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A hazard is defined as "the potential occurrence of a natural or human-induced physical event or trend that may cause loss of life, injury, or other health impacts, as well as damage and loss to property, infrastructure, livelihoods, service provision, ecosystems and environmental resources."⁵: 2233 

Without the potential for exposure there is no hazard, (and without the potential for harmful consequence there is no risk). Environmental hazards can be categorized in many different ways, but the main distinction is between hazards to the environment, and hazards of the environment.

Hazards to the environment

Hazards to the environment usually imply hazards tha are dangerous to a natural environment of biomes or ecosystems,⁶ but artificial environments may also be at risk from exposure to hazards, which may be natural or anthropogenic.

Hazards of the environment

Hazards of an environment are hazards that are normally present in the specific environment and are dangerous to people, other organisms or property present in that environment. The environment can be natural or built, and may be a work or recreational environment⁷ In this case too, the hazards may be natural or anthropogenic.

Classification by type

See also: Hazard classification

Broadly, environmental hazards can be categorized as chemical, physical, biological, or psychological, or a combination of these.

Chemical hazards are substances that can cause harm or damage to humans, animals, or the environment. They can be in the form of solids, liquids, gases, mists, dusts, fumes, and vapors. Exposure can occur through inhalation, skin absorption, ingestion, or direct contact. Chemical hazards include substances such as pesticides, solvents, acids, bases, reactive metals, and poisonous gases. Exposure to these substances can result in health effects such as skin irritation, respiratory problems, organ damage, neurological effects, and cancer.⁸

Physical hazards are factors within the environment that can harm the body without necessarily touching it. They include a wide range of environmental factors such as noise, vibration, extreme temperatures, radiation, and ergonomic hazards. Physical hazards may lead to injuries like burns, fractures, hearing loss, vision impairment, or other physical harm. They can be present in many work settings such as construction sites, manufacturing plants, and even office spaces.⁹¹⁰

Biological hazards, also known as biohazards, are organic substances that pose a threat to the health of living organisms, primarily humans. This can include medical waste, samples of a microorganism, virus, or toxin (from a biological source) that can impact human health. Biological hazards can also include substances harmful to animals. Examples of biological hazards include bacteria, viruses, fungi, other microorganisms and their associated toxins. They may cause a myriad of diseases, from flu to more serious and potentially fatal diseases.¹¹

Psychosocial hazards (or psychological hazards) are aspects of work and work environments that can cause psychological harm or mental ill-health. These include factors such as stress, workplace bullying, fatigue, burnout, and violence, among others. These hazards can lead to psychological issues like anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Psychological hazards can exist in any type of workplace, and their management is a crucial aspect of occupational health and safety.¹²

Environmental hazard identification

Environmental hazard identification is the first step in environmental risk assessment, which is the process of assessing the likelihood, or risk, of adverse effects resulting from a given environmental stressor.¹³ Hazard identification is the determination of whether, and under what conditions, a given environmental stressor has the potential to cause harm.

In hazard identification, sources of data on the risks associated with prospective hazards are identified. For instance, if a site is known to be contaminated with a variety of industrial pollutants, hazard identification will determine which of these chemicals could result in adverse human health effects, and what effects they could cause. Risk assessors rely on both laboratory (e.g., toxicological) and epidemiological data to make these determinations.¹⁴

Conceptual model of exposure

Hazards have the potential to cause adverse effects only if they come into contact with populations that may be harmed. For this reason, hazard identification includes the development of a conceptual model of exposure.¹⁵ Conceptual models communicate the pathway connecting sources of a given hazard to the potentially exposed population(s). The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry establishes five elements that should be included in a conceptual model of exposure:

• The source of the hazard in question
• Environmental fate and transport, or how the hazard moves and changes in the environment after its release
• Exposure point or area, or the place at which an exposed person comes into contact with the hazard
• Exposure route, or the manner by which an exposed person comes into contact with the hazard (e.g., orally, dermally, or by inhalation)
• Potentially exposed populations.¹⁶

Evaluating hazard data

Once a conceptual model of exposure is developed for a given hazard, measurements should be taken to determine the presence and quantity of the hazard.¹⁷ These measurements should be compared to appropriate reference levels to determine whether a hazard exists. For instance, if arsenic is detected in tap water from a given well, the detected concentrations should be compared with regulatory thresholds for allowable levels of arsenic in drinking water. If the detected levels are consistently lower than these limits, arsenic may not be a chemical of potential concern for the purposes of this risk assessment. When interpreting hazard data, risk assessors must consider the sensitivity of the instrument and method used to take these measurements, including any relevant detection limits (i.e., the lowest level of a given substance that an instrument or method is capable of detecting).¹⁸¹⁹

Chemical

Chemical hazards are defined in the Globally Harmonized System and in the European Union chemical regulations. They are caused by chemical substances causing significant damage to the environment. The label is particularly applicable towards substances with aquatic toxicity. An example is zinc oxide, a common paint pigment, which is extremely toxic to aquatic life.

Toxicity or other hazards do not imply an environmental hazard, because elimination by sunlight (photolysis), water (hydrolysis) or organisms (biological elimination) neutralizes many reactive or poisonous substances. Persistence towards these elimination mechanisms combined with toxicity gives the substance the ability to do damage in the long term. Also, the lack of immediate human toxicity does not mean the substance is environmentally nonhazardous. For example, tanker truck-sized spills of substances such as milk can cause a lot of damage in the local aquatic ecosystems: the added biological oxygen demand causes rapid eutrophication, leading to anoxic conditions in the water body.

Hazards in this category are mainly anthropogenic although there are a number of natural carcinogens and toxic elements like radon and lead that may turn up in health-threatening concentrations in the natural environment.

Physical

A physical hazard is a type of phenomenon that may cause damage by physical effects, such as:.²⁰

• Cosmic ray – High-energy particle, mainly originating outside the Solar System
• Drought – Period with less precipitation than normal
• Earthquake – Sudden movement of the Earth's crust
• Electromagnetic field – Electric and magnetic fields produced by moving charged objects
• Electronic waste – Discarded electronic devices
• Flood – Water overflow submerging usually-dry lands
• Fog – Atmospheric phenomenon
• Light pollution – Excess artificial light in an environment
• Lightning – Weather phenomenon involving electrostatic discharge
• Noise pollution – Excessive displeasing noise
• Quicksand – Mixture of sand, silt or clay with water, which creates a liquefied soil when agitated
• Ultraviolet – Energetic, invisible radiant energy range
• Vibration – Repetitive variation of some measure about a central value
• X-ray – Form of electromagnetic radiation

Biological

See also: Toxicology and List of allergies

Biological hazards, also known as biohazards, refer to biological substances that pose a threat to the health of living organisms, primarily that of humans. This can include medical waste or samples of a microorganism, virus or toxin (from a biological source) that can affect human health. Examples include:

• Allergen – Type of antigen that produces an abnormally vigorous immune response
  • Pollen – Grains containing the male gametophytes of seed plants, a common allergen
• Arbovirus – Class of viruses which are transmitted by arthropods
• Avian influenza – Influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds
• Bovine spongiform encephalopathy – Fatal neurodegenerative disease of cattle (BSE)
• Cholera – Bacterial infection of the small intestine
• Ebola – Viral hemorrhagic fever caused by ebolaviruses
• Epidemic – Rapid spread of disease affecting a large number of people in a short times
• Food poisoning – Illness from eating contaminaled food
• Malaria – Mosquito-borne disease
• Mold – Wooly, dust-like fungal structure or substances
• Onchocerciasis – Human helminthiasis (infection by parasite) (river blindness)
• Pandemic – Widespread, often global, epidemic of severe infectious diseases
• Pathogen – Biological entity that causes disease in its hosts
• Rabies – Deadly viral disease, transmitted through animals
• Severe acute respiratory syndrome – Disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS)
• Sick building syndrome – Symptoms of illness attributed to a building

See also

• Hazard analysis – Method for assessing risk
• Hazardous material – Solids, liquids, or gases harmful to people, other organisms, property or the environment
• Natural hazard – Conditions that could lead to a natural disaster
• Occupational hazard – Hazard experienced in the workplace
• Hazardous waste – Ignitable, reactive, corrosive and/or toxic unwanted or unusable materials

References

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2. Cruikshank, Craig. "3 Types of Environmental Hazards in the Workplace". safetydocs.safetyculture.com. Retrieved 6 July 2025. https://safetydocs.safetyculture.com/blog/3-types-of-environmental-hazards-in-the-workplace-/ ↩

3. "Environmental hazard". Defined Term - A dictionary of legal, industry-specific, and uncommon terms. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2017. quoted from Code of Maryland, January 1, 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20200803120002/https://definedterm.com/environmental_hazard ↩

4. Smith, Keith (1993). Environmental hazards: assessing risk and reducing disaster. Routledge physical environment series (Reprint ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-01217-1. 978-0-415-01217-1 ↩

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6. "Environmental Hazards & Health Effects" (PDF). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved October 15, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehhe/pdfs/about.pdf ↩

7. Cruikshank, Craig. "3 Types of Environmental Hazards in the Workplace". safetydocs.safetyculture.com. Retrieved 6 July 2025. https://safetydocs.safetyculture.com/blog/3-types-of-environmental-hazards-in-the-workplace-/ ↩

8. Shi, Peijun (2019), "Hazards, Disasters, and Risks", Disaster Risk Science, IHDP/Future Earth-Integrated Risk Governance Project Series, Singapore: Springer Singapore: 1–48, doi:10.1007/978-981-13-6689-5_1, ISBN 978-981-13-6688-8, PMC 7123175 978-981-13-6688-8 ↩

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10. Wisner, Ben; Gaillard, J.C.; Kelman, Ilan (2011). The Handbook of Hazards and Disaster Risk Reduction. Routledge. ↩

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14. US EPA, ORD (2014-07-21). "Conducting a Human Health Risk Assessment". US EPA. Retrieved 2020-11-03. https://www.epa.gov/risk/conducting-human-health-risk-assessment ↩

15. "Chapter 6: Exposure Evaluation: Evaluating Exposure Pathways | PHA Guidance Manual | ATSDR". www.atsdr.cdc.gov. 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2020-11-03. https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/hac/phamanual/ch6.html ↩

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20. "Environmental Hazards & Health Effects" (PDF). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved October 15, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehhe/pdfs/about.pdf ↩