Many factors in the environment may cause certain illnesses or diseases that some people are not even aware of. No matter how much you consume all the nutrients that your body needs, those will hardly help if the environment you're living in poses so much danger to your health.

A major environmental concern today is soil contamination. This is usually due to the changes made by man to the natural soil on the environment like destruction of underground chemical storage facilities, use of pesticides, discharging industrial waste to the environment, and many more. The chemicals that commonly contaminate the environment are heavy metals, lead, pesticides, solvents, and petroleum hydrocarbons. Because of industrialization, more chemicals are introduced to the environment that may wreak havoc in the long run. Not only do they destroy the soils but also the water supplies.

Since people are exposed to soils and water, their health is very much at risk. Most pesticides are carcinogenic, while lead damages the brain development and nervous system of children. Lead may also cause kidney damages to most of the population. Potable water is hardly available nowadays that most people trust drinking bottled water more. Even the beaches and swimming resorts are faced with restrictions to ensure safety to people.

The world today is very much concerned about environmental health. This is a part of public health that is concerned about the effects of natural or man-made forms of environment to the health of each human being. This concern usually involves those health practitioners such as public health inspectors, sanitarians, and environmental health specialists. But, saving the environment should not only be tasked to those kinds of people. Each must do his own part.