Abstract
Epidemiology is the study of the occurrence of disease in populations. It originates from an observational discipline that describes changes in the prevalence or incidence of a specific disease – changes that may be observed over time, between geographical regions, or between populations. Thus, basic epidemiology delivers numbers with no explanation. Prevalences or incidences are, however, only really useful if associated with explanatory variables. These variables may relate to genetics, lifestyle, age, gender, occupation, environment, etc. Environmental epidemiology is therefore the study of associations between environmental exposures and the occurrence of disease within a population.
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Further Reading
Basic Epidemiology
Rothman KJ (2002) Epidemiology. An introduction. Oxford University Press, New York
Rothman KJ, Greenland S (1998) Modern epidemiology, 2nd edn. Lippincott-Raven, Philadelphia
Exposure Assessment
Paustenbach DJ (2000) The practice of exposure assessment: a state-of-the-art review. J Toxicol Environ Health B 3:179–291
References for Case-Studies
Barros-Dios JM, Barreiro MA, Ruano-Ravina A, Figueiras A (2002) Exposure to residential radon and lung cancer in Spain: a population-based case-control study. Am J Epidemiol 156:548–555
Metintas S, Metintas M, Ucgun I, Oner U (2002) Malignant mesothelioma due to environmental exposure to asbestos – follow-up of a Turkish cohort living in a rural area. Chest 122:2224–2229
Yang C-Y, Chang C-C, Tsai S-S, Chuang H-Y, Ho C-K, Wu T-N (2003) Arsenic in drinking water and adverse pregnancy outcome in an Arseniasis-endemic area in Northeastern Taiwan. Environ Res 91:29–34
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Nielsen, J.B., Jensen, T.K. (2013). Environmental Epidemiology. In: Selinus, O. (eds) Essentials of Medical Geology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4375-5_23
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4375-5_23
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