HREQ 1040 Lecture 16: chp 21 & 22

• School: York University
• Department: Human Rights and Equity Studies
• Course: HREQ 1040
• Professor: Claudio Colaguori

Document Summary

Society blames the individual --> but we"re living in a toxic world in which truly health options are next to impossible to find. If a company is polluting that causes disease, the company doesn"t have to prove their stuff is safe, the people have to prove their stuff is harmful --> precautionary principal. The social determinants of health: factors that relate to the outcomes of people"s lives: environmental racism --> poor people living near wastelands etc. Critical epidemiological approach --> look at all factors that affect one"s health: ex. Houses close to highway are bad bc you constantly breathe in toxins/pollutants. Synthetic hormone disruptors: ex. pseudo-estrogen --> in foods. Mercury, lead, cadmium --> chemicals within the environment through vehicle emissions etc, in oceans. Male sexual development stunted by 90,000 kinds of synthetic chemicals. Sperm counts have fallen to about half amongst college men in recent decades: chemicals make plastics, children"s toys, fabrics, cosmetics, electronics etc.