Context of IEHIAS

Any assessment of environmental health impacts depends on the context in which it is undertaken: the specific study area and population, and the assumptions made as part of the assessment scenarios. These contextual conditions need to be specified. In addition, many of thedata sets used in an assessment (for example on sources, exposures andf health effects) have to be lined to some form of spatial reference system (such as administrative regions) or linked to recognisable environmental features (e.g. cities, landscape zones) for the purpose of analysis, visualisation and interpretation.

For all these reasons, assessments require a range of contextual or background data, including:

1. Geographic data, such as:
   • administrative areas
   • topography
2. Population and demography, such as:
   • population numbers or density
   • age and gender
   • socio-economic status
3. Background health status, such as:
   • mortality rates
   • morbidity

Selected data sets, and information on other data sources, are available via these links.

Pages under this topic

• Geographic
• Population/Demography