This issue forms part of a series of reviews on selected health topics in fields where significant developments are occurring. It allows those working in other specialities and younger clinicians and scientists to update their knowledge in important and well-defined subject areas.Global burden of environmental disease; Methods used to determine environmental health effects - critical assessment of implied risk; Occupational and environmental asthma; Pollution and infection in respiratory illness; Contribution of environmental factors to cancer risk; Birth disorders and reproductive effects; Infertility and environmental pollutants; Environmental effects and skin disease; Diarrhoeal diseases and environmental pollution; Contaminants in drinking water; Ambient air pollution and health; Indoor air pollution: a global health concern; Electromagnetic radiation; Risks associated with ionising radiation; Pesticides; Hazards of heavy metal contamination; Noise pollution: non-auditory effects on health; Health hazards and waste management