Published on New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center (https://wadsworth.org)

Medical Geology

Research is focused on studying the relationship between geological factors and health problems in humans and animals, with a focus on exposure to minerals, inhalation of ambient and anthropogenic mineral dusts and volcanic emissions.

Research interests include:

  • Asbestos, and asbestos-related diseases including health effects from exposure to asbestos-containing materials (ACM), mineral dusts (MD) and volcanic ash (VA).
  • Us of advanced analytical methods for characterizing ACM, MD and VA, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM); transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and polarized light microscopy (PLM), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and/or energy dispersive (ED) X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF).
  • Metrological challenges quantifying asbestos in bulk building materials, ambient, indoor and workplace air, drinking water and settled dust. Harmonizing asbestos measurements across different laboratories using different methods.
  • Exposure to atmospheric nanoparticles and associated impact on human health

Associated Researchers