Take the time to look around you home, your work, your travel. Consider what is keeping you healthy and what might be adding a health risk. Sometimes you can improve you health by opening a window, or screening one! The much used dust mask might need an update or maybe you should consider buying that good hat with a wide brim. Have a think about the following:
- Air pollution – for example, smog, wood smoke and mould.
- Water quality – for example, grey water, tank water, fluoridation and drought.
- Food quality – for example, contamination and nutrition.
- Chemicals – for example, pesticides, farm chemicals, arsenic and CCA treated timber.
- Metals – for example, exposure to lead, mercury and cadmium.
- Diseases from animals and insects (vector borne) – for example, dengue fever, hendra virus, lyssavirus, Ross River fever and malaria.
- Infectious diseases – for example, viral infections like swine flu.
- Natural hazards – for example, solar radiation and extreme weather events.
- Man-made structures – for example, exposure to asbestos or electromagnetic radiation sources like mobile phones.
- Occupational health – for example, safety issues relating to the workplace such as noise pollution and hazardous waste.
- Climate change – for example, higher sea levels, increased soil salinity and increased temperatures.
