Full Title: Geochemical Environment in Relation to Health and Disease
Editors: Helen L. Cannon and Howard C. Hopps
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From the original foreword: In December of 1970, the National Research Council's Subcomittee on Geochemical Environment in Relation to Health and Disease held a Symposium: "Minor Metals of the Geochemical Environment, Health & Disease," at the Annual AAAS Meeting in Chicago. The symposium was co-sponsored by The Geological Society of America and the American Geophysical Union. Participants included scientists from many fields, and the papers contributed to a multidisciplinary appraisal and overall review of the occurrence and availability of trace elements in the environment as they affect the health of animals, including man. This volume is an account of that symposium. Relationships between the abundance of certain trace elements and disease—for example, deficiency of iodine with goiter and cancer of the thyroid, and excess selenium with "blind staggers" and congenital anomalies—have been known for a long time and are reasonably well understood. But there are a host of other trace elements that are probably just as important in their effects on man and other animals which are unknown in their action or very poorly understood. There is urgent need for us to direct more of our attention to this important aspect of the environment. For many trace elements, a minimal intake is required if health is to be maintained. But excessive amounts of these very same "essential" elements can produce serious disease, and this latter group of effects is of special concern. We must have detailed information as to the concentrations of trace elements that occur in rocks, waters, soils, and the factors that affect their eventual levels in plants and animals, if we are to evaluate effects from anomalous concentrations as they occur in nature and as influenced by man's activity. Relationships between geochemical environment and health or disease in animals are very complex indeed. For example, factors that affect the availability of some elements, such as iron and manganese, may be more important than the actual quantities in the soil. With other elements, however—consider selenium—the amount present in the soil correlates directly with intake. Moreover, particular trace elements exert effects on each other biochemically, and other phenomena have their influences, too, so that levels in the geochemical environment which support health or produce disease must be considered in the context of many factors and parameters. New improved sampling methods and analytical techniques have contributed a great deal to our understanding of relationships between geochemical environment and health and disease. They are disclosing potential hazards from "new" trace metals—molybdenum and cadmium, for example. At the same time, they are providing information to show that protection may result from proper balance with other trace metals such as zinc, copper, and lithium. Support of this symposium effort by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Science Foundation, The Geological Society of America, and the American Geophysical Union is gratefully acknowledged.
Published: 10/30/1972
ISBN Number: 0813721407
Pages: 85
Product Category: Special Papers