Environmental and Public Health Legislation

Environmental and public health legislation seeks to protect the environment and public health.

Historically, most concerns about health threats have related to infectious diseases and protecting the public against the spread of disease. There has been an increasing recognition that hazards such as chemical contamination should also be considered when dealing with health threats.

Day-to-day human activities, such as industrial activities, transport systems and waste generation, all have the potential to impact on the environment in which we live.  In turn they can also be a potential threat to our health.

Environmental legislation is used to ensure that any impact from our daily activities remains within acceptable limits. It covers many things including air quality, waste management and disposal, emissions from industrial processes and water quality.

This section gives details of the different areas of environmental and public health legislation that the Health Protection Agency plays a part in developing and reviewing.