Book excerpt: Environmental Health Risk VII contains contributions presented at the Seventh International Conference on the Impact of Environmental Factors on Health. The successful biennial series began in 1997 and covers health problems related to the environment, which are causing increasing concern all over the world. Important to the public health is Society's ability to ensure good quality air, water, soil, and food and to eliminate or considerably reduce hazards from the human environment. That ability greatly depends on the development of techniques, both modelling and interpretive, that allow decision-makers to assess the risk posed by various factors and to propose improvements.The book covers such topics as: Risk prevention and monitoring; Mitigation problems; Disaster management and preparedness; Epidemiological studies and pandemics; Control of pollution risk; Air pollution; Water quality issues; Food safety; Radiation fields; Toxicology analysis; Ecology and health; Waste disposal; Occupational health; Social and economic issues; Accidents and man-made risks; The built environment and health; Designing for health; Contamination in rural areas; Environmental education and risk abatement.