The Report as Environmental Epidemiology
The report by the department of health gives a detailed report on the impact of coal seam gas industry. The report is not only important to policy makers, but also to learners. It helps a learner acquire knowledge on various environmental exposures. Some of these environmental exposures are risky and one should know how to respond to them. These environmental exposures may include illnesses, disabilities, and fatal injuries and many other. Environmental epidemiology helps one to understand the conditions that result to the prevalence of these health related exposures and the relevant ways to respond to each. Environmental epidemiology classifies these exposures into various categories that are important for the knowledge of the learner. Some are classified as chemicals or other pathogenic related activities, social interaction conditions, geographical activity and other environmental related changes in the human life support system and other healthy ecosystems. The objective of environmental epidemiology to a learner is to help one understand the sensitive environmental exposures, develop mechanisms to respond to each of them, identify health measures and policies to address these risks and evaluate the cost benefit analysis and effectiveness of the identified policies and measures.
Coal seam gas mining in Tara, Queensland, and the health of residents living nearby
This report gives a detailed effect of this industry on Tara and Queensland. The emissions in Coal seam gas mining in Tara and Queensland are so much and unbearable to the surrounding communities. The coal seam gas mining wells near Tara is reported to emit three time the normal accepted levels of emission. Licenses on mining of coal seam gas are issued with illegally and with disregard in the health conditions of the people near the mining areas, livestock and other food production and processing avenues like the plains of Liverpool. This scholar argues that the mining activities in this region have posed serious impacts on the health of people, water catchment areas and many other sensitive environmental areas. The people living near these coal seam mining areas are exposed to dangerous gases like toluene, benzene, xylene, ethyl benzene, which are naturally found in crude oil. According to this scholar although the public has complained and raised concern on the risky environmental exposures that result from these coal seam gas mining areas, none of the issues has so far been addressed.
The report shows that Australian government has received several complains from doctors and residents near coal seam gas mining areas on severe symptoms of exposure to the gas. Many families near coal seam gas mining industries, have been reported to suffer from health problems like headaches, develop rashes, nausea and frequent nose bleeding, issues that are related to the environmental conditions to which these people are exposed. This environmental epidemiology paper clearly informs the learner on the various environmental exposures in coal seam gas mining operations areas. This information is very important, as it will help one to identify the health risks posed by exposure to these gas-mining areas and understand their short-term and long impacts to the human body and other environmental aspects. This information will help the learner to develop relevant mechanisms to address this issue. One can help the affected community air their voices to the government on the health conditions posed by the coal gas mining activities. It can help one in pressurising the government formulate cost effective policies to address the coal gas mining activities in Tara and in Queensland.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Report Coal seam gas mining in Tara Region
This report makes an important piece of academic document. Although this industry is very beneficial to this region based on the economic benefits, it has some negative impacts on the environment. This report has strengths and weaknesses in its analysis of this industry. This report gives a detailed effect of this industry. This way one is able to relate the cause, effect and develop mechanisms to respond to various environmental exposure conditions. In a polluted environment for example, this study helps one to identify health risks and the most susceptible species to the impacts of the pollution and come up with cost effective measures to respond to this issue.
This report on coal seam gas mining in Tara however has some weaknesses that have greatly affected its applicability. The weakness of this report originates from the observational science perspective. This is because it is hard to find two populations of people that differ much although one may be exposed to environmental pollution. Application of the report on environmental epidemiology cannot provide study groups for diagnosis, regulated exposure cannot be administered hence no health records for individual monitoring on the health effects of these mining industries can be provided. All these weaknesses need to be worked upon in the report to make it more applicable in the study of environmental epidemiology.
References
Friis, R. (2012). Essentials of environmental health. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Moeller, D. W. (2005). Environmental health. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Morgan, M. (2003). Environmental health. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.