Practical Applications of Medical Geology

In March 2009 the Geochemical Baselines and Medical Geology team held the first British Geological Survey meeting concerning the ‘Practical Applications of Medical Geology’.

What is Medical Geology?

Word cloud definition of medical geology eg. radon, health, metals, related, geological, factors, elements, medical etc.
  • The science dealing with the relationships between natural geological factors and health in man and animals, and understanding the influence of environmental factors on the geographical distribution of such health problems.
  • This area of science is aimed at improving the interdisciplinary interactions between environmental scientists and health scientists.

Meeting aims:

  • To provide a common platform for medical geology practitioners to present and highlight successful applications of interdisciplinary case studies.
  • Facilitate professionals, from industry, regulatory authorities and academia, to discuss their findings and identify problems and scientific solutions to conducting such research.

Meeting outcomes:

  • The lively research community and interest in this area, despite its interdisciplinary nature, shows that medical geology has come of age.
  • There is a strong emphasis on the development of laboratory and field methods combining the geological/geochemical data with biomonitoring and clinical aspects to help quantify the potential hazard to human and animal health.
  • There is a growing interest in epidemiological links between the natural environment and disease.
  • Publication of a special theme issue of the Journal for Environmental Geochemistry and Health on Medical Geology

Contact

Contact Dr Mark Cave for further information about the Medical Geology team.