Soil pica: Not a rare event

Abstract

The paper critiques a 1988 dissertation by Wong (1) of soil pica amongst Institutionalized children on the Island of Jamaica. The Wong dissertation presents the most extensive data yet of soil pica with respect to both numbers of children (six) displaying soil pica and the duration of study (4 months). Amongst children of normal mental capabilities with an average age of 3.1 years, 5 of 24 (20.8%) displayed soil pica behavior (i.e., > 1 g soil Ingested/day) on at least one occasion. In addition, 10.5% of all observations of these 24 children Involved soil Ingestion of > 1 gm/day. Emphasis is given to the Wong dissertation because It has essentially escaped notice amongst those researching and critiquing In the area of soil Ingestion most likely because its emphasis was directed toward exposure to parasites having a life‐cycle stage in soil and not chemical contaminants.

Key words:

• Soil ingestion
• silica
• pica
• lead
• dioxin