Medical Geology. En route to One Health / Медицинская геология. Дорога к здоровью

Medical geology studies exposure to or deficiency of macro- and micronutrients that may lead to health problems in humans and animals. The condition of our environment influences our health as mostly the water and food come from environmental sources. Medical geology helps us to understand the relationship between the aerosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere on human and animal health. The elements and minerals in soil, water, and atmospheric dust affect people and animals as there is a close relationship between the two. Naturally occurring geogenic/pedogenic elements such as fluoride, selenium, iodide, and water hardness are extremely detrimental to the health of those people who come in close contact with these elements. Specially, people from developing and least developed nations depend heavily on land due to the human–animal-based farming and less technological advancements. As an example, people in Maputaland, South Africa, have a number of diseases due to the exposure to heavily impoverished soils caused by mineral imbalances, whereas drinking arsenic-rich water in parts of India and Bangladesh often causes toxicity and diseases. Various regions in the world and in countries such as India, Sri Lanka, and the Balkan region are seriously affected by chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology due to some mineral imbalance in water. Fluoride, selenium, and iodide are some of the geogenic and pedogenic examples for such imbalanced elements that can cause health issues in the public. Therefore, the field of medical geology called “bioavailability” receives greatest attention, as the total concentration is not significant for health. <...>