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Human health and well-being are intimately linked to the state of the environment. Good quality natural environments can provide multiple benefits to physical, mental and social well-being. On the contrary, environmental degradation — such as that caused by air and water pollution, noise, radiation, chemicals or biological agents — can have negative effects on health.
For example, in 2011, about 430 000 premature deaths in the EU were attributed to exposure to fine particulate matter (PM 2.5). Exposure to environmental noise is estimated to contribute to at least 10 000 premature deaths due to coronary heart disease and strokes each year, and a growing use of chemicals, particularly in consumer products has been associated with an observed increase of endocrine diseases and disorders in humans.
The problem is that the projected improvements in air quality, for example, are not expected to be sufficient to prevent continuing harm to health and the environment, while health impacts resulting from climate change are expected to worsen.
Despite substantial improvements in recent decades, environmental health challenges remain considerable and the outlook for environmental health risks in coming decades is uncertain and raises concern in some areas. Indeed, in addition to known problems, new health issues are emerging. These are associated with long-term environmental and socio‑economic trends, lifestyle and consumption changes and the rapid uptake of new chemicals and technologies. Furthermore, the unequal distribution of environmental and socio-economic conditions contributes to pervasive health inequalities.
