Environmental Health

Environmental Health is concerned with preventing illness through managing the environment and by changing people's behavior to reduce exposure to biological and non-biological agents of disease and injury. It is concerned primarily with effects of the environment to the health of the people. Program strategies and activities are focused on environmental sanitation, environmental health impact assessment and occupational health through inter-agency collaboration. An Inter-Agency COmmittee on Environmental Health was created by virute of E.O. 489 to facilitate and improve coordination among concerned agencies. It provides the venue for technical collaboration, effective monitoring and communication, resource mobilization, policy review and development. The Committee has five sectoral task forces on water, solid waste, air, toxic and chemical substances and occupational health. Vision: Health Settings for All Filipinos Mission: Provide leadership in ensuring health settings Goals: Reduction of environmental and occupational related diseases, disabilities and deaths through health promotion and mitigation of hazards and risks in the environment and worksplaces. Strategic Objectives: 1. Development of evidence-based policies, guidelines, standards, programs and parameters for specific healthy settings. 2. Provision of technical assistance to implementers and other relevant partners 3. Strengthening inter-sectoral collaboration and broad based mass participation for the promotion and attainment of healthy settings Key Result Areas:

Appropriate development and regular evaluation of relevant programs, projects, policies and plans on environmental and occupational health Timely provision of technical assistance to Centers for Health Development (CHDs) and other partners

Development of responsive/relevant legislative and research agenda on DPC Timely provision of technical inputs to curriculum development and conduct of human resource development Timely provision of technically sound advice to the Secretary and other stakeholders Timely and adequate provision of strategic logistics

Components:

Inter- agency Committee on Environmental Health IACEH Task Force on Water IACEH Task Force on Solid Waste IACEH Task Force on Toxic Chemicals IACEH Task Force on Occupational Health Environmental Sanitation Environmental Health Impact Assessment Occupational Health

From: http://www.doh.gov.ph/programs/environmental_health Example of environmental health study and assessment:

2. Health Profile of Corporate Mineworkers and Communities Living Near Corporate Gold Mining Operations in Mankayan, Benguet
(Final report of an environmental and occupational health hazard assessment)

This study focused on the health profile of corporate mineworkers and residents of communities adjacent to the large-scale gold mining operations of the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (LCMCo or Lepanto) in the municipality of Mankayan , Benguet Province . The research has two components, namely, environmental health hazard assessment and occupational health hazard assessment. The first focused on the residents of three communities, looking at the routes of exposure to mine drainage among the residents as well as the most prevalent symptoms reported in relation to this exposure. This part revealed that residents in the community nearest Lepanto's Mill Outlet exhibited more health symptoms, and that the differences in the prevalence of symptoms between this community and the others were significant. This result is associated to the fact that elevated levels of cyanide, lead, and mercury were found in the water samples at the company's mill outlets and tailings dams.

A second phase to the first focus involved the analysis and comparison of blood samples from residents who were exposed to mine drainage with controls living downstream who had little or no exposure to mine drainage. This study showed a positive linear correlation between the hours of exposure to mine drainage and the subjects' hemoglobin, blood cyanide and lead levels. Statistically significant differences in the blood levels of copper, cyanide and lead between the subjects and controls were also found. The subjects had higher levels of these chemicals in their blood as compared to the controls. On the other hand, the subjects had lower levels of serum creatinine compared to the controls. These blood test results indicate the possible chemicals responsible for the symptoms originally reported in the preliminary phase. Cyanide is pinpointed as possibly playing a prominent role.

The research's second focus, i.e., the assessment of the occupational health hazard among the corporate mineworkers, found out, in turn, that the most prevalent injuries were lacerations (43.18%), crushing injuries (17.05%), bruises (14.77%) and fractures (13.64%) usually involving rock or timber fall. Twenty percent (20%) of these cases required hospitalization. Most prevalent among the work-associated symptoms reported were: phlegm production (79.55%), joint pain (78.41%), eye irritation (67.05%), headache (55.68%), dyspnea (48.86%) and dizziness (36.36%). Most prevalent abnormal physical findings were hypertension (28.41%) and perforated eardrum (19.32%).

Keywords: mining effects, corporate/ large-scale mining, environmental health, occupational health, cyanide Author: ANA MARIE R. LEUNG, MD.: Chairperson, Department of Preventive and Community Medicine, Saint Louis University ; graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine (1993). From: THE NORTHERN LUZON RESEARCH JOURNAL ISSN 1908-5990 VOLUME 1 (JANUARY 2007)

http://www.slu.edu.ph/publications/nlrj/vol1.jsp

Suggested sites (for outlining & supplement):

http://www.itnphil.org.ph/products/research/sanluisresearch.html
http://static.stii.dost.gov.ph/sntpost/frames/jun2k2/pg13.htm

www.philexport.ph/EUREPGAP/PRESENTATIONS_REPORTS/Dr%20Lynn %20Panganiban%20PPT.ppt See http://www.phmovement.org/pha2/papers/paperswednesday.php -- ppt. presentation of impact of mining industry on health By Dr. Leung