
Using a portable XRF to determine contaminant concentrations in soil
Medical geology is the study of the relationships between geoenvironmental factors and the health of plants, animals and humans. BGS has extensive expertise researching medical geology issues, in the UK and internationally. In particular, the association between environmental geochemistry and health.
Geochemistry and Health issues can arise:
- as a consequence of a lack of essential nutrients in geological materials such as soil and water that result in inadequate uptake into plants, animals and humans via the foodchain. The ability of the natural environment to provide adequate essential nutrients is of prime importance to agricultural management;
or
- via exposure to high concentrations of potentially harmful chemical substances in the environment (air, dust, soil, water, foodstuffs). Elevated concentrations of potentially harmful substances can occur naturally, as a consequence of geological and other environmental processes, or as a result of pollution by human activities.
Medical geology/geochemistry and health investigations examine the source, dispersion, behaviour, uptake and health impacts of chemical substances in the environment to aid ecosystem management and health protection. In the UK, much of this work has been carried out using the G-BASE – TellusNI geochemistry datasets.
BGS is an international leader in the development of methods for the measurement, modelling and understanding of the mobility of chemical substances in the environment and in the determination of the bioaccessibility of potentially harmful substances to aid health hazard assessments.
In addition, extensive Medical Geology programmes are carried out by the Centre for Environmental Geochemistry (See also:Centre for Environmental Geochemistry Publications) and by the BGS Groundwater Programme (see links below).
Our research
> Medical geology – measurement of geochemical hazards
Selected UK-based bioaccessibility studies:
Lead bioaccessibility in topsoils from lead mineralisation and urban domains, UK.
Anthropogenic and geogenic impacts on arsenic bioaccessibility in UK topsoils
Bioaccessibility of trace elements in soils in Northern Ireland.
Measurement modelling and mapping of arsenic bioaccessibility in Northampton, United Kingdom
A lead isotopic study of the human bioaccessibility of lead in urban soils from Glasgow, Scotland
Kelleher, A M. 1999. Assessment of Lead and Arsenic Bioavailability in Surface Soils in the Cardiff Area. MSc Thesis. Cardiff University.
Lability of Pb in soil: effects of soil properties and contaminant source
Linking selective chemical extraction of iron oxyhydroxides to arsenic bioaccessibility in soil
Bioaccessibility of arsenic in soils developed over Jurassic ironstones in eastern England
The Link between Soil Geochemistry in South-West England and Human Exposure to Soil Arsenic
Selected UK papers:
Aggett, P J, Mills, C F, Morrison, A, Plant, J A, Simpson, P R, Callan, M, Dingwall-Fordyce, I, Halliday, G F, and Stevenson, A. 1990. A study of environmental geochemistry and health in north east Scotland. Geochemistry and health, Proceedings of the second international symposium, Monograph Series Environmental Geochemistry and Health, Science Reviews, Northwood.)
Biofortification of UK food crops with selenium
Liver copper concentrations in cull cattle in the UK: are cattle being copper loaded?
Equine grass sickness in Scotland: a case-control study of environmental geochemical risk factors
- Arsenic in South-west England Study
- Biomonitoring, health outcomes and provenancing studies
Selected UK papers:
The effect of lead in soil on crime deprivation in Derby, Leicester and Nottingham
Human health risk assessment for exposure to soil at London Road Allotments, Coventry (UK)
For groundwater geochemistry and health studies see Groundwater and Health
Key references:
Environmental geochemistry and health: global perspectives
Selenium geochemistry and health
Selenium deficiency and toxicity in the environment
Iodine and human health, the role of environmental geochemistry and diet, a review
Essential and beneficial trace elements
Arsenic in groundwater and the environment
Thornton I and Plant J A. 1980. Regional geochemical mapping and health in the United Kingdom. Journal of the Geological Society of London, Vol. 137, 575-586.
Further information about our work

Medical geology — measuring geochemical hazards
Understanding and assessing geochemical hazards in the environment has been a part of the BGS portfolio of research for over 50 years.

Centre for Environmental Geochemistry
The Centre for Environmental Geochemistry focuses on the use of geochemistry in research, training and teaching.

International projects
Selected International Environmental Geochemistry and Geochemistry and Health projects that BGS have been involved with.
You may also be interested in:

Applied geochemistry
Since the 1960s, the BGS has amassed considerable geochemical data holdings and developed significant expertise in applied geochemistry.

Environmental change, adaptation and resilience
We are undertaking research aimed at reducing vulnerability, protecting resources and building resilience in response to substantial environmental changes.