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An Overview of Medical Geology Issues in Australia and Oceania

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Medical Geology

Part of the book series: International Year of Planet Earth ((IYPE))

Abstract

Australia and Oceania together make up some of the oldest and youngest geologic formations on the planet, ranging from rocks dating back to 4,400 million years to newly formed volcanic isles in the Pacific. The health issues related to these diverse geological materials range from those derived from exposure to metals and minerals to volcanic emissions including gas and ash, bushfires, dust storms, as well as health threats posed by natural hazards. With the position of a large part of this region within the Ring of Fire, many Australian and Oceanian lives are impacted upon by the forces related to tectonic movement, including earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. There are also a number of medical geology issues related to the soil in this area. These include geophagy, melioidosis – an infectious disease caused by soil bacteria, and the impacts from ecosystem transformations caused by the disturbance of acid sulfate soils. An example of this is the increase of vector-borne mosquitoes carrying the Ross River virus with the formation of acidic ponds through acid sulfate soil oxidation. The potential adverse health outcomes from disturbing some parts of the land have long been acknowledged by traditional Aboriginal landowners of Australia, who refer to an area particularly rich in uranium and other metals as Sickness Country.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Population Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia

    Karin Ljung, Annemarie de Vos & Angus Cook

  2. Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Karin Ljung

  3. School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Philip Weinstein

Authors
  1. Karin Ljung
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  2. Annemarie de Vos
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  3. Angus Cook
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  4. Philip Weinstein
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karin Ljung .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Survey of Sweden, Uppsala, Sweden

    Olle Selinus

  2. Dept. Geosciences, Center for Lithospheric Studies, University of Texas, Dallas, N. Floyd Road 2601, Richardson, 75083, USA

    Robert B. Finkelman

  3. Dept. Environmental & Toxicologic, Pathology, Armed Forces Inst. Pathology (AFIP), 16 St. NW., 6825, Washington, 20306, USA

    Jose A. Centeno

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Ljung, K., de Vos, A., Cook, A., Weinstein, P. (2010). An Overview of Medical Geology Issues in Australia and Oceania. In: Selinus, O., Finkelman, R., Centeno, J. (eds) Medical Geology. International Year of Planet Earth. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3430-4_5

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