100 Objects That Shaped Public Health

Public health impacts our health and safety, but also how we live, what we wear, what we eat, what happens to our environment and the stewardship of our planet.

100 Objects  have made their mark on public health.

Did you know that a test that comes from a clotting compound in the blood of the horseshoe crab has kept millions of people worldwide from contracting life-threatening infections?

Many people suffered from goiter, a thyroid condition that had been linked to iodine deficiency at the end of the 19th century. The solution turned out to be incredibly simple, universally effective and really cheap: Putting iodine in table salt.

Around the world each year, dehydration from diarrhea caused by infectious diseases kills more than 500,000 children under age five. Millions more would die if it weren’t for a simple mixture of sugar, salt and water in proper proportions — commonly called oral rehydration solution — that enables bodies to retain water more easily.

Full list here. It's fascinating.
Via