BACKGROUND: There are more than 1,000 active volcanoes worldwide with inhabitants within 100 km of them. Volcanoes spill several toxic metals and spew pollution through gasses, causing soil and water contamination. The dangerously active volcanoes place the nearby population at risk for volcanic hazards. This review aimed to determine whether people living in these volcanic areas have higher risk of cancer and more attention should be given to this danger.
METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted of PUBMED, Science Direct, SCOPUS, Proquest, and Google Scholar, and from citation searching. We assessed the quality of the studies and extracted the incidence rate of cancer in the volcanic areas compared to non-volcanic areas.
RESULTS: The search identified 360 articles, with 11 studies meeting our selection criteria. The results reported the incidence of cancer in children was predominantly in volcanic areas with girls suffering as much as 1.4 per 100,000 per year. The highest cancer age standardized incidence rates for females, males, and overall calculation in volcanic areas were reported as 31.7/100,000/year in Catania, 10.34/100,000/year in Furnas, and 38.3/100,000/year in Catania-Messina-Enna for thyroid cancer. We observed the increasing incidence of carcinoma for some types of cancer in volcanic areas.
CONCLUSIONS: Cancer incidence in volcanic areas was higher than non-volcanic areas and it is caused by multifactorial conditions. The concentrations of hazardous elements of volcanic products vary among volcanoes and are related to the harmful risk for the inhabitants. The negative effects of volcanic products to human health should be given more consideration.

The contribution of various volcanic phenomena to immediate soft tissue injury types has received limited attention challenging emergency management planning. This integrative review sought to investigate the immediate types of soft tissue-related injury sustained following volcanic eruptions.
A systematic search was conducted in January 2020 across EMBASE, PubMed, and Scopus databases. 718 articles were retrieved, and 15 studies met the final inclusion criteria.
Injuries acquired, and health impacts were categorized by onset-direct/indirect or immediate/delayed. Health concerns following an eruption were categorised: (1) respiratory; (2) ocular; and (3) skin, including deep tissues. Respiratory concerns were attributed to ashfall, volcanic gases and pyroclastic density currents; most ocular injuries to ashfall; and skin/deep tissues to pyroclastic density currents and mudflows.
Volcanic eruptions simultaneously present multiple hazards with immediate/short term health consequences across three major levels (i.e., respiratory, ocular, and skin, including deep tissues). Hazard(s) differ by time of onset and associated mostly with the eruptive phenomena. Understanding local volcanic phenomenon is essential to assisting health personnel provide informed and timely care.