Soils and human health.

418 I have long been interested in the link between soils and human health. Brevik and Burgess’s Soils and Human Health is one of the few books dedicated to the topic. Soils are often ignored as an important direct causative link to human health. There are also many indirect links that are not readily recognized. Dr. Brevik and Dr. Burgess, the editors of this book, are faculty members at Dickinson State University in North Dakota. Brevik is a professor of geology and soils and Burgess is a professor of biology. Although human health is viewed from a soil-focused perspective, it is actually a very interdisciplinary topic. These two editors provide an ideal mix of interests and expertise to explore this topic. They have recruited an outstanding group of authors, mostly from the United States, with backgrounds in soil science, anthropology, human nutrition, sociology, geology, horticulture and environmental science. The book that resulted from their efforts is an introductory text that is easily readable. It is written with the reader in mind who wants to be introduced to and explore the topic of how soils and human health intersect. Soils and Human Health is divided into four major sections: (i) topic overview, (ii) human health as it relates to materials found in soils, (iii) human use of and interactions with soil, and (iv) food security and climate change. The first section contains two chapters, the first being a very basic introduction to soil science, something similar to what is taught in most introductory soils courses. This is included for readers from other disciplines who are not familiar with soils. The following chapter provides an overview of soils and human health, and I found that it introduces very well many of the topics that are then written about in more detail later. The second section (Chapters 3–7) is very useful in linking specific materials found in soil with human health. These materials include heavy metals, organic pollutants, resident soilSoils and Human Health