Environmental Factors Involved in Studying the Relationship Between Soil Elements and Disease

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Abstract
A common study method samples soils, or plants, or drinking water, from the gardens of disease subjects, and from control subjects, and compares the results of chemical analyses of the samples. A situation in Iceland is described where 19 farms with histories of stomach cancer, and 38 control farms, in 2 districts were studied. Samples of plants and drinking water were analysed spectrographically for 23 elements; no significant differences were found. It was estimated that 70% by weight of the food eaten on the farms was derived from the home soil. Analyses of water represented a good indication of the relative amounts of elements being consumed from that source; pasture grass analyses, while better than soil, are poor indicators because elements are later modified by animal conversion to meat and milk, and by cooking and eating habits. Analyses should be made at a point in the food chain closer to man, preferably the diet itself.