Soils: their implications to human health

Abstract

This paper reviews how the health of humans is affected by the world's soils, an association that to date has been under appreciated and under reported. Soils significantly influence a variety of functions (e.g. as a plant growth medium; its importance on the cycling of water; as a foundation for buildings) that sustains the human population. Through ingestion (either deliberate or involuntary), inhalation and dermal absorption, the mineral, chemical and biological components of soils can either be directly beneficial or detrimental to human health. Specific examples include: geohelminth infection and the supply of mineral nutrients and potentially harmful elements (PHEs) via soil ingestion; cancers caused by the inhalation of fibrous minerals or Rn gas derived from the radioactive decay of U and Th in soil minerals; and tetanus, hookworm disease and podoconiosis caused by skin contact and dermal absorption of appropriate soil constituents. Human health can also be influenced in more indirect ways as soils interact with the atmosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere. Examples include: the volatilisation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from soils and their subsequent global redistribution that has health implications to the Aboriginal people of the Arctic; the frequent detrimental chemical and biological quality of drinking and recreational waters that are influenced by processes of soil erosion, surface runoff, interflow and leaching; and the transfer of mineral nutrients and PHEs from soils into the plants and animals that constitute the human food chain. The scale and magnitude of soil/health interactions are variable, but at times a considerable number of people can be affected as demonstrated by the extent of hookworm infection or the number of people at risk because they live in an I-deficient environment. Nevertheless, it can often be difficult to establish definite links between soils and human health. This, together with the emergence of new risks, knowledge, or discoveries, means that there is considerable scope for research in the future. Such investigations should involve a multidisciplinary approach that both acquires knowledge and ensures its dissemination to people in an understandable way. This requires an infrastructure and finance that governments need to be responsive to.

Isotopic provenancing of Pb in Mitrovica, northern Kosovo: Source identification of chronic Pb enrichment in soils, house dust and scalp hair

“…There is, however, no 237 significant difference between Pb (p= 0.4400) and Cd (p=0.0980) levels between 0-10 cm and between 10-238 30 cm. These data generally indicate that greatest PHE enrichment is present within upper soil profile, 239 importantly, the environment with which human interaction with soils will be greatest (Abrahams, 2002).…”

Restoring Soil Quality to Mitigate Soil Degradation

“…Yet, soil is finite in extent, prone to degradation by natural and anthropogenic factors, and is non-renewable over the human timescale (decades). Soil quality also has strong implications to human health [8,10], thus illustrating its important role in both society and the environment. Because of numerous ecosystem services provisioned through soils (e.g., food, feed, fiber, climate moderation through C cycling, waste disposal, water filtration and purification, elemental cycling) [11,12], soil quality must be protected or restored to enhance these services.…”

Metals distribution in the organic and inorganic fractions of soil: a case study on soils from Sicily

“…Soil is a geochemical highly variable product made up of both inorganic and organic material and is supporting the continental plant life. It is also one of the most important factor affecting human health and wellbeing (Abrahams, 2002). As a consequence, there is a great concern about contamination of the soil ecosystem by potentially toxic metal ions because of their threat to human life and environments, particularly with regard to plant uptake, deterioration of soil microbial ecology and contamination of groundwaters or surface waters (Cunningham et al, 1975;Riekerk and Zasoski, 1979;Kabata-Pendias and Pendias, 1992;Vaughan et al, 1993).…”