What is the envirome?

A conducive environment is essential for human health and wellbeing 

Conducive environments are essential for optimal growth, health and aging. Unpolluted, green environments with high biodiversity promote physical and mental health and minimize the risk of sickness and disability. Supportive social networks that encourage healthy lifestyle choices – such as physical activity, good nutrition and social equity – nurture good health, diminish mental stress and enhance individual resilience. 

Unconducive environments and disease risk 

Living in unconducive environments or in a state of environmental dyssynchrony can lead to chronic disease. Chronic disease can arise from exposure to unhealthy environments or from a mismatch between genes and environment. Together, such environmental factors account for more than 80% of heart disease, 70% of diabetes and 97% of all cancers. By understanding the relationships between individuals and their environment, we may be able to uncover new sources of chronic disease, develop preventative measures and discover new therapies. 

Domains of the envirome 

The human envirome is made up of three nested domains:

• natural
• social
• personal

The natural environment includes geographic and ecological features like latitude, topography and region. The built environment, government and institutions create our social environments. Conditions that are unique to each person – our house, our habits and our place in society – make up the personal environment. 

Health and the natural environment 

Like all other living things, we are entrained to the cycles of night and day, and dyssynchrony with this primordial cycle increases the risk of heart disease and cancer. Like plants, we need sunlight for the synthesis of vitamin D, and our physiology and physiological adaptations vary with altitude and latitudes. Plants, animals and microbes in our environment are sources of food but also disease and infection. 

Health and the social environment 

Our social interactions, our history and our culture make up our social environment. The social environment deeply informs the influence of the natural environment. By interacting with nature, we develop agriculture, invent technology and fashion food networks. Our interactions with each other create civic and social organizations housed in built structures such as cities, roads and parks. By generating noise, pollutants and toxins, these environments threaten human health, and by their varied structures, they influence health care access, social cohesion, health disparities and socioeconomic status.  

Health and the personal environment

From the society they live in, individuals create their own personal environments. These microenvironments are formed by chance, circumstance and choice. They are characterized by the conditions closest to us, such as our home, our family and our income as well as our choices. Choices in terms of nutrition and physical activity, and also the use of tobacco, alcohol and recreational drugs. Although personal environments exist within the larger, shared and more public social environments, they differ among individuals living in the same society and culture.