Hygiene of physical environmental factors: more than 60 years of experience and a look into the future

Objective. The objective of the work was to evaluate the main achievements and outline the prospects for hygienic rationing of physical factors in populated areas of Ukraine. Materials and methods. Scientific reports, regulatory documents, guidelines and scientific publications were studied by the method of literature analysis. Results. Systematic studies on the hygienic assessment of physical factors – electromagnetic fields, noise and vibration – in populated areas are carried out at the State Institution O.M. Marzieiev Institute for Public Health of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine for more than 60 years. The research is carried out in order to develop hygienic standards – the maximum permissible levels of physical factors, to develop protective measures to prevent the adverse effects of physical environmental factors on the health of the population. In recent years, some hygienic standards have been changed without conducting appropriate scientific research, some hygienic standards have not yet been developed. Conclusions. We have accumulated extensive, mostly unique, experience in performing work on hygienic regulation of physical environmental factors. With the development of technology, the levels of electromagnetic fields, noise and vibration continue to increase, which determines the priority of protecting public health from the adverse effects of these factors. Of course, the implementation of work on hygienic regulation of physical environmental factors should continue, because according to the outstanding hygienist, academician Alexander Nikitich Marzeev, whose name our scientific institution bears, the future belongs to us – to the hygiene. Keywords. Air ionization, electromagnetic fields, noise, vibration, hygienic regulation, exposure limits.