The article discusses the relation health/environment and Environmental Health as a study field. Definitions of Environmental Health adopted by World Health Organization are presented. Secondly, there is a brief description of the history of this relation as scientific and practical area, starting by Hypocrates' works and by Ancient Greece conception of health, passing through Roman times, Median Age and the great advances achieved during the 18th and 19th Centuries: the Sanitary Reform, health as a social concern, advances in micro-biology. Continues by the description of the recent proposals of the Health Sector for the Environmental Health area in the World and in Brazil and presents some ethical aspects in Environmental Health. Finally, there is a discussion on the adoption of the sustainable development and the equity concepts in the proposals of Environmental Health promotion.
Environmental Health; Public Health; Environment; Ethics