Environmental health is defined as freedom from illness or injury related to toxic agents and other environmental conditions that are potentially detrimental to human health (The Institute of Medicine; in Nursing, Health, and the Environment, 1995). Environmental health focuses on the linkages between human health and the conditions present in the environment and all of its elements, including such things as: the air that we breathe, the water that we drink and bathe and swim in, the soil that we come in contact with, the food we consume, the housing we live in, and the landscape. According to the World Health Organization, environmental hazards are responsible for about a quarter of all disease worldwide.
There are a number of environmental health issues that confront counties in southwestern New Mexico, such as childhood lead poisoning, particulate matter air quality problems, high concentrations of fluoride, arsenic and radio nuclides in drinking water, leaking septic tanks, and environmental impacts from mining activities.
NMED’s Surface Water Quality Bureau is overseeing cleanup of the spill site where approximately 2,000 gallons of asphalt emulsion were released into Jaybird Canyon on Monday, Sept. 26, after a truck owned by R. Marley, LLC overturned on State Highway 15 in the Gila National Forest. Because the spill occurred in the Gila National Forest, […]
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