环境地理与人类健康研究成果与展望

中国科学院地理科学与资源研究所倡导和建立了化学地理研究机构,是我国最早从事环境科学研究的单位之一,推动了环境质量调查、环境质量评价、环境背景、环境容量和环境治理等理论和技术的建立和发展;长期进行克山病、大骨节病等地方病的调查及其环境病因与防治的研究,为上述疾病的控制做出了重大贡献;创立和发展了中国的医学地理学研究体系。2000年以后,在持续开展西部地方病地理流行规律和稀土元素生物地球化学循环研究基础上,重点开展了重金属等污染物及全球环境变化的健康风险评价研究,拓展了区域碳、氮、磷等生命元素的生物地球化学循环与温室气体排放的关系研究,强化了环境污染治理和健康保护的技术研究。实现了从化学地理到环境地理、从医学地理到健康地理的转变。未来的环境地理与人类健康研究将以地理环境的化学属性为重点,以人口健康保护为核心,探讨环境保护、社会经济发展和人类健康安全在整体上协调的机制与途径。

Overview on the research works in the field of environmental geography and human health

In the 1960s, the Institute of Geography called for chemical process research in physical geography and set up the first department on chemical geography in China. The department has participated in all earlier national programmes on environment, which has promoted the development of environmental sciences and technologies in China. The department also has led other institutes in the Chinese Academy of Sciences to conduct the studies on the geographic pathogeny and controlling of Keshan disease, Kaschin-Beck disease and other endemics, which has enhanced the initiation and development of medical geography in China. In 2000, the institute redistributed the department from chemical geography to environmental geography, as well as from medical geography to health geography. The expanding research works include the ecological and health risk assessment of pollutants such as heavy metals, the health risks of global environmental change, the biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen and their relationships with greenhouse gas emissions. Sets of technologies on site pollution treatment and health protection have been developed. Further research into environmental geography and human health will focus on the chemical property of geographic environment, so as to probe into the interactions among environment, human health and socio-economic development, for human safety and sustainable development.