebola


• Epidemics


• Food poisoning


• Malaria


• Molds


• 
  Onchocerciasis (river blindness)


• Pandemics


• Pathogens


• 
  Pollen for allergic people


• Rabies


• 
  Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)


• Sick building syndrome

See also: Toxicology and List of allergies

Psychosocial Hazards

Psychosocial hazards include but aren't limited to stress, violence and other workplace stressors. Work is generally beneficial to mental health and personal wellbeing. It provides people with structure and purpose and a sense of identity.

References

1. 
   ^ "Environmental hazard". Defined Term - A dictionary of legal, industry-specific, and uncommon terms. Retrieved 23 August 2017.  quoted from Code of Maryland, January 1, 2014
   

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