Christina Andino
Jenny Campbell
Anthropology-Human Origins 1020-006
9 February 2016-Spring
Reflection 1
Human Biology in Urban Environments
Lawrence M. Scheel and Melinda Denhan authors of “Environmental Pollution in Urban
Environments and Human Biology” published in the “Annual Review of Anthropology” discuss a
bio cultural approach of human biology in urban environments. Urban environments today have
increased biological hazards with chronic exposure to pollutants that affect the human biology
psychically and cognitively. Pollution’s polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead, and noise are
three topics that can influence human mortality, morbidity, reproduction, and development in
urban areas. This article discusses the affects pollutants in the environments have on human
biology, specifically children in low socio economic and marginalized communities have greater
risks of health concerns. People of all socio economic levels are exposed to pollutants in urban
areas of the environment and the biological effects on those humans are occurring with and
without knowledge are substantial. (Scheel and Denhan)
Research concerning the interrelationship between environment’s culture and biological
responses to modern-day urban environment is what the authors of this article “Environmental
pollution in Urban Environments and Human Biology” Melinda Denham and Lawrence M,
Scheel specializes in. Over time, the world has evolved and populations have increased,
creating higher demand of resources and developments of technology, transportation, and
industrialization have contributed to the pollution in the air. (Scheel and Ulijazek 1999) This
article studies the effects of urbanism within two dimensions, studying people in urban
populations and studying those people exposed to urban environments where biological impacts
can occur.
Exposure to unhealthy pollutants in urban environments has been associated with
motility rates increasingly with respiratory disease and cardio vascular. (Fairly 1999, Xu et al,
2000,Zmiru et al, 1998) This is especially important for biological anthropologist to study the
impact of pollution throughout evolution. Fewer studies have been done on children but this is
an interesting age group because they have been exposed to the increased levels of unhealthy
pollutants for a different time then the mid age humans research focuses on. One study was
done in Atlanta over the course of the Olympic events held there. The increased population of
people in the city for the Olympics in 1996, increased asthma events by forty-two percent
according to the Georgia Medicaid claims. Studies of mortality and morbidity in the past were
the areas focused on with children’s effects of pollution in urban areas and more recently the
study of growth has expanded to measure subtle changes and children sensitivity. (Golman
and Koduru 2000)
This article raises many questions regarding additional health concerns in urban
environments that humans risk when exposed. The air is the one thing the many people in the
urban communities share which is polluted by many harmful pollutants and we are all
contributors to that in some way. This article supports the argument that the pollution is the air
does have effects on the human biology both psychically and cognitively. The study conducted
on children by Georgia Medicaid demonstrates the biological affects to the psychical body which
ultimately causes cognitive and emotional hazards to many people who are exposed. As
discussed in class, all living things adapt to their environment by exposure with and without
awareness. Salt Lake City is a great example of an urban environment with pollutants in the air
that causes many health concerns and demands new alternatives through research for a
healthier solution. Awareness would be a great start because the more people living in the
growing urban Salt Lake area are getting involved in solution efforts to create a change in the air
before the environment has a major impact on our biology.
Works Cited
Schell, Lawrence M, and Denhan Melinda “Environements Influence on Human Development.”
Annual Review of Anthropology, n.d. 2013
Lawrence M Schell –University at Albandy-Suny. N.p., n.p. 2013