Soil ingestion

{
  "id": "MLC-T-ENV-025995",
  "term": "Soil ingestion",
  "field": "Environment",
  "definition": "The intentional or unintentional consumption of soil, resulting from various behaviors including, but not limited to, mouthing, contacting dirty hands, eating dropped food, or consuming soil directly. Soil-pica is a form of soil ingestion that is characterized by the recurrent ingestion of unusually high amounts of soil (i.e., on the order of 1,000-5,000 milligrams per day or more). Geophagy is also a form of soil ingestion defined as the intentional ingestion of earths and is usually associated with cultural practices.",
  "subject": "Health and safety",
  "references": [
    "Exposure Factors Handbook: Glossary; EPA Glossary at http://www.epa.gov/ncea/efh/pdfs/efh-glossary.pdf"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/environment/soil-ingestion/"
}