| environmental exposure | The exposure to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents in the environment or to environmental factors that may include ionizing radiation, pathogenic organisms, or toxic chemicals. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| environmental health | The science of controlling or modifying those conditions, influences, or forces surrounding man which relate to promoting, establishing, and maintaining health. (12 Dec 1998) |
| environmental illness | A polysymptomatic condition believed by clinical ecologists to result from immune dysregulation induced by common foods, allergens, and chemicals, resulting in various physical and mental disorders. The medical community has remained largely skeptical of the existence of this "disease", given the plethora of symptoms attributed to environmental illness, the lack of reproducible laboratory abnormalities, and the use of unproven therapies to treat the condition. (12 Dec 1998) |
| environmental impact statement | (EIS; FEIS) A statement of the environmental effects of a proposed action and of alternative actions. Section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires an EIS for all major federal actions. (05 Dec 1998) |
| environmental medicine | Medical specialty concerned with environmental factors that may impinge upon human disease, and development of methods for the detection, prevention, and control of environmentally related disease. (12 Dec 1998) |
| environmental microbiology | The study of microorganisms living in a variety of environments (air, soil, water, etc.) and their pathogenic relationship to other organisms including man. (12 Dec 1998) |
| environmental monitoring | The monitoring of the level of toxicants, pollutants, or other harmful chemicals in the environment or workplace by measuring the amounts of these toxicants in the bodies of people and animals in that environment, among other methods. It also includes the measurement of environmental exposure. Humans and animals are used as indicators of toxic levels of undesirable chemicals. (12 Dec 1998) |
| environmental output | Environmental outputs are the desired or anticipated measurable products or results of restoration measures and plans. (09 Oct 1997) |
| environmental pollutants | Substances which pollute the environment. Use for environmental pollutants in general or for which there is no specific heading. (12 Dec 1998) |
| environmental protection agency | <organisation> The U.S. Regulatory agency for biotechnology of microbes. The major lawsunder which the agency has regulatory powers are the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide act (FIFRA), and the Toxic Substances ControlAct (TSCA). (30 Mar 1998) |
| environmental psychology | The study and application by behavioural scientists and architects of how changes in physical space and related physical stimuli impact upon the behaviour of individuals. See: personal space. (05 Mar 2000) |
| environmental quality objective | This is a regulatory value defining the quality to be aimed for in a particular aspect of the environment. Unlike an environmental quality standard, an EQO is not usually expressed in quantitative terms and cannot be enforced legally. (09 Oct 1997) |
| environmental quality standard | This regulatory value defines the maximum concentration of a potentially toxic substance which can be allowed in an environmental compartment, usually air (air quality standard - AQS) or water, over a defined period. (09 Oct 1997) |
| Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy | <technique> Scanning electron microscopy is performed by scanning a focused probe across the surface of the sample to be studied. In the environmental scanning electron microscopy the composition and pressure of the atmosphere around the specimen may be controlled. In favourable cases non-conductive specimens may be examined without coating, and hydrated specimens may be examined with the water still in place. Acronym: ESEM (05 Aug 1998) |
| environmental tobacco smoke | A complex mixture of chemical constituents and particulates released into the atmosphere from the burning tip of a cigarette, pipe or cigar or from smoke exhaled by the smoker. (09 Oct 1997) |