Annals of Occupational Hygiene Advance Access originally published online on August 6, 2004
Annals of Occupational Hygiene 2004 48(6):580; doi:10.1093/annhyg/meh057
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© 2004 British Occupational Hygiene Society Published by Oxford University Press;
Book Review |
Environmental Health Science: Recognition, Evaluation and Control of Chemicals and Physical Health Hazards. Morton Lippmann, Beverley S. Cohen and Richard B. Schlesinger. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2003. ISBN 0-19-508374-1. Price £40.00. 558 pp.
Department of Environmental & Occupational Medicine, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB25 2ZP, UK
This is an excellent book that comprehensively covers the health impact of man's interaction with his environment. It is an update of Chemical Contamination in the Human Environment, published in 1979, and, although aimed at a broad church of scientific disciplines, crossing the fields of physics, ecology, chemistry and biology, the second part of the title of this book should attract the attention of anyone involved in occupational hygiene. Indeed, the expression ‘recognition, evaluation and control’ is often the definition I provide at dinner parties when asked what a hygienist does.
In 15 clear and well-constructed chapters, this book progresses the reader through an understanding of sources of contaminants; how contaminants disperse, mix and interact within the atmosphere, aquatic environment, land and soil; how chemicals and physical agents can cause health effects in humans; techniques for measurement of human exposure; and how we can use exposure data for risk assessment and risk management purposes. The three chapters on environmental noise, non-ionizing radiation and ionizing radiation are particularly well explained for the non-expert.
The ambitious aim of the authors to provide a comprehensive overview of health risks posed by chemicals and physical agents in the total environment is, in the main, achieved. They cover an extensive range of topics, writing in an easy to understand format while taking the reader to some depth on subject areas as diverse as the effects of air pollution on health, risk communication and the use of cost–benefit analysis in evaluating environmental legislation.
The style is scientific writing at its best. It is clear, crisp and peppered with interesting examples and supporting material to keep the reader connected with the subject matter. There is a generous use of excellent figures, tables and graphs to back up the text.
On the downside, the book is written from an American perspective and, particularly in relation to the historical development of legislation and current standards, it centres almost entirely on the experience of the USA. It is perhaps impossible to be globally inclusive in these matters, but as a European reader, I wanted a little more than the single paragraph provided on ‘occupational health standards in other nations’, which seemed to imply that most European Union countries have adopted the MAK values developed by Germany.
Many of those involved in the science of occupational hygiene have come from different backgrounds: some are engineers, some are toxicologists, and others are from more medically orientated subject areas. Indeed one of the strengths of occupational hygiene is that it has learned from and can call upon expertise across such a span of scientific experience. There is a perception, however, that the occupational and environmental arenas are distinct, with occupational exposures being of a different magnitude to environmental contamination. This book repeatedly shatters that divide. It shows time and time again that the principles and methods used to sample, model and understand environmental contamination are similar to those used by occupational hygienists. Our understanding of dermal, respiratory and ingestion exposure assessment methods is similar in both fields. If we consider workers' health in a holistic manner, as we should aim to do in occupational hygiene, then there is a need to understand the environmental factors that can influence health and well being. This book provides a bridge to help us identify the many areas of overlap there are between occupational and environmental exposures that impact on human health. Although broad in its scope, this book achieves an excellent balance of simple explanation and detail. I can thoroughly recommend Environmental Health Science for all those practicing hygiene and with an interest in hygiene and human exposure science.
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