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In search of trace elements in the human body
Unscientific use of land for industry and habitation has affected human, animal health. Rocks and minerals also release trace elements into the soil, water
02/06/2005 - THE GROWTH and well being of man and animal are linked to intake of certain essential trace elements. The landscape disturbance may result in deficiency or excess of certain essential elements and such deficiencies or excesses may pose certain health hazards.
Unscientific use of land for growth of industry, mining and habitation has not only robbed us of our balanced environment but also has told heavily on human and animal health.
Filling of bad and wetlands by garbage containing toxic elements and excessive use of chemical pesticides for cultivation cause poisoning of surface as well as ground water, which are being tapped indiscriminately for providing drinking water.
Toxic metals
Certain trace elements including toxic metals are essentially being taken into the body as we eat, drink and breathe. World Health Organisation (WHO) reports recently that in developing countries more than 800 million people are suffering from cretinism, a severe form of mental retardation, and goitre from deficiency of iodine while 350 million people have less iron in body.
However, degraded nature has not spared the people of developed countries also but their awareness and action have restricted the number of affected persons.
Recent studies spell that cancer and heart disease are related to selenium deficiency. It causes liver necrosis in animals in Hawaii as also endemic osteorath-ropathy — a necrosis of cartilage and dystrophy of skeletal muscles, and cardiomiopathy in Eastern Siberia and China.
Zinc deficiency causes loss of fertility, delayed healing, disorder of bones, joints, skin and lung cancer. Manganese deficiency in soil attributes to increased incidence of cancer. Neutropenia and acrodymia result from abnormalities of copper deficiency. Deficiency of lithium causes mental disorders and night blindness. Less magnesium may result in cardiovascular diseases. Not only deficiency of elements, excess intake of certain elements causes ailments. Alumina leads to Alzheimer's disease, lead to kidney failure, low I.Q., arsenic to keratosis, gangrene, skin cancer, melanosis and leucomelanosis problems.
Excess causes problems
Like deficiency of selenium, excess of it creates severe problems leading to cancer, blindstaggers. Excess of copper, cadmium, lead, uranium, thallium, mercury, chromium and tin results in renal failure problems. Kidney stone generates from excess calcium in water and kidney failure from mercury. Dust in certain mining localities creates health hazards on people as they inhale mineral dust and diseases like anthracosis, asbestosis, silicosis, siderosis attack healthy people globally. From where do such trace elements come?
Apart from the anthropogenic interference, the rocks and minerals are the main source releasing trace elements to the soil and ground water when they undergo chemical and biochemical weathering.
They go into the human and animal body when we eat, drink and breathe. In China, some sections of coal contain arsenic up to 35,000 parts per million and high concentration of fluorine. Chilli peppers and other food articles when dried over such coals, get contaminated.
Dusts contain asbestos, mainly in mining and industrial areas, soil fungus, spores and toxins and they also go into our system causing serious threat to health.
Sedimentary rocks of the Ganges and Brahmaputra delta in West Bengal and Bangladesh contain mostly iron, sulphur and some trace elements including arsenic.
Parts of Bijapur district of Bihar are also affected. The arsenic bearing rocks lie in the intermediate layer of ground water.
Microbes can leech the element from the rock and contaminate the ground water.
Heavy metals found in high concentration in the ground water of Belur Industrial area, Karnataka and concentration of certain toxic elements in the ground water close to the pulp and paper industries in Uttaranchal are some examples of pollution due to industry.
However, high concentration of fluoride in ground water in many pockets of Karnataka like Kolar, Bellary, Shimoga, Devangere, Chitradurga comes from ferromagnesian minerals like pyroxene, hornblende, biotite and apatite while in Rajasthan, sepiolite may be a sink of fluoride replacing the hydroxy ions in the aluminium hydroxy silicates.
Fluoride is also reported in ground water from 17 states in India affecting 25 million people. The human body is a biogeochemical indicator.
Whatever we take into our system, a part mixes with blood, bone and skeletal parts and others come out in the forms of urine, stools.
Micro-probe analyses
Micro-probe analyses for studying trace elements in bones, tooth, blood, urine and stools have become a regular practice of examination in developed countries for clinical diagnosis and treatment for various health problems.
The role of earth scientists is to mark out the area and probable sources of such trace elements that affect most of the living world and take preventive measures.
Amitava Banerjee
Geological Survey of India
Chennai
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