Book excerpt: This volume highlights important links existing between soils and human health which up to now are not fully realized by the public. Soil materials may have deleterious, beneficial or no impacts on human health; therefore, understanding the complex relationships between diverse soil materials and human health will encourage creative cooperation between soil and environmental sciences and medicine. The topics covered in this book will be of immense value to a wide range of readers, including soil scientists, medical scientists and practitioners, nursing scientists and staff, toxicologists, ecologists, agronomists, geologists, geochemists, public health professionals, planners and several others.