Background: Environmental epidemiology (EE) strives to demonstrate and thus help reduce threats to human health arising from exposures in the physical environment. Since 1988, the conceptualisation of valid research topics, policy development and intervention options has expanded from the molecular to the planetary scale. Climate change is the principle example of an acknowledged planetary-scale threat relevant to EE, but is a part of an even larger, multidisciplinary problem, often called "Limits to Growth" (LTG). Aims: To introduce a conceptual framework to argue that LTG be considered a legitimate issue for EE research and intervention. Methods: A focused interdisciplinary literature review, undertaken over two decades, involving dynamic systems thinking and analysis was used to develop this framework. Results: LTG refers to complex inter-related environmental and social phenomena, including resource depletion and social responses to scarcity, that undermine and threaten the sustainability of our species. In recent years, scientific interest in LTG has revived, driven by rising global energy and food prices, conflict, and increasingly apparent flaws in the dominant economic system. To date, however, very few workers in the public health sciences have considered the relevance of these interlinked threats to global public health. This formidable issue is beyond the scope of any single discipline, including EE. Nevertheless, whether in isolation or with other disciplines, environmental epidemiologists may be able to better characterise this issue, and thus make a vital contribution to global health protection. Conclusions: Addressing LTG has the potential to prevent enormous harm to global public health, irrespective of whether environmental epidemiologists give it attention. There is a morally compelling opportunity to engage with these new challenges, which will require new epidemiological and transdisciplinary conceptualizations, methods, and collaborations.
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