An Integrative Approach to Medical Geology and Environmental Health: Practical Applications and Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

Medical Geology is a rapidly growing field defined as the study of the relationship between the geosphere and human and animal health.  Understanding the detrimental effects that natural geochemical processes and environmental pollutants may have on the health of humans and animals has been the subject of extensive studies in medical geology and environmental health.  In many cases, diseases related to the environment can be directly linked to the presence and distribution of toxic chemical elements in the soil, air, or water, such as chronic exposure to arsenic through contaminated drinking water.  

Exposure to mineral and/or atmospheric dust has been a topic of much medical geology and environmental health studies. Toxic agents carried by dust can exert adverse effects not only in the respiratory system, but they can also exert toxic effects in other parts of the body as they are dissolved in the lung and absorbed into the bloodstream. Thus, in order to set up preventive measures for particulate matter levels to ensure public health safety, it is critical to gain knowledge about the chemical toxicology, composition and potential health effects of particulate matter and environmental dust exposure.  Geochemical information on dust sources, processes that affect the mobilization, and transport of dust, as well as toxicological information on the effects and pathways of dust particles through respiratory organs, are needed.

This Special Issue of the International Journal on Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) is aimed at bringing together leading scientists, researchers and environmentalists to share and discuss their latest research results and experiences on all aspects of Medical Geology and Environmental Health, with a particular interest in emerging innovations, research trends, and practical challenges that we are facing (such as the environmental and health impacts of climate change) at the interface of these two disciplines.  Accordingly, original manuscripts and review articles are welcome, covering, but not limited to the following areas:

• Risk assessment, Risk management and Risk Communication;
• Environmental epidemiology;
• Spatial Data Analysis – Models, Methods and Techniques;
• Biological Impact Analysis;
• Urban Medical Geology;
• Health Impacts of Atmospheric Dust;
• Health Impacts of Climate Change;
• Soil Geochemistry
• Pollutants in Drinking Water
• Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs);
• Microplastics – Impacts on Ecology and Human Health;
• Methodologies – Chemical and Biological Applications of Spectroscopy, Nanotechnologies.

On behalf of IJERPH, submissions of original research on these topics will be welcome for this Special Issue.

Dr. Jose A. Centeno
Dr. Jacques Gardon
Prof. Dr. Samuel P. Hernandez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.