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How Rocks And Minerals Can Make Us Sick Or Keep Us Healthy

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Swiss naturalist and physician Philippus Theophrastus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim - better known as Paracelsus -was among the first naturalists to study how the fumes, dust and ash found in a mine impact the health of people. Paracelsus dedicated his research "on the mountain-consumption and -sickness" to the "miners, smelters, samplers, moneyers, goldsmiths and alchemists," all people who necessarily came into contact with the "poisonous air" found inside the Earth.

According to Paracelsus, mountain-sickness was as "a lung disease, a swelling of the body, an upset stomach.” What Paracelsus described are real mining-related respiratory diseases, like pulmonary tuberculosis and lung cancer (known also as Schneeberger-Disease, named after an important mining district in Saxony, or Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis). Miners are prone to such diseases due the inhalation and accumulation in the lungs of microscopic particles of minerals.

S. Polo Hospital

Rocks and minerals can have significant impacts on our health. Some minerals are toxic (like native mercury, lead or silver), can cause cancer (like asbestos) or are radioactive (like uranium ores). It is important to note that the mere presence of a toxic mineral does not necessarily imply a health hazard. Other factors -  such as if the mineral is water soluble and so easily ingestible, or if it has such small crystals that it can be inhaled, or if it will accumulate in an organ - play a role.

The element flouride is considered essential for human health, notably for teeth. However, in excessive quantities it can be harmful. The fluoride can replace the calcium in teeth and bone, causing a fluorosis, when teeth and bone become brittle.

Flouride can be found in such minerals as Fluorite and Halite, water-soluble crystals. Much of the fluoride entering the human body comes therefore from drinking water. The hydrogeology and chemistry of the water-reservoir used in a community is therefore of special importance.

In certain areas of the Earth where volcanic and hydrothermal activities are prevalent, fluoride is present in high concentrations in groundwater and in springs. If the geological terrain consists or rocks with abundant fluoride (like volcanic rocks), the associated water will have higher concentrations of fluoride and this will have a significant impact on the health of the people who consume this water.

The chemistry of water is also believed to play a role in the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases. In areas with hard water, there appears to be a low occurrence of heart problems among the people consuming such water. Hard water is characterized by a high concentration of dissolved elements. Calcium and magnesium enter the natural aqueous system by weathering of limestone, magnesite, gypsum and other minerals. It has been suggested that the magnesium present in abundance in the hard water may well be the factor showing benefits for the heart.

Plants, herbs and fungi used effectively in folk medicine often grow on particular rocks. As the rocks containing essential trace elements, like chromium, vanadium, iodine, selenium and copper, break down and erode, they enrich the soils. Finally, the plants growing on those soils absorb the trace elements and can be harvested to produce drugs and dietary supplements.

The landslide of Köfels in Tyrol is famous for a strange geological anomaly. In 1989 it was discovered that the rate of lung diseases and cancer in the village of Umhausen, build in part on the landslide deposits, was five times higher than in the surrounding communities. The increased rate of lung cancer was caused by a high concentration of the radioactive gas radon in the underground. Radon forms by the decay of radioactive elements, like uranium, found in metamorphic rocks. The rocks of the landslide are so intensely shattered, that the formed radioactive gas can easily escape from the underground into the basement of a building.

D.Bressan

Recognizing this geological risk, authorities suggested to local residents to provide effective ventilation also in the basement, dispersing the radioactive radon gas.

Despite Paracelsus' pioneering work, medical geology (the study of how rocks and minerals impact human health) is a relatively young science. Most work was done in tropical areas, where weathering and release of certain elements from rocks is especially effective, and on water chemistry. Recent research has also shown that apparently harmless minerals can become harmful under specific conditions. Podoconiosis is a disease prevalent in tropical regions of Africa and is characterized by swelling and deformity of legs associated with enlargement of lymph nodes.

F. Ayele

The lithology of the areas where this disease is predominantly seen is of basaltic rocks which upon weathering yield reddish soils with very fine clay minerals. Clay minerals, like kaolin and quartz, are widespread worldwide in mud and dirt and are considered harmless. Some animals, like monkeys, gorillas, deer and elephants, and certain tribes are even known to eat clay, as it provides some trace elements and can be used as a self-medication against certain poisons.

However, studies showed that the fine particles as found in the intensely weathered soils of Africa can enter the human body through the bare feet of the people who live on such soils. The mineral particles enter the lymph nodes, where an interaction between the mineral and the cells of the immune system cause an inflammation and extreme swelling of the tissue.