KGE/LEGO Medical Geology

Lecturer: Petr Sulovský
Lecture: 2 hours/week
Credits: 3
Summer semester
Form of course completion: exam

Environmental biology: natural background, anthropogenic sources of environment contamination, uptake of elements from chemical and biological point of view. Biological functions of elements, cycles of nutritionally important and trace elements. Geological impacts on nutrition. Deficiencies and toxicities of elements. Pathways and exposures of element uptake. Volcanic emissions and health; influence of raw materials mining on human health, the asbestos problem. The influence of selected elements on health: radon, arsenic, fluorine, iodine, lead, beryllium, selenium, Water hardness and health effects. Biavailability of trace and major elements of soils, distribution in plant organs. Geophagy. Natural and antropogenic dusts in aerial aerosol and health effects. Soil pathogens. Animals and medical geology. Environmental toxicology and pathology. Environmental medicíne. Speciation of elements – methods of its determination and te impact on public health on the example of mercury and lead. Geographical information systems – tool for epidemiological studies. Minerals in human body – concrements, composition of teeth and bones, the influence of air and potable water quality. Biominerals for health – implants, dental plates, bone implants, nanomedicals.