Conference Support for Karst, Groundwater Contamination & Public Health: Moving Beyond Case Studies

发育在碳酸盐岩、石灰岩和白云岩中的岩溶地貌在世界各地很常见，岩溶含水层提供了世界约25%的饮用水。喀斯特地区特有的洞穴、泉水和天坑特征使喀斯特含水层极易受到污染。对公共健康的影响源于普遍存在的喀斯特地形、很容易将污染物引入地下，以及普遍使用喀斯特含水层来提供饮用水。拟议中的会议将汇集80-100名专门研究岩溶、地下水污染和公共卫生的科学家和监管机构。主要目标是将现有的和发展中的专家聚集在一起，阐明当前关于岩溶和地下水污染的知识，了解公共卫生结果，并将不同学科的观点综合成一个新的系统框架，供未来研究。虽然人们对岩溶含水层的物理水文地质和污染物对人类健康的影响分别有很多了解，但在污染物的运移和受污染的岩溶水对人类健康的直接影响方面，知识差距很大。这将是第一次召开会议，明确强调相互探索这两个科学界的研究需求。这次会议将使年轻和代表性不足的科学研究人员接触到跨学科研究领域，这些领域为未来提供了有用的知识。会议的有益成果还将包括将来自多个部门的科学知识转化为对公共卫生和环境监管机构有用的信息。

Karst terrains, which develop in carbonate rocks, limestone and dolomite, are common throughout the world and karst aquifers provide approximately 25% of world's drinking water. The characteristic cave, spring, and sinkhole features in karst terrains make karst aquifers highly vulnerable to contamination. Public health impacts stem from the ubiquity of karst terrains, the ease of introducing contaminants into the subsurface, and the pervasive use of karst aquifers to provide drinking water. The proposed conference will bring together 80-100 scientists and regulators specializing in karst, groundwater contamination, and public health. The main goals are to bring together established and developing experts to elucidate current knowledge of karst and groundwater contamination, understand public health outcomes, and synthesize perspectives of the diverse disciplines into a new systematic framework for future research. While much is known separately about the physical hydrogeology of karst aquifers and the impact of contaminants on human health, there are significant knowledge gaps about contaminant transport and the direct human health consequences of contaminated karst waters. This will be the first meeting to be convened with the express focus of mutual exploration of research needs of these two scientific communities. The conference will expose young and under-represented scientific investigators to interdisciplinary study areas that offer great promise of useful knowledge for the future. Useful outcomes of the meeting will also include the translation of scientific knowledge from multiple sectors into information useful to public health and environmental regulators.