m65.    What can cause biological hazards?

Biological hazards can be various types of diseases that develop slowly over time. They may or may not be transmittable. Poverty increases the spread of transmissible diseases because of overcrowding, unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation and malnutrition. Disease accounts for about 40% of all deaths in less developed countries. Even in more developed countries, disease is a biological hazard. Each year 2.3 million people die in the U.S.:

• 37% from heart attacks,
• 22% from cancer,
• 7% from strokes,
• 5% from accidents, and
• 29% from a variety of causes.

Most of these result from environmental and lifestyle factors rather than infectious agents invading the body. Changing lifestyle factors could prevent 40-70% of all premature deaths ­ 95% of money spent on health care in U.S. is used to treat rather than prevent disease.

e01.    What is biodiversity?

e10.    Why do organisms become extinct?

e16.    What do computer models of greenhouse changes show?

e20.    What are environmental hazards and risks?

g19.    Where do you find air pollution?