Ljung Karin, Maley Fiona, Cook Angus, Weinstein Philip
School of Population Health M431, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia.
Environ Int. 2009 Nov;35(8):1234-42. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2009.07.002. Epub 2009 Aug 3.
Acid sulfate soils have been described as the "nastiest soils on earth" because of their strong acidity, increased mobility of potentially toxic elements and limited bioavailability of nutrients. They only cover a small area of the world's total problem soils, but often have significant adverse effects on agriculture, aquaculture and the environment on a local scale. Their location often coincides with high population density areas along the coasts of many developing countries. As a result, their negative impacts on ecosystems can have serious implications to those least equipped for coping with the low crop yields and reduced water quality that can result from acid sulfate soil disturbance. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment called on by the United Nations in 2000 emphasised the importance of ecosystems for human health and well-being. These include the service they provide as sources of food and water, through the control of pollution and disease, as well as for the cultural services ecosystems provide. While the problems related to agriculture, aquaculture and the environment have been the focus of many acid sulfate soil management efforts, the connection to human health has largely been ignored. This paper presents the potential health issues of acid sulfate soils, in relation to the ecosystem services identified in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. It is recognised that significant implications on food security and livelihood can result, as well as on community cohesiveness and the spread of vector-borne disease. However, the connection between these outcomes and acid sulfate soils is often not obvious and it is therefore argued that the impact of such soils on human well-being needs to be recognised in order to raise awareness among the public and decision makers, to in turn facilitate proper management and avoid potential human ill-health.
酸性硫酸盐土壤因其强酸性、潜在有毒元素的迁移性增加以及养分的生物有效性有限，而被描述为“地球上最恶劣的土壤”。它们仅占全球问题土壤总面积的一小部分，但在局部范围内常常对农业、水产养殖和环境产生重大不利影响。它们的分布地点往往与许多发展中国家沿海的高人口密度地区重合。因此，它们对生态系统的负面影响可能会给那些应对因酸性硫酸盐土壤扰动而导致的作物低产和水质下降能力最差的地区带来严重影响。2000年联合国呼吁开展的千年生态系统评估强调了生态系统对人类健康和福祉的重要性。这些重要性包括生态系统作为食物和水源的提供者、通过控制污染和疾病所提供的服务，以及生态系统所提供的文化服务。虽然与农业、水产养殖和环境相关的问题一直是许多酸性硫酸盐土壤管理工作的重点，但与人类健康的联系在很大程度上被忽视了。本文介绍了酸性硫酸盐土壤与千年生态系统评估中确定的生态系统服务相关的潜在健康问题。人们认识到，这可能会对粮食安全和生计以及社区凝聚力和病媒传播疾病的传播产生重大影响。然而，这些结果与酸性硫酸盐土壤之间的联系往往并不明显，因此有人认为，需要认识到这类土壤对人类福祉的影响，以便提高公众和决策者的认识，进而促进妥善管理并避免潜在的人类健康问题。
