7.6: Laws to Protect the Environment and Human Health
- Page ID
- 116372
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Environmental regulation was developed in response to the growing awareness of environmental risks, many of them man-made, many of them the result of industrialized agriculture and manufacturing. In the 1970's, laws were passed that still shape the health of our environment today.
Some of the most important environmental laws included:
- The Clean Air Act amendments of 1970- which required monitoring and regulation of six common air pollutants known to be health hazards (substances that negatively affect health). These six pollutants (called the "criteria air pollutants") include
- particulate matter such as smoke, soot and ash (which is especially dangerous to human health when the particulates are very small and can stick in the lungs)
- sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides (two common causes of "acid rain" that are mostly produced by industry)
- carbon monoxide (highly poisonous, and largely created by motor exhaust - improvements in the engineering of cars and trucks has greatly reduced this toxin in the atmosphere)
- ozone (a form of oxygen (O3) that is very protective for us when it is in the upper atmosphere but quite toxic when it is appears at ground level
- lead (highly toxic to the nervous system, blood and kidneys, especially for children who get exposed to lead when their brains are still developing - common in paint, some plastics and until the mid-1970's in gasoline)
- The Clean Water Act of 1972 (amended in 1977 and more times since then) - the set goals for ensuring that lakes and rivers should be "fishable" and "swimmable" and that pollutants should not be discharged or spilled into lakes, rivers or other parts of the water supply. It also set in place standards for treatment of waste water from sewage as well as industrial waste, and instituted measures to minimize pollution from rain and storm runoff (which can wash agricultural chemicals from fields and gasoline from streets into rivers).
- The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 (rewritten in 1996) - which required the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set standards for local water systems, which are enforced at the state level. Drinking water is treated usually through a process that includes sedimentation, coagulation, filtration and disinfection - to remove contaminants that could affect health. While many people now prefer bottled water (due to excellent marketing from the corporations that benefit from the sale of bottled water), in the U.S. tap water is of very high quality - in fact, it is often safer than bottled water (which is less tightly regulated).
NOTE: there are some "test your understanding" questions from SoftChalk I could put in here
References
Schneider, M-J. (2021). Introduction to public health. 6th ed. Jones And Bartlett Publishers.
Seabert, D., McKenzie, J. F., & Pinger, R. R. (2021). McKenzie’s An Introduction to Community & Public Health. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Waterkeeper Alliance. (2025). Supreme Court decision. https://waterkeeper.org/news/supreme...t-protections/