Environmental geochemistry and health: with special reference to developing countries

261 Pages·1996·12.33 MB·English

by  J. D. Appleton

Environmental Geochemistry and Health
with special reference to developing countries
Geological Society Special Publications
Series Editor A. J. FLEET
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 113
Environmental Geochemistry and
Health
with special reference to developing countries
EDITED BY
J. D. APPLETON
British Geological Survey
Nottingham, UK
R. FUGE
Institute of Earth Studies
University of Wales
Aberystwyth, UK
and
G. J. H. McCALL
Department of Earth Studies
Liverpool University, UK
1996
Published by
The Geological Society
London
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Contents
Preface vii
MILLS, C. F. Geochemical aspects of the aetiology of trace element related diseases 1
PLANT, J. A., BALDOCK, J. W. & SMITH, B. The role of geochemistry in
environmental and epidemiological studies in developing countries: a review
FORDVCE, F. M., MASARA, D. & APPLETON, J. D. Stream sediment, soil and forage
chemistry as indicators of cattle mineral status in northeast Zimbabwe 23
JUMBA, I. O., StrrrLE, N. F., HUNTER, E. A. & WANOIGA, S. O. Effects of botanical
composition, soil origin and composition on mineral concentrations in dry
season pastures in western Kenya 39
MASKALL, J. & THORmON, I. The distribution of trace and major elements in
Kenyan soil profiles and implications for wildlife nutrition 47
BOWELL, R. J., WARREN, A. & REDMONO, I. Formation of cave salts and utilization
by elephants in the Mount Elgon Region, Kenya 63
SELINUS, O. FRAr~, A. & GALOAN, V. Biogeochemistry and metal biology 81
EDMUrCDS, W. M. & SMEDLEV, P. L. Groundwater geochemistry and health: an overview 91
BOWELL, R. J., McELDoWr,mv, S., WARREN, A., MATHEW, B. & BwAr~tJZO, M.
Biogeochemical factors affecting groundwater quality in central Tanzania 107
DISSANAVAKE, C. B. Water quality and dental health in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka 131
SMITH, B., BREWARD, N., CRAWFORD,M . B., GALIMAKA, D., MUSHIRI, S. M. &
R~EDER, S. The environmental geochemistry of aluminium in tropical terrains and
its implications to health 141
THORrCroN, I. Sources and pathways of arsenic in the geochemical environment:
health implications 153
SMEDLEY, P. L., EDMtmDS, W. M. & PELIG-BA,K . B. Mobility of arsenic in
groundwater in the Obuasi gold-mining area of Ghana: some implications for
human health 163
HELIOS RYBICI~,, E. Environmental impact of mining and smelting industries in Poland 183
NlCrIOLSON, K. Lacustrine sediment geochemistry as a tool in retrospective
environmental impact assessment of mining and urban development in
tropical environments: examples from Papua New Guinea 195
FUGE, R. Geochemistry of iodine in relation to iodine deficiency diseases 201
DISSANAVAKE, C. B. & CHANDRAJITH, R. L. R. Iodine in the environment and endemic
goitre in Sri Lanka 213
STEWART, A. G. & PrIAROAH, P. O. D. Clinical and epidemiological correlates of
iodine deficiency disorders 223
NAm, M. G., MAXWELL, S. M. & BRABIN, B. J. The protective role of trace elements
in preventing aflatoxin induced damage: a review 231
NICHOLSON, R. A., ROBERTS, P. D. & BAXTER,P . J. Preliminary studies of acid
and gas contamination at Poas volcano, Costa Rica 239
OLIVER, M. A. Kriging: a method of estimation for environmental and rare disease data 245
vi CONTENTS
HARVEY, R., POWELL, J. J. & THOMPSON, R. P. H. A review of the geochemical factors
linked to Podoconiosis 255
Index 261
Preface
Environmental geochemistry has long been known to influence human and animal
health, the links being recognized possibly as long ago as the 4th century At) by the
Chinese. While early recognized problems such as endemic goitre were clearly due to
natural geochemical variations within the environment, more recently anthropo-
genic perturbations of the environment have been shown to exert a strong influence
on human and animal well being.
Although some health problems related to environmental geochemistry manifest
themselves in the developed world, they are more keenly felt in the developing
countries due to the added stress of such factors as poverty and malnutrition. In
addition, while most of the population of the developed world have diets which
include food sources from geographically diverse regions, in the developing
countries this is frequently not so. Many people in developing countries are
dependent on very localized sources of food and water and any geochemical
anomaly (enrichment or depletion) within these local environments will have a
marked influence on the well-being of the inhabitants.
The latest World Health Organisation figures indicate that more than 800 million
people in the developing countries are at risk from iodine deficiency, which is the
cause of goitre and cretinism, a severe form of mental retardation. 350 million
people in developing countries are estimated to suffer from severe iron deficiency
and recent studies have provided evidence that cancer and heart disease are related
to selenium deficiencies. High natural environmental concentrations of fluorine
cause mottling of teeth and crippling bone and joint deformities in both humans and
cattle. Excessive dietary intakes of aluminium, arsenic and lead derived from both
natural sources and as a result of industrial pollution are also associated with ill-
health in humans. Concern over this issue is increasing as a result of rapid economic
and population growth in the developing world. Multidisciplinary studies involving
epidemiologists and biochemists as well as environmental and nutritional specialists
are essential if the impact of trace element levels on ill-health in developing countries
is to be properly addressed and remedies implemented.
The main aim of this volume is to discuss the application of geochemistry to the
study of human and animal health problems in developing countries. It stems from a
conference held at the Geological Society, Burlington House, London, UK on 20-21
October 1993 which was organized by the Joint Association of Geoscientists for
International Development (JAGID) and the Society for Environmental Geochem-
istry and Health (SEGH): The conference provided a forum for the exchange of
ideas, information and experience between geochemists, nutritionists, medical and
veterinary researchers and brought together researchers from UK, Poland and
Sweden as well as a range of developing countries including India, Kenya, Tanzania,
Uganda and Sri Lanka. Of the 34 papers presented at the meeting, 20 are published
in this volume while two invited contributions have been added. Abstracts of the
other 14 papers are published in Environmental Geochemistry and Health in
Developing Countries, October 1993: Abstracts Volume. This is available (price code
I) from BGS Publications (Tel: [phone]).
Subjects covered in the volume reflect the breadth of the topic under discussion,
ranging through animal and human health issues related to soil, plant, water and
viii PREFACE
volcanic gas chemistry. The role of natural and anthropogenic influences on the
environment are covered as are the roles of geochemical mapping, monitoring and
baseline identification.
The first two papers in the volume set the scene, with considerations of the
aetiology of geochemically related nutritional diseases (Mills) and the role of
geochemistry in environmental and epidemiological studies in developing countries
(Plant et al.). The next group of five papers concern animal nutrition in Zimbabwe
(Fordyee et al.), Kenya (Jumba et al; Maskall & Thornton) and the Kenya-Uganda
border area (Bowell et al.). Finally in this section Selinus et al. present a Swedish
view of environmental monitoring using aquatic mosses, roots of aquatic plants and
organ tissues from the moose.
Health aspects of groundwater chemistry are reviewed by Edmunds & Smedley
followed by contributions on biogeochemical factors affecting groundwater quality
in Tanzania (Bowell et al.), water quality and dental fluorine in Sri Lanka
(Dissanayake), and the geochemistry of aluminium and its potential toxicity in
Uganda (Smith et al.). The environmental behaviour of arsenic is reviewed by
Thornton, while Smedley et al. consider the health implications of this element in
groundwater in a gold-mining area in Ghana. The population theme is continued
with a consideration of the impacts of mining and smelting on the Polish
environment (Helios Rybicka) and on the use of lake sediments to assess mining and
urban contamination in Papua New Guinea (Nicholson).
Iodine with its long recognized link to health is the subject of three papers,
beginning with a consideration of its geochemistry (Fuge). Papers on the aetiology
of endemic goitre in Sri Lanka (Dissanayake & Chandrajith) and on the
epidemiology of iodine deficiency disorders (Stewart & Pharoah) consider the role
of iodine and other factors in these diseases.
The role of trace elements in preventing aflatoxin induced cell damage and disease
and the potential influence of geographical variations in trace element levels on
disease patterns is discussed by Nair et al. Nicholson et al. consider the negative
environmental impacts of acidic volcanic gas emissions in Costa Rica on crops,
buildings and the health of domestic livestock and people. The penultimate paper
demonstrates how a geostatistical method (kriging) can be used to investigate the
links between the geographical distribution of disease and environmental factors
(Oliver), while the final paper is a review of geochemical factors which may influence
the distribution of Podoconiosis, or non-filarial elephantiasis, in tropical Africa
(Harvey et al.).
The editors are particularly grateful to JAGID, SEGH, the British Council (Kenya) and the Overseas
Development Administration who provided support which facilitated the attendance of some of the
participants from developing countries. We wish to express our thanks to the authors for their patience
and collaboration and to the many reviewers whose suggestions and comments helped to ensure that the
papers published here maintain the consistently high standards of Geological Society Special
Publications. The considerable efforts of the production editor, David Ogden, and other staff at the
Geological Society Publishing House, Bath, are much appreciated.
Don Appleton
Ron Fuge
Joe McCall
March 1996
Geochemical aspects of the aetiology of trace element related diseases
C. F. MILLS
Rowett Research Institute, Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB2 9SB, UK
Abstract: Deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in the supply of inorganic elements from
dietary sources can have an important influence on animal and human health and
susceptibility to disease. Many such situations arise from anomalies in the inorganic element
composition of food chains. These, in turn, are frequently attributable to the composition of
the geochemical environment as modified by the influence of soil composition and botanical
or cultural variables upon the inorganic composition of the diet.
Appreciation of the epidemiological importance of such factors in the aetiology of
nutritional diseases can contribute, very significantly, to their detection and effective control.
Although the agricultural relevance of geochemical data is firmly established and widely
appreciated, investigation of its value in the context of anticipation and control of major
human nutritional diseases in the third world has yet to be undertaken adequately.
Until the middle of the 19th century, convictions excessive or deficient element supply. This, and
that geographically related features of the the frequency with which antagonistic interac-
natural environment were associated with local tions arising from inorganic element imbalances
differences in susceptibility to ill health of are involved in the aetiology of disorders
human communities and their livestock were attributable to deficiencies or toxicities (Mills
based, almost entirely, upon anecdote. Never- 1995) illustrate why multi-element geochemical
theless, many formed the basis of community survey data can provide information invaluable
legislation for land use, animal management or to the nutritional epidemiologist (Aggett & Mills
cultural practices, and are now supported by 1996). This brief contribution will endeavour to
firm evidence derived from our growing under- illustrate the potential of geochemical studies in
standing of the significance of inorganic ele- this context, while also emphasizing the need for
ments for human and animal health. The consideration of those multi-disciplinary aspects
traditional restriction of common grazing rights that describe the influence of variables modify-
to maintain animal health on the 'machair' lands ing relationships between the chemical composi-
of the Outer Hebrides is one such example; the tion of the environment and its influence on
distribution of communities issuing such legis- susceptibility to nutritional disease.
lation closely reflects the distribution of cobalt
deficient soils. Many such established relation- The influence of geochemical and soil
ships reflect, directly or indirectly, anomalies in compositional variables
the geochemical environment that influence the
flow of inorganic elements into and through the Experience with nutritional disorders in domes-
food chain of human subjects and the animals ticated animals points to many situations in
and crops upon which they depend. which soil geochemical data can contribute to
Recent developments in geochemical survey the identification of problems of health or
techniques are providing an increasing volume productivity related to trace element supply.
of data which can make a significant contribu- Areas with high intrinsic risks of deficiencies of
tion to understanding the significance and likely copper, selenium, cobalt, iodine and of toxicities
causes of those inorganic element-related dis- of fluorine, lead and selenium have thus been
eases which are attributable either to deficiencies identified (SAC/SARI 1982; Mills 1984). Such
or excesses of inorganic elements in diets or investigations have also produced evidence that
drinking water. The growth of information on changes in soil and crop management can
this topic is particularly welcome (Aggett et al. markedly modify trace element uptake by food
1990). Thus the detection and control of such crops and thus change trace element disease
diseases is often complicated by the fact that patterns in livestock. High soil pH, whether
signs of a general malaise rather than the arising from calcareous soil parent materials or
appearance of diagnostically specific signs are induced by liming, restricts the supply of
frequently the most typical manifestations of available zinc, iron and cobalt but can promote
From Appleton, J. D., Fuge, R. & McCall, G. J. H. (eds), 1996, Environmental Geochemistry and Health
Geological Society Special Publication No. 113, pp. 1-5