 What is environmental health science and why is it important? Imagine you have a caramel apple. Let's make it a peanut coated caramel apple. Now, imagine all the ways that apple might cause harm to someone. The peanuts, for instance, could trigger an allergic reaction. Sugar in the caramel could increase your chances of developing diabetes or heart disease. Are the preservatives and other additives in the coating safe? Does the apple contain traces of pesticides? And were the farmers and neighbors exposed to these pesticides as the apple was being grown? Then does the packaging the apple came in? Does it contain harmful chemicals? And did some of these get into the apple? Was anyone exposed to dangerous stuff while the packaging was being made? And for the paranoid, did the production of this caramel apple contribute to global warming? And as a result, increased the level of health risks around the world. On the flip side, though, this caramel apple is dripping with carbohydrates and proteins and vitamins and other nutrients that your body needs. And it's not just about you. People's livelihoods and as a result, their health could well depend on you eating that apple. So, should you eat the apple? Without some way of making sense of the speculation about the risks and benefits, the only thing you're likely to get is a headache. The good news is that there's help at hand. It's called environmental health science. By understanding the science behind how our environment affects our health, we can take some of the guesswork out of the decisions we make. This is incredibly important if you're procrastinating over biting into an egg-ticing caramel apple. But it also has some bearing on one or two other issues, like how can we develop safer products? How can we curb the rise of lifestyle diseases? Or how can we benefit from the gains of technological progress without suffering the pain of unintended health impacts? And as a bonus, the science of what happens at the intersection between our bodies and the environment we live in is pretty cool, although I could be biased on that front. Environmental health science, reducing risk and increasing benefits so everyone can lead a healthier life.