Environmental health and the family doctors.

Medicine, that is human medicine, has a long tradition of the use of biomarkers in assessing multiple departures from the health status: it is assumed that in ecosystem health assessment this experience could be helpfully shared with all those--from many scientific disciplines--involved in this research, crucial for the future of life on earth. The growing importance of ecology is evident in all aspects of modern life. Social and economically the ecological analysis cannot be ignored in future by politicians or medical doctors alike. Environmental Health is thus taking over many responsibilities from the traditional Public Health, mainly the significant challenges put by toxic and hazardous substances released into the environment which is fundamentally an evaluation of relevant environmental data, health outcome and community health concerns associated with toxic exposure. The public has become increasingly concerned about the exposure to synthetic chemical compounds produced by modern industry. Environmental Health is essentially a critical tool to determine the relationship between environmental contamination and human adverse health effects. Environmental Health aims much further than the traditional Public Health. Although Environmental Health has not enjoyed the successes of traditional Public Health such as maternal and child health or the eradication of smallpox, an array of activities is underway that will enhance the health professional's ability to cope with the demanding issue of toxic exposures.