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Geoscientists can help. A lot. But if we wait to be asked, we could wait a
very long time.
The issue is medical geology. The time is now.
We’ve known some of the linkages between geology and health for thousands
of years: Hippocrates knew about environment and disease; Aristotle wrote about
lead poisoning. Other relationships are still waiting to be discovered. One
of the early systematic studies of medical geology happened in Georgia, about
40 years ago, looking at the geographic distribution of cardiovascular disease.
Geologists know better than most people that where something happens is often
linked to why it occurs, whether it’s earthquakes, volcanoes or thyroid
disease.
The full list of geological factors that influence human health is long: trace
elements, radon, volcanic dust, VOG (volcanic fog), organics, radionuclides,
microbes, asbestos and pathogens.
The scale of the problem is huge. For example, the residential use of biomass
fuels (coal, lignite, peat) affects human health by generating particulates,
releasing gases and mobilizing trace elements. These problems affect the health
of 3.5 billion people worldwide — more than the number of people affected
by AIDS, heart disease and cancer … combined! Of course, the health impacts
of these respiratory problems may not be as severe as other diseases, but the
number of people affected is staggering.
GIS (geographical information systems) is one of the recent tools that have
underscored the relationship between geology and health. Any map of the distribution
of the West Nile virus, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), monkeypox
or asbestosis shows geographic and geologic relationships in their spatial distribution.
These relationships are relatively obvious to geologists, but not always as
clear to the medical community.
The geosciences could greatly benefit public health by providing warnings of
possible outbreaks. A classic connection between health and geology is seen
in valley fever, a respiratory ailment caused by inhalation of the soil fungus
Coccidioides immitis. Its occurrence, which has a strong correlation with earthquakes,
is significant, with 7,500 reported new cases per year in the United States
and an annual economic impact of more than $60 million. The sharp spike in reported
cases after the 1994 Northridge earthquake in California is unmistakable; the
linkage to dust (and spores) in the air following the earthquake and its aftershocks
is dramatic.
Understanding the relationship between geology and public health concerns may
result in a variety of responses. When public health officials are aware of
a problem, such as valley fever, the responses may range from warnings for people
to stay indoors to an alert to the medical community to prepare for treating
a larger-than-normal number of cases. If accurate earthquake predictions ever
become a reality, we can be sure that the medical community will want to be
part of the information loop, too.
Following the tragedy of September 11, geoscientists had the tools to determine
the health risks associated with the dust in New York City. They found that
the amounts of asbestos, organic materials and hazardous trace elements were
relatively low; most of the dust was calcium oxides derived from pulverized
dry wall. If wetted, the dust was very alkaline, but the geological analyses
found that it was no more hazardous than dust around a typical construction
site. At a location that has become emblematic of risk, this information from
the geoscience community has been providing some level of reassurance.
Robert Finkelman of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Reston is one of the
people advocating better collaboration between the geosciences and the medical
community, to improve both our understanding of health issues and our ability
to prevent and treat diseases. He makes a strong argument about how prevention
is less expensive than the cure; proactive efforts by the geoscience community
can help address major global concerns about human health. In an ideal world,
Finkelman would have all health care professionals and medical researchers learn
mineralogy, GIS, geochemistry and hydrology. In the real world, he acknowledges,
the best solution may be for the geosciences to provide interdisciplinary courses
that emphasize the relevance of geology to health.
Several schools are already implementing this interdisciplinary approach, to
emphasize the link between the geosciences and human health and welfare. Courses
in medical geology exist at Brooklyn College and the University of Akron. Classes
on geoscience and public health are taught at George Washington University.
East Georgia College is developing modules on medical geology for use in other
classes.
Other current efforts to strengthen these connections include both national
and international emphases. The International Union of Geological Scientists
is including a focus on medical geology as part of the upcoming “Year of
Planet Earth.” The international geological community is in the process
of identifying funding to support this work. In April, USGS held a national
conference in Reston on natural science and public health, focusing on the role
of the geosciences. H. Catherine Skinner and Anthony Berger just published Geology
and Health: Closing the Gap, a collection of papers from earth scientists, biologists
and medical specialists on global health issues. And, Finkelman and colleagues
from the United States, Sweden, and Britain are working on a new book, Medical
Geology: Earth Science in Support of Public Health Protection, to be published
in 2003. They also published an excellent summary of the issues involved in
medical geology in a cover article in the November
2001 issue of Geotimes.
An encouraging sign for this collaboration came recently from Dr. Julie Gerberding,
director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga. In
June 2003, she observed that “SARS is a very sobering reminder of the global
community we share.” That global community is what geoscientists know best.
The geosciences have a lot to offer the medical community, and we wait to be
asked for our input at our own peril. Now is the time for the geosciences to
be proactive about offering our knowledge, experience, perspective and expertise.
We will all benefit.
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