Arsenic contamination through natural (geogenic) and anthropogenic sources is a serious threat to humans all over the world. Natural sources of arsenic exposure may include contaminated groundwater, volcanic sediments, coal, and springs sourced by thermal waters. The number of people affected by arsenic is staggering, the problems life threatening, the scope global, and the potential for medical geology interventions -enormous. Medical geology has the objectives of identifying harmful geologic agents, determining exposures related to deteriorating health conditions, and developing sound principles, strategies, programs and approaches to eliminate or minimize health risks, from the naturally occurring physical and chemical agents in the environment [Selinus et al. (2005)]. In this paper, we explore the global health impacts from chronic arsenic exposure and provide examples where geogenic (natural) exposures to arsenic have impacted the health of millions of people worldwide.
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