Methodical Approaches to the Comprehensive Assessment of Environmental Risks on the Health of the Population of the Megacity

Lyazat Zh. Orakbay, PhD, ScD*; Larisa Yu. Cherepanova, PhD

Scientific Centre of Hygiene and Epidemiology named after Hamza Zhumatov. Almaty, Kazakhstan

*Corresponding author: Lyazat Orakbay, PhD, ScD. Scientific Centre of Hygiene and Epidemiology named after Hamza Zhumatov. Almaty, Kazakhstan. E-mail: ncgigieny@mail.ru

Published: December 15, 2017.  doi: 10.21103/Article7(4)_OA9

Abstract: 

This article considers methodological approaches to a comprehensive assessment of the impact of environmental factors on the health of a megacity population for the purpose of making targeted management decisions. We propose a methodology for constructing a Risk Assessment Map (RAM) in tabular and graphical (using GIS technologies) variants and consider using data from the ecological and hygienic monitoring. The stage of risk mapping consists of systematization and generalization of data on emissions of leading industrial enterprises, power engineering and motor transport objects, taking into account the main meteorological conditions and objective characteristics of the impact of pollution of environmental objects on the health status of the population in various areas of the megacity. By the method of expert assessments, we suggest assigning ranks for each criterion of the risk factor being evaluated, followed by the derivation of the general rank of the risk probability.

Keywords: 
environmental factors ● public health ● risk mapping ● risk assessment ● risk probability ● risk impact
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International Journal of Biomedicine. 2017;7(4):315-318. ©2017 International Medical Research and Development Corporation. All rights reserved.