THE EMERGING ROLE OF THE EARTH AND NATURAL SCIENCES IN HUMAN HEALTH--CHALLENGES AND PROGRESS

In 1997, as part of a strategic science planning effort the USGS identified a challenge of "interpreting the links between human health and geologic processes." In the last decade, USGS made significant progress towards realizing this goal but major challenges remain. The USGS has taken substantive steps to build a partnership with the human health community that include the release of an internet site, health.usgs.gov. It has formed an internal human-health interest group, which coordinates scientists working in six topical areas: (1) toxic contaminants in air, dust, and soils, (2) chemical and pathogenic contaminants in drinking water, (3) human consumption of bioaccumulative contaminants, (4) vector borne and zoonotic diseases, (5) pathogen exposure through recreational waters, and (6) animals as sentinels of human health. The USGS has increased its representation on interagency bodies focused on human health such as the Institute of Medicine's Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Joint Working Group of the Indo-US Joint Program on Environmental and Occupational Health. USGS has implemented agreements with new partners such as the National Institute of Environmental Health Science, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the National Cancer Institute, the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration. The USGS has used postdoctoral appointments from non-traditional fields such as toxicology and virology to bridge the technical and communication gap between earth and human-health communities. In addition, the USGS commissioned the National Research Council to conduct a study to identify research priorities supportive of human health goals. This committee was comprised of an interdisciplinary group that represented the earth sciences, medicine and public health.

The earth sciences have a strong role to play in the field of human health. The greatest challenge facing earth sciences and the USGS is one of relevance as a significant information asset to the medical community. Greater dialogue, leveraging of resources and joint investigations is the key to a successful future.