Clays as Therapeutic Agents: A Focus on Mineralogy, Geochemistry and Their Healing Properties
A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Clays and Engineered Mineral Materials".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 133
Special Issue Editor
Interests: medical geology; clays and natural waters; environmental geochemistry; microplastics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Clays and clay-based materials have been used since ancient times owing to their therapeutical, nutritional, and cosmetic properties, with their use probably dating back even before documented history. These natural materials were and are still used naturally both by humans and animals. Today, due to the misuse of common antibiotics in recent years, new inhibitory agents are needed, such as clays and related materials that can act as a barrier to bacteria. Further scientific research is therefore needed on the antibacterial properties of clays, specifically on their mineralogical and geochemical composition, which is essential for their characterization. Maturation processes, utilizing natural waters from different origins, are important for improving the healing properties of these materials. Furthermore, obtaining knowledge of the composition and properties of natural and artificial peloids is essential for their use via ingestion or dermal application. In addition, the influence of microplastics and other anthropogenic contributions to clay and water properties is also considered within the scope of this Special Issue.
This Special Issue aims to contribute to the dissemination of knowledge on the improvement and application of clays for healing purposes, both in humans and animals.
Dr. Carla Candeias
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- clays
- natural waters
- maturation
- peloids
- pelotherapy, thalassotherapy, fangotherapy
- geophagy
- clays geochemical composition
- clays mineralogy
- clays technical properties
- clays healing properties
- human health
