Kansas Environmental Public Health

1000 SW Jackson Street, Suite 310
Topeka, KS 66612
Phone: 1-877-427-7317
Fax: 1-877-427-7318
Email: EpiHotline@kdhe.state.ks.us

Avian Influenza Information Hotline (800-566-4518)

Environmental Public Health Overview

• The most important determinant of human health is our habitat.
• Protecting the environment and preserving our ecosystem are fundamental to preventing human illness
• Environmental Public Health (EPH) is a segment of public health concerned with assessing, understanding, and controlling the impacts of people on their environment and the impacts of the environment on them.

What is Environmental Public Health?

Environmental public health (EPH) focuses on the relationship between the environment and human health. It is an integrative rather than distinct science. There is not a set, well-defined body of knowledge. Because of the broadly defined parameters of “environment” and “human health,” EPH studies a multitude of health conditions that arise from toxin (naturally occurring) and toxic (human-made) agents in air, water, soil and food.

EPH uses a systems approach. By applying the basic principles of the actions of toxins and toxics, we examine the pathways that create exposures to humans and other biological receptors (e.g., plants, invertebrates, fish, and animals). A vital function of EPH is to evaluate the effect these exposures have on human health. EPH is reliant upon managing information: knowing resources, accessing current and relevant information, and understanding issues of time (often examining future health risks).