Environmental Health and Biological Hazards in Australia

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CURRENT BIOLOGICAL ISSUES
CURRENT BIOLOGICAL ISSUES IN AUSTRALIA
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Current Biological issue in Australia...............................................................................................3
The impact of issue on the population.............................................................................................5
Principle and Philosophies of the issue...........................................................................................6
Toxicological effects of the Biological issue...................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9
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Introduction
The term environmental health actually means the relation between the environment and the human
health. The effects of manmade hazards on the environment and its impact on the human body are
known as environmental health issues. These issues include the effects of the chemicals on the
environment and human body and the impact of it on the ecosystem. In today’s scenario,
environmental health issues are drawing attention in the healthcare genre globally. The studies are
the proof that the effect of environmental health reaches the level beyond the individuality and can
decide the cost of public health care and the local communal health. Environmental health issues are
the study of the effects of the environmental factors on the human health and the process of the
identification and controlling of the issues. In case of Australia, the country is suffering from many
health care issues, which are needed to take care immediately. Thus, in this essay, it will be discussed
about one of the most alarming issues, the ‘Biological Issues’.
Current Biological issue in Australia
There is a strong biological relation in between the environment and human health and a minimum
change in the environment can affect the human health in a big range. Due to the change in
biological stature, the problems that a human health has to face include bacteria, viruses, fungi,
pathogenic micro-organisms, spores, malaria, tuberculosis and the list goes on. The infectious
disease is that stage of the body where these disease and pathogens are transmitted with two or more
organisms (Chung, et al. 2018). In current time, Australia is experiencing major biological issues
because of some of their own work.
According to Blake (2018), deforestation is one of the prime reasons of shifting the environment in
such an alarming situation. The rigorous trail of cutting forests gives an obvious result of increasing
the salinity in the soil. This affects the downstream water quality as the saline water is dripping from
the deforested areas and being mixed with the water. On the other hand, the lesser forest causes a
decrease in the quantity of rain. Trees are the source of oxygen, the ratio of oxygen in the air is
getting lesser which is making the air heavy because of deforestation, and that is affecting the human
respiratory system. As a result, people are suffering from different kinds of respiratory and lungs
problem.
In case of Overfishing and illegal fishing, fishes play a major role in the aqua bio-diversity. In
addition to that, Richardson, et al. (2017) says that, there some rare species of fish that are being
extinct but these are extremely necessary for maintaining the food chain. Human nature of
overfishing already decreases the fish stock of the country to a dangerous level. As some areas have
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low biological productivity, the people of those areas are in great distress. Species like southern
bluefin tuna, blue warehou, silver trevally, orange roughy and bigeye tuna are being overfished.
In a statement of Boriachek, et al. (2018), it is found that illegal fishing has brought some species to
extinction, which is a great threat for the human health as these fishes help to maintain the biological
level of the water. The Patagonian toothfish and shark are species, which are affected the most.
An introduction of exotic species is found in the statement of Thomas, et al. (2016) that Australia
faces a fair number of new diseases each year. The main reason behind that is the introduction of
exotic species. A large number of animals are facing extinction each year and it is affecting the
ecology. Species like feral cats causes the reduction of some native species in an alarming range and
it is harming the bio diversity. This imbalance in the biology affects the human health as the new
species bring new kind viruses and diseases with them, which, affects the human body. More than
2500 species of plants are pressurizing the ecosystem in a bad notion. Some of these plants are
harmful for the human body and people are suffering from different kind of diseases due to these
plants (den Houting, et al. 2019). In case of pollution, it is probably the prime reason for the hazards
happen in the biological balance. Pollution brings with it the limitation of water, decrease of forests,
erosion in soil, contamination in water and noise. These all hazards as opined by Richardson, et al.
(2017) result in extreme diversity in the human world.
There is certain change in climate due to illogical human actions. By the change in climate, not only
the weather scenario is being changed, but it also is affecting the human body in a large scale. This
change in climate is the prime reason for the maximum diseases for people and the permanent
reserve growth of certain plants (Chung, et al. 2018). Global warming has reached to an alarming
position at recent times. This is the reason of the increase of the earth’s temperature. According to
Boriachek, et al. (2018), there is an increase of different kind of affecting gases, which make the air
heavy and hot due to global warming,. The long lasting effects of Global warming considers as
melting of glaciers, climate change, droughts, diseases and increase in hurricanes frequency.
The impact of issue on the population
The organic substance, which cause health issues to human or living organism are Biological
Hazards. This includes pathogenic microorganism, Biological toxins, Viruses etc. Due to the
biological hazards, many diseases are spread worldwide. It has been noticed that over 320000 people
die every year due to the diseases caused by biological hazards (Safe Work Australia, 2019). The
diseases can be spread in multiple ways. For example, the people who are working under health care
department are directly exposed to these hazardous elements via saliva, blood, urine etc. In addition,
the people who work in animal health care department is also exposed the toxic animal diseases.
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Some of diseases caused by animals have the potential of infect a human body and cause
sensitization allergies. People who work in laboratories also stay in contact with biological hazards.
Some industrial processes include working with yeasts and moulds, which can cause heath issues to
the workers.
The Australian government compensate over 1300 workers, who are affected by diseases caused by
animal, human or biological factors directly or indirectly (Safe Work Australia, 2019). The people
who work in agricultural sector are also affected due to biological hazards. The key reason for these
people to get affected is the airborne microorganisms. Along with that, bacteria can also be spread by
organic dust. These issues can cause various respiratory problems, which include asthma, bronchitis
etc. It has been found through various researches that aerobic bacteria and fungi act as the key agents
to the development of toxic diseases (WorkSafe Queensland, 2019). The workers related to
woodcutting, are exposed to wood dust. The thermophilic microorganisms present in wood are
pathogenic bacteria and toxic to human body. A human body can also be infected by insect bites.
Protozoan Parasites, a single-celled organism can enter human body and cause multiple toxic
reactions. Thus, Malaria is an example of these kinds of diseases.
Principle and Philosophies of the issue
Now, the diseases caused by Biological factors can be divided into two categories and that are
Legionnaires’ diseases and Infectious Diseases. Coming to Legionnaires’ diseases, it is a type of
pneumonia. The main reason for these diseases is Legionella bacteria. At most, the diseases caused
by this type of bacteria lasts between 2-10 days. The symptoms associated with disease caused by
Legionella bacteria are high fever, headache and influenza related symptoms (Comcare.gov.au,
2019). The most concerning factor about diseases caused by these kind of bacteria is they are life
threatening. The risk associated to the diseases can depend on two factors. The first one is how much
bacteria are exposed to a human body and the second one is the resisting power of a human body to
the bacteria. Therefore, people with improper immune system due to any cause are more affected by
these bacteria. The risk is also relatively increased for people who smoke and drink heavily. Along
with that, patients with diabetes and heart diseases are also affected relatively earlier with these types
of diseases. In order to reduce this type of diseases the only effective way is to manage the exposure
of Legionella bacteria in such a way so that it is not spread in an uncontrollable manner. Therefore,
the effective management of such sources, which is optimum for the growth of Legionella bacteria, is
mandatory (Comcare.gov.au, 2019).
Now, coming to infectious disease, these are usually caused by pathogenic bacteria and viruses.
Work Health and Safety Act (2011) says that employers have to take care of the factor that the
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workers are not exposed to any health concerning risks. Due to which, it has been noticed over the
recent years that infectious diseases affect relatively less number of people. In absence of the health
acts, the bacteria could have tended to be one of the most dangerous life-threatening factors. Often, it
has been noticed that pathogenic bacteria takes relatively more time to trigger a patients. Therefore, a
person affected by these kinds of diseases stays unaware for an extended period and that person
unknowingly becomes a reason for the spread of the disease. Now, the infectious bacteria can be
spread in many ways. When an affected person coughs or sneezes, he or she releases airborne
pathogens, which in turn is inhaled by other people. In addition, the bacteria can be spread from
shared foods. Using another person’s things or items, it can also be a reason for the spread of these
bacteria. Pathogenic bacteria can also enter a person’s body through cuts (Open.edu, 2019).
There are certain steps using, which the spread of these kind bacteria can be stopped. The
preliminary step is to do proper diagnosis of a person who could be affected by bacteria, so that the
person can be aware about the disease and take precautions. Along with that, steps like washing
hands properly, covering cuts with waterproof dressing is also mandatory to stop the spread. It is also
important to eat hygienic food as the disease can be spread by food too (Iloencyclopaedia.org, 2019).
Toxicological effects of the Biological issue
As opined by Bakand, et al. (2016), a large number of bio diversity is being harmed by the excessive
use of pesticides in an alarming rate. The land is also being harmed with the excessive use of it.
There are alarming number of diseases that has affected the human body due to have the food
processed in pesticides. The presence of harmful gases make the air heavy and it becomes very
uncomfortable to breath in it. It results in many health issues, which includes respiratory problems
and diseases of lungs. These gases also affect the plants as it fills the air with harmful chemical
potion (de Souza Machado, et al. 2018). It is said by Ali, et al. (2017) that water is being polluted
due to oil spills, overfishing, using of pesticides and many more. These results the water harmful for
human consumption and dangerous for the trees also. Chemicals in the water reduce the growth of
the plants and it affected the human health.
Conclusion
It is concluded that, the impact of biological hazards are very high on environmental health. Many
people from Australia and other part of the world face troubles caused by biological hazards. People
associated to health care department, animal care department, laboratories, woodcutting, agriculture
is infected by many diseases caused by biological hazards along with the common people. Some of
the diseases are even hard to diagnose. Therefore, it becomes harder to take any precautions for those
diseases. However, due to many heath acts, a significant amount of reduction in infectious diseases
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has been noticed. People in general have to be aware of the diseases that can be cause by biological
diseases so that they can take as much precautions as they can. In addition, people from health care
department should also take steps and adapt proper hygienic practice so that the no bacteria is spread
within the patients as they already have low immune system.
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References
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seam gas production on surface water quality in the Sydney basin, Australia. Environmental
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Bakand, S. and Hayes, A., 2016. Toxicological considerations, toxicity assessment, and risk
management of inhaled nanoparticles. International journal of molecular sciences, 17(6), p.929.
Blake, A., 2018. New dimensions in land tenure-the current status and issues surrounding carbon
sequestration in regional Australia. Australasian Journal of Regional Studies, The, 24(3), p.309.
Boriachek, K., Islam, M.N., Möller, A., Salomon, C., Nguyen, N.T., Hossain, M.S.A., Yamauchi, Y.
and Shiddiky, M.J., 2018. Biological functions and current advances in isolation and detection
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den Houting, J. and Pellicano, E., 2019. A Portfolio Analysis of Autism Research Funding in
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Richardson, S.D. and Ternes, T.A., 2017. Water analysis: emerging contaminants and current
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