Links Between Soil Security and the Influence of Soil on Human Health

Abstract

Soil is important to human health because of (1) food availability and quality, (2) human contact with various chemicals in soil, (3) human contact with soil organisms, and (4) disposal of wastes. The five dimensions of soil security each have ties to soils and their influence on human health. Capability is related to the ability of soils to produce adequate and high-quality food and filter waste products to provide a clean environment, particularly clean, safe water supplies. Condition influences the nutritional quality of agricultural products produced in a given soil. Capital recognizes that there is value to the services soil provides in promoting human health, costs when soil constituents are detrimental to human health, and significant value in products such as medications that come from soil. Connectivity recognizes that societal interactions with and perspectives of soil influence the value we place on soil and the management strategies we use; this in turn influences human health through capability. Connectivity also recognizes that loss of land as a public good may negatively influence human health. Codification has typically focused on soil and water conservation rather than directly on human health. However, conservation policies have led to improvements in water quality and increased soil health, leading to the production of higher-quality agricultural products in those soils. Therefore, there are significant opportunities to advance soils and human health studies and our understanding of these relationships under the soil security concept.