Calcium and Magnesium in Groundwater Occurrence and Significance for Human Health

Calcium and magnesium are abundant in groundwater, but the role of groundwater as the essential source of these important nutrients is very often neglected. Hydrogeochemical studies have focused mainly on the distribution and behaviour of constituents that cause deterioration of water quality, such as: nitrate, nitrite or iron and manganese. Therefore, most recent books and papers concentrate mainly on these constituents and only a small number of papers describe the results of groundwater studies on other important water components such as calcium or magnesium. Calcium and magnesium are of great importance to human wellbeing and inadequate intake of either nutrient can impair health. The main objective of this book is to present a selection of studies on calcium and magnesium in groundwater and to highlight their importance for human health. The chapters in this book are written by hydrogeologists and hydrochemists as well as medical doctors and include: methods of investigation of calcium and magnesium in groundwaters, distribution and behaviour of calcium and magnesium in different aquifers, calcium and magnesium in bottled mineral and spring waters, and the significance of calcium and magnesium in waters for human health.

PrefaceForewordAbout the editorPART 1. Origin and occurrence of calcium and magnesium in groundwaters1 Ca and Mg in loess pore moistureA. Afelt2 The solubility of different carbonate rocks in natural and anthropogenically influenced watersP. Miessner and T.R. Rüde3 Hydrogeochemical distribution of Ca and Mg in groundwater in SerbiaP. Papic, J. Milosavljevic, M. Cukand R. Petrovic4 Study of Ca and Mg distribution within the aeration and saturation zones of the Upper Jurassic limestone massif of the southern part of the Cracow-Czestochowa Upland (Poland)J. Rózkowskiand K. Rózkowski5 Groundwater calcium and magnesium content in various lithological types of aquifers in SloveniaK. Mezgaand J. Urbanc6 Ca and Mg in fractured and karstic aquifers of SloveniaT. Verbovšekand T. Kanduc7 Distribution of Ca and Mg in groundwater flow systems in carbonate aquifers in Southern Latium Region (Italy): Implications on drinking water qualityG. Sappa, S. Erguland F. Ferranti8 The major litho-structural units in selected areas of Northern Nigeria: Some statistics on the distribution of Ca and Mg are appendedH.U. DibalandU.A. Lar9 Effect of mine waters from coal mines of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin in the content of Ca and Mg in the catchment of the Upper Odra riverI. Plutaand A. GrmelaPART 2 Significance of calcium and magnesium in groundwater for human health10 Health and regulatory aspects of calcium and magnesium in drinking waterF. Kozisek11 Mineral water as a source of healthy mineralsT. Wojtaszek andM. Pieniak12 Mg and Ca in groundwater and the incidence of acute coronary syndrome: Application of a Bayesian spatial method in medical geologyA. Kousa, A.S. Havulinna, N. Puustinenand E. Moltchanova<

Lidia Razowska-Jaworek is hydrogeologist and hydrochemist at the Upper Silesian Branch of the Polish Geological Institute-National Research Institute in Sosnowiec, Poland. She graduated from the University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland and the University of Keele, UK.She received an award for her doctoral thesis: “Hydrogeochemical changes in the Czestochowa region caused by the flooding of the iron mines” from the International Mine Water Association in the category: Hydrochemistry. She is engaged in a wide range of hydrogeological studies including: regional hydrogeology, aquifer pollution and protection, hydrogeochemical modeling, CO2 storage in geological formations, acid mine waters and mineral waters and is also interested in medical geology. She is a regional editor of the Hydrogeological Map of Poland, author of 33 and co-author of 58 articles and co-author of 6 books and was an editor of the IAH SP volume “Nitrate in Groundwaters”.She was a chairman of the seminar “Calcium and magnesium in groundwater – distribution and significance” in Katowice in 2012, and is author of 3 and co-author of 5 articles on the importance of water chemistry and pollution for human health.