Abrahams P W
Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK.
Sci Total Environ. 2002 May 27;291(1-3):1-32. doi: 10.1016/s0048-9697(01)01102-0.
This paper reviews how the health of humans is affected by the world's soils, an association that to date has been under appreciated and under reported. Soils significantly influence a variety of functions (e.g. as a plant growth medium; its importance on the cycling of water; as a foundation for buildings) that sustains the human population. Through ingestion (either deliberate or involuntary), inhalation and dermal absorption, the mineral, chemical and biological components of soils can either be directly beneficial or detrimental to human health. Specific examples include: geohelminth infection and the supply of mineral nutrients and potentially harmful elements (PHEs) via soil ingestion; cancers caused by the inhalation of fibrous minerals or Rn gas derived from the radioactive decay of U and Th in soil minerals; and tetanus, hookworm disease and podoconiosis caused by skin contact and dermal absorption of appropriate soil constituents. Human health can also be influenced in more indirect ways as soils interact with the atmosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere. Examples include: the volatilisation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from soils and their subsequent global redistribution that has health implications to the Aboriginal people of the Arctic; the frequent detrimental chemical and biological quality of drinking and recreational waters that are influenced by processes of soil erosion, surface runoff, interflow and leaching; and the transfer of mineral nutrients and PHEs from soils into the plants and animals that constitute the human food chain. The scale and magnitude of soil/health interactions are variable, but at times a considerable number of people can be affected as demonstrated by the extent of hookworm infection or the number of people at risk because they live in an I-deficient environment. Nevertheless, it can often be difficult to establish definite links between soils and human health. This, together with the emergence of new risks, knowledge, or discoveries, means that there is considerable scope for research in the future. Such investigations should involve a multidisciplinary approach that both acquires knowledge and ensures its dissemination to people in an understandable way. This requires an infrastructure and finance that governments need to be responsive to.
本文回顾了世界土壤如何影响人类健康，这种关联迄今为止一直未得到充分重视和报道。土壤对维持人类生存的多种功能（例如作为植物生长介质；其在水循环中的重要性；作为建筑物的基础）有着重大影响。通过摄入（有意或无意）、吸入和皮肤吸收，土壤中的矿物质、化学和生物成分可能对人类健康直接有益或有害。具体例子包括：通过摄入土壤感染土源性蠕虫以及获取矿物质营养和潜在有害元素；吸入土壤矿物质中铀和钍放射性衰变产生的纤维状矿物质或氡气导致癌症；皮肤接触并吸收适当的土壤成分引发破伤风、钩虫病和足分支菌病。土壤与大气、生物圈和水圈相互作用时，还会以更间接的方式影响人类健康。例如：土壤中持久性有机污染物（POPs）的挥发及其随后的全球重新分布对北极原住民的健康产生影响；受土壤侵蚀、地表径流、壤中流和淋溶过程影响，饮用水和娱乐用水的化学和生物学质量常常受到不利影响；矿物质营养和潜在有害元素从土壤转移到构成人类食物链的动植物中。土壤与健康相互作用的规模和程度各不相同，但有时会有相当多的人受到影响，如钩虫感染的程度或因生活在碘缺乏环境中而面临风险的人数所示。然而，通常很难确定土壤与人类健康之间的确切联系。这一点，再加上新风险、知识或发现的出现，意味着未来有很大的研究空间。此类调查应采用多学科方法，既要获取知识，又要确保以易懂的方式向人们传播知识。这需要政府做出响应的基础设施和资金支持。
