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Medical geology in India

Article  in  Journal of the Geological Society of India · December 2006

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Mohammad Erfan Ali Mondal

Aligarh Muslim University
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 CORRESPONDENCE
MEDICAL GEOLOGY IN INDIA
While the term “Medical Geology” or the mere
juxtaposition of the two words ‘Medical’ and ‘Geology’ may
be relatively new, the spirit of this discipline was there
thousands of years ago as is evidenced from the
observations of Hippocrates and Aristotle regarding the
relationship between environmental factors and human
health. Ancient India had a fairly good knowledge of
curative as well as deleterious properties of minerals. But
the field of medical geology, as a specialization, has
emerged on a solid footing only recently with many research
articles, books (Skinner and Berger, 2003; Selinus, 2005),
symposia and workshops exclusively devoted to this
discipline. Understanding fully the importance of the
subject, Commission on Geological Sciences of
Environmental Planning (COGEOENVIRONMENT) decided
to establish an international working group on medical
geology with a view to increase awareness of the issues of
medical geology in 1996. Later UNESCO launched a five-
year International Geological Correlation Programme on
Medical Geology as project IGCP-454.
The subject matter of medical geology encompasses
multi-disciplinary approaches to understand the effects of
geological materials (rock, soil, sediment, water, dust, ash,
gaseous emissions) and processes (both geologic and
anthropogenic) on the ecosystem, and ultimately on human
health, particularly with an emphasis on effects of exposure
to, or deficiency of, trace elements and minerals on health.
Every time we breathe, drink and eat, some amount of mineral
matters and trace elements move from environment into our
body. While most of the trace elements are beneficial in
appropriate concentration, deficiency or excess of these can
have serious consequences.
In international scenario, “Medical Geology” has
overcome the initial “identity crisis” and has emerged as a
speciality with a broad consensus among the geologists
about the importance of this new discipline. Many earth
science departments have already started courses on
References
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA (2004) Special Publication No.83,
418p
RADHAKRISHNA, B.P. (2005) Medical Geology. Jour. Geol. Soc. India,
v.66, pp.395-400.
RAO, C.R.M. (2003) Medical Geology - an emerging field: a review.
Jour. Appl. Geoch., v.5,pp.119-131.
JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.68, DEC. 2006
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medical geology. The message of the subject, however, has
not well percolated down to the medical professionals so
far. It becomes difficult for them to perceive geology-related
health problems. It may require some more time to fill
the fissures of this newly born discipline. To accelerate
this process, it is of utmost importance that specially
designed course contents of medical geology be included
in the curricula of the medical and dental professionals.
In the research front, much value and importance is to be
placed on collaboration with earth scientists on medico-
geological projects.
In India, things have just started with some seriousness.
Geological Survey of India (GSI) has been identified as a
nodal agency by IUGS for studies on medical geology. GSI
has already broken the ice by successfully organizing a
national workshop on Medical Geology in 2004 and
publishing the proceeding volume (GSI, 2004). Although
there has been some awareness regarding the importance
of the subject (Radhakrishna, 2005; Rao, 2003; Selvaraj,
2000), a lot remains to be done. There is an urgent need to
aggressively propagate the subject. It is desirable that all
earth sciences departments include medical geology in their
course curricula, and at the same time convince the medical
professional about the importance of geology-related health
hazards. Funding agencies including DST should encourage
and come forward in a big way to support interdisciplinary
research projects on medical geology. One of the areas which
need immediate attention is the study of trace elements in
water, soil, sediment, rock, air, food and animal tissues, and
to understand their long-term effect on health. It is high
time we rise to occasion and realize that we have miles to go
before we feel good.
Department of Geology M.E.A. MONDAL
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh – 202 002
Email: emondal2002@yahoo.co.in
SELINUS, O. (2005) Essentials of Medical Geology. Academic Press,
1024p.
SELVARAJ, K. (2000) Importance of environmental science: medical
geology. Curr. Sci., v.79, pp.8-9.
SKINNER, H.C.W. and BERGER, A.R. (2003) Geology and Health,
Oxford University Press, 192p.