The environment is a unique set of conditions surrounding a living organism that affect it, perhaps a combination of phenomena, material bodies, energies. An environmental factor is an environmental factor to which organisms have to adapt. This could be a decrease or increase in temperature, humidity or drought, background radiation, human activity, competition among animals, etc. The term “habitat” inherently means the part of nature in which organisms live, among the influences on them direct or indirect influence. These are factors, because they influence the subject in one way or another. The environment is constantly changing, its components are diverse, so animals, plants and even people have to constantly adapt, adapt to new conditions in order to somehow survive and reproduce.

Classification of environmental factors

Living organisms can be affected by both natural and artificial influences. There are several types of classifications, but the most common types of environmental factors are abiotic, biotic and anthropogenic. All living organisms are affected in one way or another by phenomena and components inanimate nature. These are abiotic factors that influence the life activity of humans, plants, and animals. They, in turn, are divided into edaphic, climatic, chemical, hydrographic, pyrogenic, orographic.

Light mode, humidity, temperature, atmospheric pressure and precipitation, solar radiation, wind can be attributed to climatic factors. Edaphic influence living organisms through heat, air and its chemical composition and mechanical structure, level groundwater, acidity. Chemical factors are the salt composition of water, gas composition atmosphere. Pyrogenic - the effect of fire on the environment. Living organisms are forced to adapt to the terrain, elevation changes, as well as to the characteristics of the water and the content of organic and mineral substances in it.

A biotic environmental factor is the relationship of living organisms, as well as the impact of their relationships on the environment. The influence can be both direct and indirect. For example, some organisms are able to influence the microclimate, change, etc. Biotic factors are divided into four types: phytogenic (plants influence the environment and each other), zoogenic (animals influence the environment and each other), mycogenic ( fungi have an impact) and microbiogenic (microorganisms are at the center of events).

An anthropogenic environmental factor is a change in the living conditions of organisms due to human activity. Actions can be either conscious or unconscious. However, they lead to irreversible changes in nature. Man destroys the soil layer, pollutes the atmosphere and water with harmful substances, and disturbs natural landscapes. Anthropogenic factors can be divided into four main subgroups: biological, chemical, social and physical. All of them, to one degree or another, affect animals, plants, microorganisms, contribute to the emergence of new species and wipe out old ones from the face of the earth.

The chemical influence of environmental factors on organisms mainly has a negative impact on the environment. To achieve good harvests, people use mineral fertilizers, kill pests with poisons, thereby polluting the soil and water. Transport and industrial waste should also be added here. Physical factors include travel on planes, trains, cars, the use of nuclear energy, and the effect of vibration and noise on organisms. We should also not forget about relationships between people and life in society. Biological factors include organisms for which humans are a source of food or habitat, and food products should also be included here.

Environmental conditions

Depending on their characteristics and strengths, different organisms react differently to abiotic factors. Environmental conditions change over time and, of course, change the rules of survival, development and reproduction of microbes, animals, and fungi. For example, the life of green plants at the bottom of a reservoir is limited by the amount of light that can penetrate the water column. The number of animals is limited by the abundance of oxygen. Temperature has a huge impact on living organisms, because its decrease or increase affects development and reproduction. During the Ice Age, not only mammoths and dinosaurs became extinct, but also many other animals, birds and plants, thereby changing the environment. Humidity, temperature and light are the main factors that determine the living conditions of organisms.

Light

The sun gives life to many plants; it is not as important for animals as it is for representatives of the flora, but still they cannot do without it. Daylight is a natural source of energy. Many plants are divided into light-loving and shade-tolerant. Different animal species exhibit negative or positive reactions to light. But the sun has the most important influence on the cycle of day and night, because different representatives of the fauna lead an exclusively nocturnal or diurnal lifestyle. The effect of environmental factors on organisms is difficult to overestimate, but if we talk about animals, then lighting does not affect them directly, it only signals the need to rearrange the processes occurring in the body, due to which living beings respond to changing external conditions.

Humidity

All living beings depend on water very much, because it is necessary for their normal functioning. Most organisms are unable to live in dry air; sooner or later they die. The amount of precipitation falling during a specific period characterizes the humidity of the area. Lichens catch water vapor from the air, plants feed using roots, animals drink water, insects and amphibians are able to absorb it through the integument of the body. There are creatures that obtain liquid through food or through the oxidation of fats. Both plants and animals have many adaptations that allow them to waste water more slowly and save it.

Temperature

Each organism has its own temperature range. If it goes beyond the limits, rising or falling, then he can simply die. The influence of environmental factors on plants, animals and humans can be both positive and negative. Within the temperature range, the organism develops normally, but as soon as the temperature approaches the lower or upper limits, life processes slow down and then stop altogether, which leads to the death of the creature. Some people need cold, some need warmth, and some can live with different conditions environment. For example, bacteria and lichens can withstand a wide range of temperatures; tigers thrive in the tropics and Siberia. But most organisms survive only within narrow temperature limits. For example, corals grow in water at 21°C. Low temperatures or overheating are deadly for them.

In tropical areas, weather fluctuations are almost imperceptible, which cannot be said about temperate zone. Organisms are forced to adapt to the changing seasons; many make long migrations with the onset of winter, and plants die off altogether. Under unfavorable temperature conditions, some creatures hibernate in order to wait out the period that is unsuitable for them. These are just the main environmental factors; organisms are also affected by atmospheric pressure, wind, and altitude.

The impact of environmental factors on a living organism

The development and reproduction of living beings is significantly influenced by their environment. All groups of environmental factors usually act in a complex manner, and not one at a time. The strength of influence of one depends on the others. For example, lighting cannot be replaced in any way carbon dioxide, but by changing the temperature, it is quite possible to stop plant photosynthesis. All factors influence organisms to one degree or another differently. The leading role may vary depending on the time of year. For example, in the spring, temperature is important for many plants, during the flowering period - soil moisture, and during ripening - air humidity and nutrients. There is also an excess or deficiency of which is close to the limits of the body’s endurance. Their effect manifests itself even when living beings are in a favorable environment.

The influence of environmental factors on plants

For each representative of the flora, the surrounding nature is considered its habitat. It creates all the necessary environmental factors. The habitat provides the plant with the necessary soil and air humidity, lighting, temperature, wind, optimal amount nutrients in the ground. Normal levels of environmental factors allow organisms to grow, develop and reproduce normally. Some conditions can negatively affect plants. For example, if you plant a crop in a depleted field, the soil of which does not have enough nutrients, then it will grow very weak or not grow at all. This factor can be called limiting. But still, most plants adapt to living conditions.

Representatives of the flora growing in the desert adapt to the conditions with the help of a special form. They usually have very long and powerful roots that can go 30 m deep into the ground. A superficial root system is also possible, allowing them to collect moisture during short rains. Trees and bushes store water in trunks (often deformed), leaves, and branches. Some desert inhabitants are able to wait for several months for life-giving moisture, but others are pleasing to the eye for only a few days. For example, ephemerals scatter seeds that germinate only after rain, then the desert blooms early in the morning, and at noon the flowers fade.

The influence of environmental factors on plants also affects them in cold conditions. The tundra has a very harsh climate, summers are short and cannot be called warm, but frosts last from 8 to 10 months. The snow cover is insignificant, and the wind completely exposes the plants. Representatives of the flora usually have a superficial root system, thick skin of leaves with a waxy coating. Plants accumulate the necessary supply of nutrients during the period when Tundra trees produce seeds that germinate only once every 100 years during the period of the most favorable conditions. But lichens and mosses have adapted to reproduce vegetatively.

Plants allow them to develop in the most different conditions. Representatives of the flora are dependent on humidity and temperature, but most of all they need sunlight. He changes them internal structure, appearance. For example, a sufficient amount of light allows trees to grow a luxurious crown, but bushes and flowers grown in the shade seem depressed and weak.

Ecology and people very often take different paths. Human activities have a detrimental effect on the environment. Job industrial enterprises, forest fires, transport, air pollution from emissions from power plants, factories, water and soil with residues of petroleum products - all this negatively affects the growth, development and reproduction of plants. Behind last years many species of flora were included in the Red Book, many became extinct.

The influence of environmental factors on humans

Just two centuries ago, people were much healthier and physically stronger than they are today. Labor activity constantly complicates the relationship between man and nature, but until certain point they managed to get along. This was achieved due to the synchronicity of people’s way of life with natural regimes. Each season had its own work spirit. For example, in the spring, peasants plowed the land, sowed cereals and other crops. In the summer they tended crops, grazed livestock, in the fall they harvested crops, in the winter they did household chores and rested. The culture of health was important element general human culture, the consciousness of the individual changed under the influence natural conditions.

Everything changed dramatically in the twentieth century, during a period of huge leaps in the development of technology and science. Of course, even before this, human activity significantly harmed the environment, but here all records of negative impact on the environment were broken. The classification of environmental factors allows us to determine what people influence in to a greater extent, and for what - to a lesser extent. Humanity lives in a mode production cycle, and this cannot but affect the state of health. There is no periodicity, people do the same work throughout the year, have little rest, and are constantly in a hurry to get somewhere. Of course, working and living conditions have changed in better side, but the consequences of such comfort are very unfavorable.

Today, water, soil, air are polluted, fallout destroys plants and animals, and damages structures and structures. The thinning of the ozone layer also has frightening consequences. All this leads to genetic changes, mutations, people's health is deteriorating every year, and the number of patients with incurable diseases is growing inexorably. Humans are greatly influenced by environmental factors; biology studies this impact. Previously, people could die from cold, heat, hunger, thirst, but in our time humanity is “digging its own grave.” Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, fires - all these natural phenomena take the lives of people, but even more the person harms himself. Our planet is like a ship that is heading towards the rocks at high speed. We need to stop before it’s too late, correct the situation, try to pollute the atmosphere less, and become closer to nature.

Human impact on the environment

People complain about sudden changes in the environment, deterioration in health and general well-being, but they rarely realize that they themselves are to blame for this. Different kinds environmental factors have changed over the centuries, there have been periods of warming and cooling, seas have dried up, islands have gone under water. Of course, nature forced people to adapt to conditions, but it did not set strict limits for people and did not act spontaneously and quickly. With the development of technology and science, everything has changed significantly. In one century, humanity has polluted the planet so much that scientists are clutching their heads, not knowing how to change the situation.

We still remember the mammoths and dinosaurs that became extinct during the Ice Age due to a sharp cold snap, and how many species of animals and plants have been wiped off the face of the earth over the past 100 years, how many more are on the verge of extinction? Big cities are crammed with factories, pesticides are actively used in villages, polluting the soil and water, and there is a saturation of transport everywhere. There are practically no places left on the planet that can boast clean air, unpolluted land and water. Deforestation, endless fires, which can be caused not only by abnormal heat, but also by human activity, pollution of water bodies with oil products, harmful exhaust gases in the atmosphere - all this negatively affects the development and reproduction of living organisms and does not improve human health in any way.

“Either a person will reduce the amount of smoke in the air, or smoke will reduce the number of people on Earth,” these are the words of L. Baton. Indeed, the picture of the future looks depressing. The best minds of humanity are struggling with how to reduce the scale of pollution, programs are being created, various cleaning filters are being invented, and alternatives are being sought for those objects that pollute the environment the most today.

Ways to solve environmental problems

Ecology and people today cannot reach a consensus. Everyone in government must work together to solve existing problems. Everything must be done to transfer production to waste-free, closed cycles; on the way to this, energy- and material-saving technologies can be used. Nature management must be rational and take into account the characteristics of the regions. The increase in species of creatures on the verge of extinction requires the immediate expansion of protected areas. Well, and most importantly, the population should be educated, in addition to general environmental education.

Components of human health

Definition 1

Human health is a state in which there is complete well-being both physically, socially and spiritually.

From a psychophysiological point of view, health can be considered as a necessary and enough level mental and physical performance during implementation different types labor. The magnitude of health loss reflects the degree of impairment in the structures and functions of the body and is characterized by indicators of morbidity and disability.

To characterize the health status of the population, they use pain index, which reflects the prevalence of diseases. The prevalence of diseases is determined by the product of the ratio of diseases per year per 1000 and refers to the average population. This indicator is a collective designation of negative health indicators, considered in sanitary statistics as criteria for health status.

The human natural environment includes a combination of natural (biotic and abiotic) and anthropogenic factors.

Biotic and abiotic factors affecting humans

Biotic and abiotic factors can be combined into natural factors, which characterize the impact on the human body of certain features of the area of ​​residence:

• climatic (temperature, humidity, pressure, etc.);
• geological (geological structure, relief, ground and surface waters, degree of relief dissection);
• biological (presence natural prerequisites diseases, flora and fauna).

Note 1

The complex of factors that determine living conditions is united by various mutual connections. Nature determines the most significant parameters of the economy, however, it is highly dependent on the economic activities of people.

The life activity of people and their health are influenced directly and through socio-economic conditions by both individual elements of the natural environment and their totality.

The most significant impacts are from:

• the surface layer of the atmosphere with the phenomena and processes occurring in it;
• natural waters;
• geological structure territories;
• soil cover.

In areas where there is a close connection between management and the use of biological resources (timber harvesting, hunting, etc.), the surrounding flora and wild animals play an important role in people's lives.

After contact with poisonous plants and animals, biological components of the landscape can become sources of severe poisoning, serious infectious diseases, the pathogens of which are carried by animals and persist in nature. Along with this, the natural components of landscapes have wide commercial significance.

Natural disasters pose a great danger to the health and life of the population:

• sat down;
• earthquakes;
• tsunami;
• floods;
• landslides;
• hurricanes;
• avalanches.

The impact of natural conditions is reflected in the demographic behavior of people. There is a close connection between the level of population health, determined by external factors and demographic behavior, and the ongoing demographic processes in the population.

Lack or excess of biologically active elements in the chain geological rocks → soils → crops → food lead to the emergence and development of serious diseases: endemic goiter, cretinism, hypofluorosis, hyperfluorosis, urinary disease, endemic gout, etc. Among the population that constantly consumes ultra-fresh water, the cardiovascular system is often seriously affected.

The life activity of any community of people is inextricably linked with other populations. Specific communities unite with other people:

• business skills;
• religion;
• cultural traditions;
• trade;
• economic processes;
• education system;
• protection from the enemy and much more.

Human communities can feel Negative influence from unintentional or special interference in the processes of their life of other people. These include infectious diseases brought from other regions and military conflicts occurring everywhere.

Influence of anthropogenic factors on humans

Note 2

As a rule, anthropogenic factors, the existence of which is due to economic activity human, have a negative impact on the person himself, his health and living conditions.

Man is both a product and the creator of his environment, which provides him physical basis for life and the opportunity for moral, intellectual, spiritual and social development.

The quality of life of the population directly depends on the level of development of economic activity.

When researching modern societies people associated with industrial production consider two sides of one problem:

1. The economy as a source of life comfort and material wealth.
2. The economy as a source of industrial injuries, stress, psychological fatigue, and environmental degradation.

To the most important biotic factors, affecting human health, include those that determine the sanitary and epidemiological situation. The causative agents of many diseases persist in the environment through development in animal hosts. For example, the causative agent of tularemia (an acute infectious disease) can be transmitted indefinitely from generation to generation in mink populations and, under favorable conditions, infect humans. Natural foci of infections are associated with certain biogeocenoses in which pathogens, vectors and host animals evolve together, adapting to each other. In this case, the pathogen usually does not destroy the host. This is precisely the nature of natural foci of plague, tularemia, yellow fever, malaria, viral hepatitis, tick-borne encephalitis. The carriers of many of these diseases are blood-sucking insects - mosquitoes, mosquitoes, fleas, ticks. The causative agents of some infectious diseases (for example, rabies, cholera, leptospirosis, brucellosis) do not have vectors.

In nature, pathogens play a very important role as limiters of excessive population development. As soon as a certain population begins to grow explosively, it is immediately affected by numerous pathogenic viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and fungi. Man was no exception: in the ancient and medieval cities epidemics occurred very often. For example, in the VI century. n. e. North Africa, Syria, Europe and Asia Minor were gripped by the so-called “Black Death” - a plague epidemic that claimed the lives of about 100 million people (more than a third of the then world population). The second major plague epidemic occurred in Europe in the 14th century. and destroyed about 25 million people, that is, almost half of the population of Europe, and not a single living person remained on the island of Cyprus.

The main factors contributing to the emergence of epidemics were high population density (primarily in cities), as well as catastrophic sanitary conditions. The plague, whose natural carriers are rodents and fleas, was transmitted to humans by “domestic” rats. The disease was spread among people not only by fleas, but also by airborne droplets or direct contact. In those days, the plague was almost 100% fatal. As human population density decreased, the epidemic subsided and relative equilibrium was restored.

In the XVII-XIX centuries. Thanks to the development of hygiene and medicine, the likelihood of epidemics has decreased. However, the density of human populations, especially in major cities, not only did not decrease, but on the contrary increased. Because of this, outbreaks of tularemia, cholera, and hepatitis still occur from time to time; The foci of malaria and encephalitis have not been completely eliminated, sexually transmitted diseases are spreading, and new diseases are appearing, for example, AIDS. Another aspect of the indirect impact of biotic factors on humans is associated with food, as mentioned above.

The influence of anthropogenic factors on humans

Paradoxically, the negative impact a person has on their own health is enormous. The variety of means by which a person destroys his health and gene pool is amazing - these are pesticides and household chemicals, heavy metals and plastics, drugs and tobacco, noise and electromagnetic fields, radiation and acid rain, biological and chemical weapons, industrial waste, oil and much more. The influence of only a few groups of man-made factors has been studied, and only a few of their categories, which are considered leading, have been conditionally identified. These include chemical factors - pesticides, mineral fertilizers, heavy metals, highly toxic industrial substances, smoke (including tobacco), Construction Materials and household chemicals; physical factors- noise, electromagnetic radiation and radiation; biological factors- introduction of new species of animals and plants.

Many of these chemicals do not decompose over a long period of time and can accumulate in food chains. Some substances are not eliminated from the body for a long time, accumulating in tissues and organs, so their negative impact on the human body is constantly growing (the so-called cumulative effect). According to some reports, the industry now produces more than 11 thousand types of chemicals, of which about 3 thousand pose a serious threat not only to human health, but also to life itself.

The main method of monitoring the degree of cleanliness of the environment is to assess the content of certain harmful substances regarding maximum permissible concentrations (MAC) and doses (MAD) of these substances both in the biotope and at certain levels of trophic chains. The development of these MPCs and traffic rules is carried out by specialized research organizations. Typically, MPCs reflect the critical range of a factor, beyond which a person falls from the optimum zone to the pessimum zone. Exceeding MPCs and SDAs is always accompanied by a deterioration in public health.

As already noted, pesticides represent a large group of different substances for controlling pests and diseases of agricultural plants. Many of them have a combined effect, for example, the insecticide DDT destroys insects, nematodes, and rodents. The main characteristics of these pesticides are volatility, the ability to penetrate the skin, accumulate, decompose and be excreted from the body. The industry produces mainly seven groups of pesticides: organochlorine, organophosphorus, organomercury compounds, carbamates, nitrophenols, specific herbicides and fungicides.

Organochlorine compounds (OCCs). The most famous pesticide in this group is the insecticide DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloromethylmethane). The insecticidal properties of DDT were discovered by the Swiss chemist P. Müller, for which he was awarded Nobel Prize. In 1943, mass production of DDT began, one millionth of a gram of which instantly paralyzed an insect. By the mid-60s, about 1,500,000 tons of this product had already been produced and sprayed on fields in the world. The use of DDT dramatically increased agricultural production and enabled the "green revolution" in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

However, already in the 1950s, new evidence emerged that some insects had lost their susceptibility to DDT. Information about the death of some species began to arrive insectivorous birds, bees and shrimp, about reducing the efficiency of pollination of flowering plants. DDT began to appear in elevated concentrations in the tissues of commercial fish, in particular mackerel, the consumption of which led to severe poisoning of people. Increased levels of the drug were found in penguin livers and even in human milk. It turned out that DDT is a chemically stable compound with a natural half-life of 49 years, and has the ability to accumulate in soil and water, from where it enters the food chain. On every next trophic level the concentration of DDT increased tens, hundreds and even thousands of times. In such doses reaching the last consumer of the trophic chain - humans, DDT accumulated in tissues and caused diseases of the nervous system, heart, and liver. So, DDT turned out to be a toxic pesticide with a long period of existence and a pronounced cumulative effect. Due to the danger to human health, this pesticide was banned in almost all countries of the world, but even now its content in human tissue is on average twice the MPC.

Hexachlorocyclohexane, heptachlor, and chlorobenzene are close in their effect to DDT, as a result of which these MOOCs are banned almost everywhere or their use is very limited.

Organophosphorus compounds (OPCs), unlike MOCs, are today quite intensively produced and used in agriculture. Among them there are toxic substances (metaphos, mercaptophos) and highly toxic (phosphamide), the use of which is completely prohibited; there are compounds of moderate toxicity (chlorophos, karbofos), which are still used to a limited extent; are low-toxic drugs (methylacetophos, avenin), which are used quite widely. Most OPs, even low-toxic ones, are characterized by a cumulative effect and therefore can pose a danger to human health. The toxic effect of FOS is the inhibition of the enzyme that is involved in the transmission process nerve impulses. In this case, the functions of all internal organs. Poisoning is accompanied by headache, dizziness, and weakness. In severe cases, loss of consciousness occurs, the kidneys, liver, heart are affected, and death is possible.

Compared to MOS, organophosphates are much more potent, but their half-lives are usually shorter, ranging from several weeks to several months.

Organomercury compounds (OMCs) are powerful fungicides and bactericides. They are highly toxic, easily penetrate the brain, and are characterized by a cumulative effect. ROS, primarily granosan and Mercury, are used in some farms for pre-sowing seed treatment. Therefore, most often poisoning is associated with accidental consumption of such disinfected raw materials. The main active ingredient is mercury. Once in the blood, it accumulates in various organs, binds to enzymes and disrupts their work. In case of poisoning, a metallic taste in the mouth, weakness, and headache appear. High doses of mercury lead to severe impairment of consciousness or death from acute cardiovascular failure. First aid for mercury poisoning is to use the antidote - unithiol.

Poisoning can be caused by any mercury compounds. Mercury itself is NOT deactivated either in the body or in biotopes. It accumulates in soils or water bodies and then migrates through trophic chains, gradually concentrating like DDT. WITH biological cycle mercury is removed only as a result of their removal into the World Ocean and burial in bottom sediments. For example, in Baltic cod the mercury content sometimes reaches 800 mg per 1 kg of weight. That is, after eating five or six of these fish, a person receives as much mercury as is contained in a medical thermometer. Numerous cases of mercury poisoning are known, even at concentrations in the environment below the MPC.

Carbamates. Pesticides of this group are synthesized on the basis of carbamic acid and its derivatives. The most common domestic drugs are Sevim, tiuram, ciram, zineb, and foreign ones are MANEB, zaneb, propoxur, methomil. Carbamates have a wide spectrum of action and therefore can be used as insecticides, fungicides, bactericides, and herbicides. Their common feature is the absence of a cumulative effect, rapid decomposition (within one to several weeks), low toxicity to humans and low volatility. Due to these properties, carbamates are the main group of commercial pesticides used in developed countries. So far, the only negative property of these drugs is considered to be their indiscriminate toxicity to insects, in particular to bees. IN Lately Data have appeared on the dangers of carbamates for humans - it has been proven that Sevim and some other drugs cause mutagenic effects.

Nitrophenols are phenolic compounds extracted from coal and are used as insecticides, fungicides and herbicides. Nitrophenols affect any cells of the body, that is, they have a nonspecific effect, disrupting the regulation of oxidative phosphoritation processes. As a result, the work of mitochondria is enhanced, and the processes of oxidation and respiration are significantly activated. Nitrophenols are toxic to humans and have carcinogenic properties, so their production and use are prohibited in developed countries.

Specific herbicides. These include the so-called contact herbicides (atrazine, simazine, paraquat) and systemic herbicides (2,4-D, diuron). These drugs disrupt photosynthesis in plants and are therefore used to control weeds. Specific herbicides are unstable and do not exhibit a cumulative effect, but some of them are highly toxic. Based on such herbicides, the defoliant “orange” was developed. It was used by the US Army during the Vietnam War to unmask guerrillas, causing numerous diseases and mutations not only in the Vietnamese who were exposed to the “orange” dust, but also in American soldiers. The consequences of this chemical warfare are still being felt today in both Vietnam and the United States. The active ingredient "orange" is a specific herbicide from the group of dioxins.

Dioxins are the most dangerous environmental pollutants produced by humans. they are combined into two groups of chlorine-containing compounds based on dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans. Dioxins are very stable substances. They actively accumulate in the environment and are transported by air currents to long distances, pose a threat to the planet’s water bodies and all humanity. For example, in the Baltics (in water, bottom sediments, fish) there is about 10 g of dioxins, but this is already the maximum limit for the population of Sweden for 50 years. Detection of dioxins requires the use of sensitive analytical techniques.

Midevmisni fungicides. The most famous pesticides of this group are Bordeaux mixture and copper sulfate with the active ingredient - copper sulfate. Midevmisni preparations, like mercury, do not lose their toxicity over time; they accumulate in the soil, partially in grapes, and can enter the human body. Copper causes general poisoning, in which case a metallic taste in the mouth, salivation, and vomiting appear. At high concentrations, the breakdown of red blood cells increases and symptoms of jaundice occur; death is likely. First aid for copper poisoning is to immediately lavage the stomach with a solution of potassium permanganate. Then the victim should be given milk and activated carbon.

In general, poisoning by pesticides and their transformation products in ecosystems is one of the main manifestations of the reverse influence of anthropogenic factors on humans. Taken together, insecticides and herbicides are powerful “drugs” for ecosystems, because they modify the functions of vital links in food chains - consumers and producers. That is, the use of these substances can only occur under the guidance of qualified specialists with official certificates, just as is customary with medicines, used to treat people.

In addition to pesticides, mineral fertilizers are also major environmental pollutants. Today the industry produces several hundred types of nitrogen, phosphate, potassium and combined fertilizers. Tens of millions of tons of fertilizers are applied to soils every year. Plants absorb only about 40% of this mass; the rest ends up in water bodies and pollutes them. Drinking water contaminated mineral fertilizers(primarily nitrogen) has become common in many regions of the world. In addition, due to excessive concentrations of fertilizers in the soil, they accumulate in excessive quantities in plants and end up at our table.

The active ingredients of many nitrogen fertilizers are nitrate and nitrite compounds, which pose a real threat to human health and life. Nitrates interact with hemoglobin, converting it into a form that is unable to bind oxygen. The lethal dose of nitrates for humans is about 2.5 g. Acute poisoning, accompanied by nausea, diarrhea, bluish skin, chest pain, occurs at a nitrate concentration of about 1 g per 1 liter drinking water or per 1 kg of food. Mild poisoning, manifested in weakness and general depression, occurs at concentrations of 300 mg/l in adults and 100 mg/l in children.

The third place after poisoning by pesticides and nitrates is occupied by heavy metals - mercury, lead, zinc, manganese, chromium, nickel, which have been used by humans since ancient times. For example, in 1953, more than 200 residents of the Japanese city of Minamata were poisoned by mercury, 52 of them died. As it turned out, the cause of mass poisoning was the consumption of crabs whose tissues contained a lot of mercury. It accumulated in the crabs as a result of the discharge of contaminated wastewater from a chemical plant into the bay, where mercury chloride was used as a catalyst. At the same time, the concentration of mercury in the kidneys of deceased people was 6 times higher than in the bodies of crabs. In this way, the cumulative properties of heavy metals were discovered.

Also in the 20th century. diseases caused by lead poisoning (so-called saturnism) were discovered. Patients with Saturnism experience weakness, apathy, memory impairment, and progressive physical and mental degradation. Indirect information about this disease dates back to the time when lead was made water pipes. Such a water supply system operated, for example, in Ancient Rome, when the life expectancy of Roman patricians did not exceed 25 years.

And although today almost nowhere in the world there are no lead water pipes, the number of cases of saturnism diseases is growing, because lead is released into the atmosphere when gasoline is burned in car engines. In a hundred-meter strip around the highway, the lead content is 100-150 μg per 1 kg of soil, while its average content in the lithosphere is considered normal up to 10 μg/kg. Lead enters the environment during the mining of lead ores. In Ukraine, for example, large amounts of lead contaminated soils and water bodies, and then entered the food chain during the liquidation of the Chernobyl accident. Modern contamination of the biosphere with lead confirms this fact: the lead content in the bones of primitive man was only 2 mg, while in modern man- 100-200 mg. It is lead that enters the air in the form of an aerosol that causes the formation of protoplasmic poison, denatures proteins, and in turn causes a violation enzymatic activity. It reduces the amount of hemoglobin and destroys red blood cells.

Other heavy metals, like mercury and lead, also have a general toxic effect and primarily affect the nervous system. All of them are capable of accumulating in the human body, have a prolonged effect and are removed from the cycle only after they are washed out into the World Ocean and buried in its bottom sediments.

Today, highly toxic industrial substances (TDS) and fumes have become constant companions of humans. Poisoning of many people with these substances occurs as a result of damage to storage facilities, fires, explosions, emergency releases of enterprises, disasters at sea and railway transport in various regions of the world. According to World Center treatment of poisoning, poisoning with chlorine, ammonia, vapors of various acids, hydrogen sulfide, a mixture of hydrocarbons and mercaptans is most often observed. As a result of chlorine poisoning, asthmatic bronchitis and toxic pulmonary edema develop, and at high concentrations, chemical burns of the lungs, spasm of the vocal cords, and death can occur. Ammonia poisoning causes laryngitis, tracheitis, tracheobronchitis; in the case of high concentrations, the consequences are the same as with severe chlorine poisoning. Mild poisoning with vapors of acids (sulfuric, perchloric, nitric, acetic, etc.) leads to damage respiratory tract, cause skin burns and contribute to the development of skin diseases; at high concentrations, death is possible.

Acid poisoning can cause smog. For example, NO3, which enters the atmosphere from dimogases industrial emissions, interacting with water vapor, carbon dioxide and oxygen, forms nitric acid, aldehydes, and specific nitrate compounds, which settle to the ground in the form of smog. The world-famous London smog, which was formed in winter as a result of burning coal with a high sulfur content. Sulfur dioxide, after interacting with water vapor, settled along with dust particles on the city, forming a gray fog. The consequence was numerous cases of chronic respiratory diseases. Now London has lost this characteristic feature. However, industrial smog can often be observed in the industrial centers of Ukraine - Dneprodzerzhinsk, Krivoy Rog, Mariupol, Donetsk, etc.

Another dangerous source of toxic substances is emissions from automobile gases. The range of toxic substances they contain is very diverse: carbon monoxide, tetraethyl lead, nitrogen and sulfur oxides, aldehydes, benzopyrene, etc. - only about 200 items. Systematic exposure to exhaust gases on humans increases the incidence of bronchitis, acute respiratory infections, pneumonia, and cancer. For example, in Japan, about 12% of all diseases are associated with air pollution from cars.

Construction materials and household chemicals are also sources of constant harmful effects on human health. Construction materials, varnishes, paints, organic solvents, synthetic detergents, deodorants, humidifiers, aerosols, numerous polymers - all this is reflected in the morbidity level of human populations. Among the substances emitted by building materials, formaldehyde and asbestos microparticles pose the greatest threat. Formaldehyde enters the air mainly from particle boards and fibreboards, which are widely used in the production of furniture and interior design. The maximum permissible concentration of formaldehyde in the air is OD-0.12 mg/m8. However, the concentration in the air modern apartments on average is about 0.5 mg/m3, and in some cases reaches 3 mg/m3. Formaldehyde causes conjunctivitis, skin inflammation, respiratory diseases, and has certain carcinogenic properties. Asbestos is used as an insulating and fire-fighting material, which is part of asbestos-cement pipes. In the form of microparticles (about 5 microns in diameter), it enters the air and then into the lungs, causing a number of diseases, including cancer.

Various organic solvents, varnishes and paints, deodorants and aerosols have weak and moderate carcinogenic properties and can cause allergic reactions, irritation of mucous membranes, diseases of the respiratory tract, liver and kidneys, nervous disorders (especially for some solvents and humidifiers). Even with chlorinated hot water in not large quantities The carcinogen chloroform is released, and from plastic products and artificial carpets - toxic to internal organs. Therefore, building materials and household substances made from natural raw materials are becoming increasingly popular.

Noise pollution. The harmful effects of noise on human health have been known for a long time. Back in the 16th century. The German physician Paracelsus believed that it was noise that caused deafness and headache from miners, millers and minters. During the existence of wars, it became known that mass battle cries or drumming suppress the enemy. The sirens of attack aircraft and dive bombers evoke fear. An explanation has been found for this: loud sounds excite a person and promote the entry into the blood large quantity hormones, in particular adrenaline, resulting in a feeling of danger and fear. Today, the noise level in large cities has increased by tens, hundreds and even thousands of times compared to the 19th century. Noise sources include all types of transport, industrial facilities, loudspeaker devices, elevators, televisions and radios, musical instruments, crowds of people and the like.

Radiation, throughout its history, man, like the biosphere as a whole, has been exposed to radioactive radiation, coming from space and from radioactive isotopes scattered in the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. This radiation constituted a natural radiation background and contributed to the evolutionary process, because it provided a stable, insignificant background of mutations, in turn increasing the genetic diversity of populations and providing material for natural selection. However, from the middle of the 20th century. man began to intensively master atomic energy. Atomic weapons, nuclear power plants, research and therapeutic radioactive drugs and devices appeared. As a result of testing and application nuclear weapons, accidents at nuclear power plants (at the time of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant alone, more than 200 of them had already occurred in the world), violations of hygienic requirements for handling radioactive substances, etc. Radiation doses on the planet and in its individual regions began to grow rapidly.

Strontium-90 (908g), cesium-137 (1 * TSV), iodine-131 (181I) take an active part in metabolic processes among radioactive substances. They became the main polluters of the environment after the Chernobyl accident. These elements enter the body with dust and water; to a certain extent, they have cumulative properties and the ability to accumulate in trophic chains. In humans, radioactive iodine is concentrated in the thyroid gland, cesium in the liver, and strontium in the bones. Iodine-131 causes strong but short-term radiation (it has short period half-life and is relatively quickly eliminated from the body). Strontium and cesium, which have half-lives of thousands of years, cause radiation exposure throughout a person's lifetime.

Ionizing radiation has high biological activity. It negatively affects living matter biosphere, including on humans, and in the case of large doses leads to death. Ionizing radiation can act in two ways. Firstly, it affects the carriers of heredity - DNA molecules, causing chromosomal and gene mutations, the consequences of which appear immediately or after several generations. Secondly, ionizing radiation can damage cells and tissues and cause somatic disorders, manifested in burns, cataracts, decreased immunity, abnormal pregnancy, and the development of malignant tumors of various organs.

It has now been proven that there are no harmless doses of radiation: the likelihood of disease increases in direct proportion to the absorbed dose of radiation. Radiation is inherently harmful to life. Low doses of radiation can provoke changes in the cells of a living organism that have not yet been fully established, leading to cancer or genetic damage. At high doses, radiation can destroy cells, damage organ tissue and cause rapid death of the body.

Damage caused by high doses of radiation appears within hours or days. Cancers caused by radiation appear many years after exposure, usually no earlier than one or two decades. And congenital defects and other hereditary diseases caused by damage to the genetic apparatus are noticeable only in the next generation: these are children, grandchildren and more distant descendants of the individual exposed to radiation. A person who has felt the effects of radiation does not necessarily have to develop cancer or become a carrier of hereditary diseases; however, she is more likely or at risk of such consequences than a person who has not received radiation. And this risk is greater, the higher the radiation dose. If the dose is too high, the person may die.

In some cases, very large doses of radiation - about 100 Gy (Gy) - cause such severe damage to the central nervous system (CNS) that death usually occurs within hours or days. At radiation doses of 10 to 50 Gy, when radiation affects the entire central nervous system, the damage may not be so severe as to cause immediate death, but the person is more likely to die within 1-2 weeks from gastrointestinal hemorrhage. At lower doses, there may not be serious damage to the gastrointestinal tract, since the body compensates for them, but death can occur 1-2 months after irradiation and mainly due to the destruction of red bone marrow cells - the main component of the body's hematopoietic system. About half of all victims die from a dose of 3-5 Gy during whole-body irradiation. So, large doses of radiation differ from small ones in that death occurs earlier in the first case, and later in the second. Most often, a person dies as a result of the simultaneous manifestation of all these effects of radiation.

The most vulnerable to radiation are the red bone marrow and other elements of the hematopoietic system; they lose the ability to function normally even at radiation doses of 0.5-1 Gy. Reproductive organs and eyes also have increased sensitivity to radiation. A single irradiation at a dose of only 0.1 December leads to temporary sterility of men, and doses higher than 2 December cause permanent sterility: only for many years the testes can again produce full-fledged sperm. The ovaries are less sensitive to the effects of radiation, at least in adult women.

Children are even more sensitive to the effects of radiation. Relatively small doses of radiation to cartilage tissue can slow down or even stop bone growth in them, which leads to abnormalities in skeletal development. The younger the child, the greater the effect of radiation on the growth of her bones. A total dose of about 10 Gy received over several weeks of daily exposure causes some skeletal abnormalities. It also turned out that irradiation of a child's brain during radiation therapy can cause changes in her character, memory loss, and in very young children - dementia and idiocy. The bones and brain of an adult are able to withstand high doses.

Dangerous sources of radionuclides entering the human body are water, milk, vegetables, fruits, meat, and fish. Reducing the danger of radiation is significantly influenced by taking into account the half-life of radioactive substances. Almost all countries that use nuclear energy use radiation safety standards and regulations based on the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiation Protection. their goal is to prevent the adverse consequences of human exposure during the use, storage and transportation of radioactive substances and sources of ionizing radiation.

The unjustified introduction of new species can also have unpredictable consequences. For example, in 1966, wild African bees, which are much more aggressive than European ones, were brought to Brazil for the purpose of breeding new promising hybrids. By chance, several bee families found their way into nature. African bees began to spread rapidly, wiping out native bees or interbreeding with them. From their attacks in Latin America Several hundred people died, bees destroyed tens of thousands of domestic animals. Today, African bees have already begun to “develop” the territory of North America.

So, human ecology as an interdisciplinary science that studies the mutual influence of nature and the human population with the aim of improving health and increasing the social and labor potential of a person was formed almost simultaneously with classical biological ecology. However, a person’s interest in what is happening in the world around him and how it affects health appeared much earlier - when he formed as a thinking being. Over time, knowledge about the relationship in nature, the influence of external factors on the well-being, health and development of mankind was systematized, comprehended, enriched with the results of various experiments and synthesized into a scientific direction that combines acquired natural sciences (astronomy, geology, geography, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, etc.), social, philosophical and economic branches of scientific activity.

Creation date: 2015/04/30

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), people's health depends 50-60% on economic security and lifestyle, 18-20% on the state of the environment, and 20-30% on the level of medical care. In some sources of information, up to 95% of all human health pathologies are directly or indirectly associated with the state of the environment.

Environmental factors affecting human health can be both natural and anthropogenic; beneficial or harmful to human health. Main natural factors consider the meteorological conditions of the environment: temperature, air humidity, illumination, pressure, as well as natural geomagnetic fields. Anthropogenic factors are a set of conditions created by human activity.

The health status of the population is influenced by social factors habitats. For the region, as for Russia as a whole, these include the consequences of socio-economic instability - deterioration of the sanitary and epidemiological situation, social stress due to disruption of the usual lifestyle and deterioration of nutrition, unemployment and a simultaneous decrease in control over working conditions; economic health crisis, causing the curtailment of preventive work.

It should be noted that there is no clear boundary between environmentally dependent and socially determined diseases. For example, the incidence of scabies can be attributed to both diseases caused by social causes (failure to comply with personal hygiene rules) and diseases caused by environmental factors (increased aggressiveness of the scabies mite due to its genetic changes).

The influence of the entire complex of unfavorable environmental factors leads to overstrain and disruption of the body's protective adaptive reserves and, as a consequence, deterioration of health.

To the main medical and demographic indicators of population health for assessment ecological state territories include general morbidity, infant mortality, medical and hygienic violations; The health status of mothers and newborns, the physical and mental development of children, and genetic disorders are considered as additional factors. Some of these indicators are analyzed below.

Morbidity rate in the adult population of the region in the period 1991-1999. varied from 41,461 (1992) to 49,373 (1999) people per 100 thousand population. It is lower than for Russia as a whole.

The Belgorod region ranks fourth among the regions of the Russian Federation in terms of average life expectancy, which is 67 years, which is two years more than the national average.

Infant mortality (children under 1 year of age) in the region has been steadily decreasing, since 1993 from 17.6 to 13.5 per 1000 births, which is lower than the Russian average, where this figure was not lower than 17.

In order for children to be healthy, it is necessary to protect their mothers from negative influences harmful factors environment. However, the health of pregnant women in the Belgorod region, as in Russia as a whole, is characterized by a progressive deterioration: the frequency of pregnancy complications with anemia from 1988 to 1997 increased by 3.5 times, and late toxicosis - by 2 times.

The question of the diverse biological influence of natural geomagnetic fields (GMF) has not yet been sufficiently studied. At the same time, on the territory of the Belgorod region there are large deposits of iron ore, as a result of which the level of GMF is 3 times higher than normal. An analysis of the incidence of the population of the Belgorod region living in conditions of a magnetic anomaly and in the neighborhood (in normal geomagnetic conditions) showed that the incidence in anomalous areas of neuropsychic and hypertension diseases is 160%, and for rheumatism of the heart, vascular disorders and eczema - 130% in comparison with the incidence in neighboring areas with normal OAB. Therefore, areas with high GMF can be classified as environmental risk zones.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution

higher professional education

Siberian State Industrial University

Subject: "The influence of environmental factors on health»

Completed by: IS-131 group student

Pervyakov K.O.

Checked by: Metelev V.G.

Novokuznetsk

1.Introduction………………………………………………………………………………...3

2.Goals…………………………………………………………………………………..4

3. Impact of environmental factors on humans……………………….5

4. Chemical pollution of the environment and human health……………………5

5. Man and radiation……………………………………………………….7

6.Biological pollution and human diseases………………………….10

7. The influence of sounds on humans…………………………………………….12

8. Weather and human well-being………………………………………….15

9. Nutrition and human health……………………………………………...18

10. Landscape as a health factor…………………………………………..21

11. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………25

12. References………………………………………………………...28

Introduction

All processes in the biosphere are interconnected. Humanity is only a small part of the biosphere, and man is only one of the types of organic life - Homo sapiens (reasonable man). Reason separated man from the animal world and gave him enormous power. For centuries, man has sought not to adapt to the natural environment, but to make it convenient for his existence. Now we have realized that any human activity has an impact on the environment, and the deterioration of the biosphere is dangerous for all living beings, including humans. A comprehensive study of man, his relationship with the outside world has led to the understanding that health is not only the absence of disease, but also the physical, mental and social well-being of a person. Health is a capital given to us not only by nature from birth, but also by the conditions in which we live.

The influence of the environment on the body is called an environmental factor. The exact scientific definition is:

ECOLOGICAL FACTOR- any environmental condition to which living things react with adaptive reactions.

An environmental factor is any element of the environment that has a direct or indirect effect on living organisms during at least one of the phases of their development.

By their nature, environmental factors are divided into at least three groups:

abiotic factors - the influence of inanimate nature;

biotic factors - the influence of living nature.

anthropogenic factors - influences caused by reasonable and unreasonable human activity.

Man modifies living and inanimate nature, and in a certain sense takes on a geochemical role (for example, releasing carbon immured in the form of coal and oil for many millions of years and releasing it into the air as carbon dioxide). Therefore, anthropogenic factors in the scope and globality of their impact are approaching geological forces.

It is not uncommon for environmental factors to be subjected to a more detailed classification, when it is necessary to point out a specific group of factors. For example, there are climatic soil environmental factors.

The purpose of this work– consider the influence of environmental factors on human health.

Impact of environmental factors on humans.

Chemical pollution of the environment and human health.

Currently, human economic activity is increasingly becoming the main source of pollution of the biosphere. Gaseous, liquid and solid industrial wastes are entering the natural environment in increasing quantities. Various chemicals contained in waste, entering the soil, air or water, pass through ecological links from one chain to another, ultimately ending up in the human body.

It is almost impossible to find a place on the globe where pollutants are not present in varying concentrations. Even in the ice of Antarctica, where there are no industrial productions and people live only at small scientific stations, scientists have discovered various toxic (poisonous) substances from modern industries. They are brought here by atmospheric currents from other continents.

Substances that pollute the natural environment are very diverse. Depending on their nature, concentration, and time of action on the human body, they can cause various adverse effects. Short-term exposure to small concentrations of such substances can cause dizziness, nausea, sore throat, and cough. The entry of large concentrations of toxic substances into the human body can lead to loss of consciousness, acute poisoning and even death. An example of such an action could be smog that forms in large cities in calm weather, or emergency releases of toxic substances into the atmosphere by industrial enterprises.

The body's reactions to pollution depend on individual characteristics: age, gender, health status. As a rule, children, elderly and sick people are more vulnerable.

When the body systematically or periodically receives relatively small amounts of toxic substances, chronic poisoning occurs.

Signs of chronic poisoning are a violation of normal behavior, habits, as well as neuropsychological abnormalities: rapid fatigue or a feeling of constant fatigue, drowsiness or, conversely, insomnia, apathy, decreased attention, absent-mindedness, forgetfulness, severe mood swings.

In chronic poisoning, the same substances in different people can cause different damage to the kidneys, hematopoietic organs, nervous system, and liver.

Similar signs are observed during radioactive contamination of the environment.

Thus, in areas exposed to radioactive contamination as a result of the Chernobyl disaster, the incidence of disease among the population, especially children, increased many times.

Highly biologically active chemical compounds can cause long-term effects on human health: chronic inflammatory diseases of various organs, changes in the nervous system, effects on the intrauterine development of the fetus, leading to various abnormalities in newborns.

Doctors have established a direct connection between the increase in the number of people suffering from allergies, bronchial asthma, cancer, and the deterioration of the environmental situation in this region. It has been reliably established that industrial wastes such as chromium, nickel, beryllium, asbestos, and many pesticides are carcinogens, that is, they cause cancer. Even in the last century, cancer in children was almost unknown, but now it is becoming more and more common. As a result of pollution, new, previously unknown diseases appear. Their causes can be very difficult to establish.

Smoking causes enormous harm to human health. A smoker not only inhales harmful substances, but also pollutes the atmosphere and puts other people at risk. It has been established that people who are in the same room with a smoker inhale even more harmful substances than the smoker himself.

Man and radiation.

Radiation by its very nature is harmful to life. Small doses of radiation can “trigger” an incompletely established chain of events leading to cancer or genetic damage. At high doses, radiation can destroy cells, damage organ tissue and cause rapid death of the body.

Damage caused by high doses of radiation usually appears within hours or days. Cancers, however, appear many years after exposure - usually not earlier than one or two decades. And congenital malformations and other hereditary diseases caused by damage to the genetic apparatus appear only in the next or subsequent generations: these are children, grandchildren and more distant descendants of the individual exposed to radiation.

While identifying the immediate (“acute”) effects of high doses of radiation is not difficult, detecting long-term effects of low doses of radiation is almost always very difficult. This is partly due to the fact that they take a very long time to manifest. But even if some effects are discovered, it is still necessary to prove that they are explained by the action of radiation, since both cancer and damage to the genetic apparatus can be caused not only by radiation, but also by many other reasons.

To cause acute damage to the body, radiation doses must exceed a certain level, but there is no reason to believe that this rule applies in the case of consequences such as cancer or damage to the genetic apparatus. At least theoretically, the smallest dose is enough for this. However, at the same time, no dose of radiation leads to these consequences in all cases. Even with relatively large doses of radiation, not all people are doomed to these diseases: the repair mechanisms operating in the human body usually eliminate all damage. In the same way, any person exposed to radiation does not necessarily have to develop cancer or become a carrier of hereditary diseases; however, the probability, or risk, of such consequences occurring is greater for him than for a person who has not been irradiated. And this risk is greater, the higher the radiation dose.

Acute damage to the human body occurs with large doses of radiation. Radiation has a similar effect only starting from a certain minimum, or “threshold”, radiation dose.

A large amount of information has been obtained by analyzing the results of the use of radiation therapy to treat cancer. Many years of experience have allowed doctors to obtain extensive information about the reaction of human tissue to radiation. This reaction turned out to be different for different organs and tissues, and the differences are very large.

Of course, if the radiation dose is high enough, the exposed person will die. In any case, very large doses of radiation on the order of 100 Gy cause such severe damage to the central nervous system that death usually occurs within a few hours or days. At doses ranging from 10 to 50 Gy for whole-body irradiation, the CNS damage may not be severe enough to be fatal, but the exposed person will still likely die within one to two weeks from gastrointestinal hemorrhages. With even lower doses, serious damage to the gastrointestinal tract may not occur or the body can cope with it, and yet death can occur within one to two months from the moment of irradiation, mainly due to the destruction of red bone marrow cells, the main component of the body's hematopoietic system. : from a dose of 3-5 Gy with whole-body irradiation, approximately half of all irradiated people die.

Thus, in this range of radiation doses, higher doses differ from lower ones only in that death occurs earlier in the first case, and later in the second. Of course, most often a person dies as a result of the simultaneous action of all these consequences of radiation.

Children are also extremely sensitive to the effects of radiation. Relatively small doses when irradiating cartilage tissue can slow down or even stop bone growth, which leads to abnormalities in skeletal development. The younger the child is, the more bone growth is suppressed. A total dose of about 10 Gy received over several weeks with daily radiation is sufficient to cause some abnormalities of skeletal development. There appears to be no threshold effect for such radiation effects. It also turned out that irradiation of a child's brain during radiation therapy can cause changes in his character, lead to memory loss, and in very young children even to dementia and idiocy. The bones and brain of an adult can withstand much larger doses.

There are also genetic effects of radiation exposure. Their study is associated with even greater difficulties than in the case of cancer. Firstly, very little is known about what damage occurs in the human genetic apparatus during irradiation; secondly, complete identification of all hereditary defects occurs only over many generations; and thirdly, as in the case of cancer, these defects cannot be distinguished from those that arose for completely different reasons.

About 10% of all living newborns have some kind of genetic defect, ranging from mild physical disabilities such as color blindness to such severe conditions as Down syndrome and various developmental defects. Many of the embryos and fetuses with severe hereditary disorders do not survive to birth; According to available data, about half of all cases of spontaneous abortion are associated with abnormalities in the genetic material. But even if children with hereditary defects are born alive, they are five times less likely to survive to their first birthday than normal children.

Biological pollution and human diseases

In addition to chemical pollutants, there are also biological pollutants in the natural environment that cause various diseases in humans. These are pathogenic microorganisms, viruses, helminths, and protozoa. They can be found in the atmosphere, water, soil, and in the body of other living organisms, including the person himself.

The most dangerous pathogens are infectious diseases. They have different stability in the environment. Some are able to live outside the human body for only a few hours; being in the air, in water, on various objects, they quickly die. Others can live in the environment from a few days to several years. For others, the environment is their natural habitat. For others, other organisms, such as wild animals, provide a place for conservation and reproduction.

Often the source of infection is the soil, in which pathogens of tetanus, botulism, gas gangrene, and some fungal diseases constantly live. They can enter the human body if the skin is damaged, with unwashed food, or if hygiene rules are violated.

Pathogenic microorganisms can penetrate groundwater and cause infectious diseases in humans. Therefore, water from artesian wells, wells, and springs must be boiled before drinking.

Open water sources are especially polluted: rivers, lakes, ponds. There are numerous cases where contaminated water sources have caused epidemics of cholera, typhoid fever, and dysentery.

In airborne infection, infection occurs through the respiratory tract by inhaling air containing pathogens.

Such diseases include influenza, whooping cough, mumps, diphtheria, measles and others. The causative agents of these diseases get into the air when sick people cough, sneeze, and even when talking.

A special group consists of infectious diseases transmitted through close contact with a patient or through the use of his things, for example, a towel, handkerchief, personal hygiene items and others that were used by the patient. These include sexually transmitted diseases (AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhea), trachoma, anthrax, and scab. Man, invading nature, often violates the natural conditions for the existence of pathogenic organisms and becomes a victim of natural eye diseases.

People and domestic animals can become infected with natural outbreak diseases when they enter the territory of a natural outbreak. Such diseases include plague, tularemia, typhus, tick-borne encephalitis, malaria, and sleeping sickness.

Other routes of infection are also possible. Thus, in some hot countries, as well as in a number of regions of our country, the infectious disease leptospirosis, or water fever, occurs. In our country, the causative agent of this disease lives in the organisms of common voles, which are widespread in meadows near rivers. The disease leptospirosis is seasonal, more common during heavy rains and hot months (July - August). A person can become infected if water contaminated with rodent secretions enters their body.

Diseases such as plague and psittacosis are transmitted by airborne droplets. When in areas of natural eye diseases, special precautions must be taken.

The influence of sounds on humans

Man has always lived in a world of sounds and noise. Sound refers to such mechanical vibrations of the external environment that are perceived by the human hearing aid (from 16 to 20,000 vibrations per second). Vibrations of higher frequencies are called ultrasound, and vibrations of lower frequencies are called infrasound. Noise is loud sounds merged into a discordant sound.

For all living organisms, including humans, sound is one of the environmental influences.

In nature, loud sounds are rare, the noise is relatively weak and short-lived. The combination of sound stimuli gives animals and humans the time necessary to assess their character and formulate a response. Sounds and noises of high power affect the hearing aid, nerve centers, and can cause pain and shock. This is how noise pollution works.

The quiet rustling of leaves, the murmur of a stream, bird voices, the light splash of water and the sound of the surf are always pleasant to a person. They calm him down and relieve stress. But the natural sounds of the voices of Nature are becoming increasingly rare, disappearing completely or are drowned out by industrial transport and other noise.

Long-term noise adversely affects the hearing organ, reducing sensitivity to sound.

It leads to disruption of the heart and liver, and to exhaustion and overstrain of nerve cells. Weakened cells of the nervous system cannot clearly coordinate the work of various body systems. This is where disruptions in their activities arise.

The noise level is measured in units expressing the degree of sound pressure - decibels. This pressure is not perceived infinitely. A noise level of 20-30 decibels (dB) is practically harmless to humans; it is a natural background noise. As for loud sounds, the permissible limit here is approximately 80 decibels. A sound of 130 decibels already causes

a person experiences pain, and 150 becomes unbearable for him. It is not for nothing that in the Middle Ages there was execution “by the bell.” The roar of the bells tormented and slowly killed the condemned man.

The level of industrial noise is also very high. In many jobs and noisy industries it reaches 90-110 decibels or more. It’s not much quieter in our home, where new sources of noise are appearing - the so-called household appliances.

For a long time, the influence of noise on the human body was not specifically studied, although already in ancient times they knew about its harm and, for example, in ancient cities noise control rules were introduced.

Currently, scientists in many countries around the world are conducting various studies to determine the effect of noise on human health. Their research showed that noise causes significant harm to human health, but absolute silence also frightens and depresses him. Thus, employees of one design bureau, which had excellent sound insulation, within a week began to complain about the impossibility of working in conditions of oppressive silence. They were nervous and lost their ability to work. And, conversely, scientists have found that sounds of a certain strength stimulate the thinking process, especially the counting process.

Each person perceives noise differently. Much depends on age, temperament, health, and environmental conditions.

Some people lose their hearing even after short exposure to relatively reduced intensity noise.

Constant exposure to loud noise can not only negatively affect your hearing, but also cause other harmful effects - ringing in the ears, dizziness, headaches, and increased fatigue.

Very noisy modern music also dulls hearing and causes nervous diseases.

Noise has an accumulative effect, that is, acoustic irritation, accumulating in the body, increasingly depresses the nervous system.

Therefore, before hearing loss from exposure to noise, a functional disorder of the central nervous system occurs. Noise has a particularly harmful effect on the neuropsychic activity of the body.

The process of neuropsychiatric diseases is higher among people working in noisy conditions than among people working in normal sound conditions.

Noises cause functional disorders of the cardiovascular system; have a harmful effect on the visual and vestibular analyzers, reduce reflex activity, which often causes accidents and injuries.

Research has shown that inaudible sounds can also have an impact harmful effects on human health. Thus, infrasounds have a special impact on the human mental sphere: all types of

intellectual activity, mood deteriorates, sometimes there is a feeling of confusion, anxiety, fright, fear, and at high intensity

feeling of weakness, as after a strong nervous shock.

Even weak infrasound sounds can have a significant impact on a person, especially if they are long-lasting. According to scientists, it is infrasounds, silently penetrating through the thickest walls, that cause many nervous diseases in residents of large cities.

Ultrasounds, which occupy a prominent place in the range of industrial noise, are also dangerous. The mechanisms of their action on living organisms are extremely diverse. The cells of the nervous system are especially susceptible to their negative effects.

Noise is insidious, its harmful effects on the body occur invisibly, imperceptibly. Disorders in the human body are practically defenseless against noise.

Currently, doctors are talking about noise disease, which develops as a result of exposure to noise with primary damage to the hearing and nervous system.

Weather and human well-being

Several decades ago, it never occurred to almost anyone to connect their performance, their emotional state and well-being with the activity of the Sun, with the phases of the Moon, with magnetic storms and other cosmic phenomena.

In any natural phenomenon around us, there is a strict repeatability of processes: day and night, ebb and flow, winter and summer. Rhythm is observed not only in the movement of the Earth, Sun, Moon and stars, but is also an integral and universal property of living matter, a property that penetrates all life phenomena - from the molecular level to the level of the whole organism.

In the course of historical development, man has adapted to a certain rhythm of life, determined by rhythmic changes in the natural environment and the energy dynamics of metabolic processes.

Currently, many rhythmic processes in the body, called biorhythms, are known. These include the rhythms of the heart, breathing, and bioelectrical activity of the brain. Our whole life is a constant change of rest and active activity, sleep and wakefulness, fatigue from hard work and rest.

In the body of every person, like the ebb and flow of the sea, a great rhythm eternally reigns, arising from the connection of life phenomena with the rhythm of the Universe and symbolizing the unity of the world.

The central place among all rhythmic processes is occupied by circadian rhythms, which are of greatest importance for the body. The body's response to any impact depends on the phase of the circadian rhythm (that is, on the time of day). This knowledge led to the development of new directions in medicine - chronodiagnostics, chronotherapy, chronopharmacology. They are based on the proposition that the same drug at different times of the day has different, sometimes directly opposite, effects on the body. Therefore, to obtain a greater effect, it is important to indicate not only the dose, but also the exact time of taking the medication.

It turned out that studying changes in circadian rhythms makes it possible to identify the occurrence of some diseases at the earliest stages.

Climate also has a serious impact on human well-being, influencing it through weather factors. Weather conditions include a complex of physical conditions: atmospheric pressure, humidity, air movement, oxygen concentration, the degree of disturbance of the Earth's magnetic field, and the level of atmospheric pollution.