Case Study: Environmental Health Risk Assessment Introduction:…

Case Study: Environmental Health Risk Assessment Introduction: The…

 

Case Study: Environmental Health Risk Assessment

Introduction:

The environment directly affects the health of individuals and therefore the community. The environment is a complex system in which individuals and populations are a part. The quality of life, life span, and health disparities are all influenced by environmental quality. People with more health risks are impacted to a greater extent by poor environmental quality. Age also plays a role. Because children are developing and tend to explore their surroundings, they are more vulnerable to environmental exposure. As the immune system of the elderly becomes weaker, they are more sensitive to environmental hazards due to repeated expose or other co-morbidities, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and heart disease.

Government policies and human behavior contribute to environmental conditions. Policies can help or harm the population and the environment. Consumers generate a staggering amount of waste every day that frequently is taken to landfills or discarded carelessly wherever the item ends their intended purpose. Landfills are unpleasant to see and they are a source of environmental hazards, especially if not properly managed. Improperly disposed batteries, medications, or solvents, for example, generate toxic waste that can seep into the ground or be washed away during heavy rains as items decompose. Smoke from fires at landfills can cause respiratory problems for people downwind of the fire. Often, areas around landfills are populated by lower income people due to lower property values, but the people bare higher exposure to the toxic substances.

War brings death and devastation beyond measure which do not stop at the end of hostilities. Not only does war directly harm people, it negatively affects the environment through scorched earth methods and using chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. In many cases war displaces families from their homes.

Scenario:

Costa Rica is located South of Nicaragua and North of Panama in Latin American. In the 1980s and 1990s Nicaragua went through a time of civil war forcing many citizens to flee to Costa Rica. La Carpio is a remote neighborhood in San Jose Costa Rica where many of the refugees were forced to settle. La Carpio is sandwiched between two dirty rivers. The two polluted rivers flow past La Carpio while the neighboring sewage plant contaminates the air and water as the landfills waste seeps into the water and soil; the foul smell permeates the air. Corrugated tin or cardboard shacks are tightly packed along the streets and the steep river bank. The community is located next to the city’s landfill. Many describe it as the “slum” or “ghetto.” The main street is the primary road the garbage trucks use to deliver waste to the land fill. The garbage trucks take up a lot of the narrow unkempt roadway and generate a lot of unpleasant noise, odor, and dirty liquid leaking from the trucks as they drive on the street.

The approximately 40,000 residents of La Carpio are some of the regions of the poorest people. Although some Costa Ricans and other nationalities are represented, many are undocumented immigrants from Nicaragua who settled in the area after the Nicaraguan civil war of the 1980s and 1990s. Being undocumented immigrants, and often with poor educational background, they do not have documentation that would allow them to find good paying jobs. Some residents use open fire pits in their homes to cook food to sell to people passing by their windows. Very limited health care services are in the community with only fundamental services. Illegal drugs are exchanged in the alleyways often ending in violence.

When talking to residents of Costa Rica and reading news articles about La Carpio, it is clear that the area is looked down upon as evidenced by recommendations by locals to avoid the neighborhood and news articles describing it as a “ghetto.” Stigmas often lead to widespread social rejection, propagation of the stigma, and a wider gap between social networks and solutions to the issues plaguing the community.

 

What assessment parameters could be considered to assess a community such as La Carpio? with references plz

Explanation & Answer

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