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

在碳酸盐岩、石灰岩和白云岩中发育的岩溶地形在世界各地都很常见，岩溶含水层提供了世界上大约25%的饮用水。岩溶地区特有的洞穴、泉水和天坑特征使岩溶含水层极易受到污染。对公共卫生的影响来自于喀斯特地形的普遍存在、污染物容易进入地下以及普遍使用喀斯特含水层提供饮用水。拟议的会议将汇集80-100名科学家和监管机构专门从事岩溶，地下水污染和公共卫生。 其主要目标是汇集建立和发展中的专家，阐明岩溶和地下水污染的现有知识，了解公共卫生成果，并综合不同学科的观点，为未来的研究建立一个新的系统框架。 虽然对岩溶含水层的物理水文地质学和污染物对人类健康的影响分别了解很多，但对污染物迁移和受污染的岩溶沃茨对人类健康的直接后果却存在着巨大的知识空白。 这将是第一次以共同探讨这两个科学界的研究需求为明确重点召开的会议。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.