Epidemiology of Environmental Health

There has been a growing awareness of environmental effects among human. More epidemiologic studies have been triggered toward investigating exposure effects of chemical, social or physical factors in relation to the common or complex diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes afterward. Following recent advances in genomics and risk assessment, environmental epidemiologic studies are incorporating gene-environment interactions and epigenetic changes to explore the multidisciplinary nature of individual. The challenges for human population work in this field include the complexity of exposure biology and the small effects that are easily disturbed. Several strategies have been developed with an attempt to resolve these challenges, such as the development of exposome, the two-stage designs and Mendelian randomization. In this chapter, the conventional study design features, including particular strengths and limitations, have been summarized.