Medical Geochemistry (eBook)

This book includes a collection of chapters illustrating the application of geochemical methods to investigate the interactions between geological materials and fluids with humans. Examples include the incorporation and human health effects of inhaling lithogenic materials, the reactivity of biological fluids with geological materials, and the impact on nascent biomineral formation. Biomineralization is investigated in terms of mineralogy, morphology, bone chemistry, and pathological significance with a focus on the health impacts of 'foreign' geological/environmental trace element incorporation. One of the contribution is devoted to particulate matter, the presence of metals and metalloids in the environment, and the possibility of using human hair as a biomarker between environmental/geological exposure and human bioincorporation. Other chapters focus on the last advances on the analytical methods and instrumentational approaches to investigating the chemistry of biological fluids and tissues.

Dr. Paolo Censi is an Associate Professor at the University of Palermo, Italy, where he is specialized in Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen isotope geochemistry of various rocks and in environmental investigations on meteoric water systems via isotopic and trace element studies.
Dr. Thomas Darrah is an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA. He is specialized in the impact of metals in human bodies, like for example the metallomic impacts of metals in bone.
Prof. Yigal Erel is working at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. He is specialist of the influence of metals in the environment.

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This book includes a collection of chapters illustrating the application of geochemical methods to investigate the interactions between geological materials and fluids with humans. Examples include the incorporation and human health effects of inhaling lithogenic materials, the reactivity of biological fluids with geological materials, and the impact on nascent biomineral formation. Biomineralization is investigated in terms of mineralogy, morphology, bone chemistry, and pathological significance with a focus on the health impacts of "e;foreign"e; geological/environmental trace element incorporation. One of the contribution is devoted to particulate matter, the presence of metals and metalloids in the environment, and the possibility of using human hair as a biomarker between environmental/geological exposure and human bioincorporation. Other chapters focus on the last advances on the analytical methods and instrumentational approaches to investigating the chemistry of biological fluids and tissues.