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Endemic diseases of geochemical origin and methodological approaches toward their prevention and elimination

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Abstract

A new approach to the study of diseases of geochemical origin is presented, which is based on the hypothesis that all such geochemical endemias were not possible in conditions of virgin biosphere and are products of human civilization. Two genetically different types of endemic diseases of geochemical origin are distinguished, each having a specifically spatial structure: (1) diseases of natural origin due to natural element deficiency or excess in the particular zones or areas; (2) diseases of anthropogenic origin related to chemical transformation of the environment in the course of agricultural or industrial production. Anthropogenically provoked diseases of geochemical nature always occur in conditions of already formed natural geochemical heterogeneity. As each type of the endemic disease has a peculiar structure of spatial distribution, the present health risk can be mapped as a genetically two-layer structure, characterizing deviation of the existing geochemical conditions from those ideal for specific species. Parameters of geochemical conditions, which are ideal for humans and domesticated species, should be sought within the areas with undisturbed soil cover, where these species have been formed in their present form. The hypothesis is tested on example of thyroid diseases observed in iodine-deficient areas affected by a nuclear accident with 131I fallout. The developed approach is believed to serve as a practical tool for monitoring and prevention of endemic diseases of geochemical origin.

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Acknowledgements

We thank our colleagues from the Vernadsky Institute and Bryansk Clinical and Diagnostic Center: scientific researchers Victor Berezkin and Lyudmila Kalmykova for their participation in the field and laboratory work; medical DB handler Irina Kurnosova and medical adviser Galina Romanova for consultancy and medical data used for verification of the risk maps; and health workers of the Center: Victoria Gotsakova, Olga Gapeeva and Elena Sutugina who participated in the field work in Bryansk region in 2007–2012. Thanks are due to Alexander Kuvylin, Elena Chesalova and Vladimir Baranchukov who constructed maps for the Bryansk and Gomel area in different periods of the work. Experimental part of the work has been partly supported by RFBR Grants 07-05-00812 and 16-55-00205.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geochemical Department, Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences (GEOKHI RAS), Moscow, Russian Federation

    Elena Korobova

  2. Unitary Enterprise “Geoinformation Systems”, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus

    Sergey Romanov

  3. Bryank Clinical and Diagnostic Center, Bryansk, Russian Federation

    Alexander Silenok

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  1. Elena Korobova
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Correspondence to Elena Korobova.

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Korobova, E., Romanov, S. & Silenok, A. Endemic diseases of geochemical origin and methodological approaches toward their prevention and elimination. Environ Geochem Health 42, 2595–2608 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-019-00442-z

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