In 1996 invitations for membership in the newly established Working  Group were sent to about 25 scientists worldwide. Those invited represent most continents and are also a very interdisciplinary group of scientists working with geosciences, medical sciences and veterinary sciences. The response has been very positive and all the scientists invited commended the formation of the Working Group, and expressed their great interest in it.

The US Geological Survey organized a meeting for the Group in Vail, Denver in October 1997 during the Fourth International Symposium on Environmental Geochemistry. About ten members attended the Working Group meeting in Denver and several topics were discussed.

In June 1998 a workshop was arranged in Uppsala.

The meeting discussed and planned several activities:

· Future work of the group.

· Regular news letters.

· Internet home page of the group.

· Other information material.

· Publishing of an interdisciplinary book on Medical Geology for a wide audience and decision makers.

Briefly, the meeting involved the participation of about 12 working group members from USA, Canada, China, Sri Lanka, Belarus, Zambia, Great Britain, Norway, Poland and local scientists and a varying number of local doctors, veterinarians, and geoscientists. The meeting started with brief and very interesting presentations.

A newsletter for the working group and other interested people is now produced. To start with, the newsletter will be produced twice a year. Editor of the newsletter is be Dave Elliott, Canada. In January 1999 the first newsletter of the working group was distributed. The newsletter was distributed to all officers in the commission and all members of the working group. It was also published on the web site. The newsletter is planned to be published twice a year and preparations are now on its way for the second newsletter

It was decided at the workshop in Uppsala in June 1998 to publish an interdisciplinary book om medical geology covering most aspects of this subject. Principal editor will be Olle Selinus.

A book on medical geology will be published: "Introduction to Medical Geology". The audience will be junior to senior undergraduates and educated decision-makers. The main objective of the book is to emphasise the importance of geology in health and disease in humans and animals.

Main objective

To emphasise the importance of geology in health and disease in humans and animals.

The text should be laid out such that the message is forwarded already in the introduction to be followed by exciting case studies catching the attention and interest of the reader. The lay-out should be such that the reader can stop reading after the important message has been received and comprehended. Increasing complexity could then follow in various respects.

Below are the brief contents of the book. 

Introduction

Diseases

Role of essential elements

Sources and Pathways

Environment and Transport

Outlook

Appendices

The responsible Editors of each chapter of the book on Medical Geology have sent an outline of the chapters. An extended outline for the book will be produced and submitted to the Working Group The extended outline is also presented to publishers and I have had discussions with a publisher who is interested in the book.

During 1999 discussions have been undertaken with publishers.  I have an oral promise from one publisher but am waiting for the formal confirmation. When the formal confirmation arrives, the work could start and my plans are to present a draft for the publisher within a year after the formal confirmation. Before that a workshop will be carried out in Sweden for discussing this draft before presenting it to the publisher. The schedule will thus be as follows:

• Formal confirmation from the publisher (autumn 1999?)
• Work on the first draft (approximately 9 months)
• Workshop (autumn 2000)
• Submission of the first draft (the end of 2000)

The www home page at http://home.swipnet.se/medicalgeology has gradually expanded. The pages have normally been updated once or twice each month, and at a somewhat slower pace during summer. Many people who have seen the homepage have contacted the Chairman for more information. All news are published on the site. One much visited page is conferences where all international conferences on Medical geology and related topics are found.

According to the first plans a workshop was planned in 1999. This has however not been possible for several reasons. The main reason has been financing. All members of the group should be able to attend the workshop, therefore finances should be found also for all participants from e.g. Africa and Asia.

In the Workshop in Uppsala we discussed a Workshop or Conference during 1999. The main financier of this meeting is planned to be the European Commission (EU). The EU had some problems in deciding on the new fifth framework programme, but in December 1998 the official decision was taken and the framework programme was started. That means that the meeting will be carried out during year 2000 as the application is now submitted. The date is dependant on the response from the publisher as the main topic at this meeting will be the draft of the book.

Information on the working group has been published during 1999 in various journals. Following journals will be approached in the future: Episodes, Explorer and Journal of Environmental Geology, Earthwise, Newsletter of APG. Other journals will also be approached.