Environmental awareness among physicians: what are environmental health and environmental medicine?

Increased awareness of environmental health issues by the biomedical community and the general public places higher demands on all health and medical practitioners to understand the key terms and concepts related to environmental health and medicine. We all exist in 3 different environments (home, workplace, and community), each of which has its own array of hazards and means of exposure. Environmental medicine is a discipline that addresses preventive measures and provides assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of persons who experience adverse health effects of environmental exposures. In addition to basic clinical skills, environmental medicine uses specialized tools including biostatistics and epidemiologic studies, the science of toxicology and risk assessment, the discipline of industrial hygiene, and administrative and public policy skills. Examples of environmental issues that are faced by society today include asbestos exposure in public buildings as well as pesticide and other agricultural chemical residues present in various environmental media.