Soil Pollution A Hidden Reality
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Soil pollution: a hidden reality
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
language: en
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Release Date: 2018-04-30
This document presents key messages and the state-of-the-art of soil pollution, its implications on food safety and human health. It aims to set the basis for further discussion during the forthcoming Global Symposium on Soil Pollution (GSOP18), to be held at FAO HQ from May 2nd to 4th 2018. The publication has been reviewed by the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soil (ITPS) and contributing authors. It addresses scientific evidences on soil pollution and highlights the need to assess the extent of soil pollution globally in order to achieve food safety and sustainable development. This is linked to FAO’s strategic objectives, especially SO1, SO2, SO4 and SO5 because of the crucial role of soils to ensure effective nutrient cycling to produce nutritious and safe food, reduce atmospheric CO2 and N2O concentrations and thus mitigate climate change, develop sustainable soil management practices that enhance agricultural resilience to extreme climate events by reducing soil degradation processes. This document will be a reference material for those interested in learning more about sources and effects of soil pollution.
Soil Pollution and Remediation
Author: Albert Kobina Mensah
language: en
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Release Date: 2025-05-19
The process of mineral extraction results in substantial damage of the topsoil, which leads to soil degradation in the form of deterioration of the soil structure, susceptibility to soil erosion, excessive leaching of nutrients, soil compaction, decrease in soil pH, accumulation of heavy metals in soil, depletion of organic matter, reduced accessibility of nutrients for plants, diminished capacity for cation exchange, the decline in microbial activity, and ultimately, a consequent decline in soil fertility. Effective management of topsoil is indispensable in the execution of a reclamation strategy, as it serves to minimize nutrient depletion and ultimately expedite the process of restoring soil health and quality. Ghana is among the top ten gold producing countries in the world and its actions towards achieving environmental sustainability in the mining sector must be shared with the world. There are some great success stories as well as challenges in the mining sector sustainability from Ghana’s case, which are left undocumented and are limited in investigations in a scientific book. Such enviable feats chalked by some mining companies must be documented so that lessons can be borrowed for replications in restoring similar degraded mining sites elsewhere across the globe. Additionally, companies can learn from the success stories and challenges encountered in mine land reclamation and revegetation in this book. Revegetation may present a sustainable option for the reclamation and restoration of mine soil degradation. The restoration process involves many strategies aimed at improving the quality of soil, such as augmenting the quantity of soil organic matter, enhancing nutrient availability, increasing cation exchange capacity, stimulating biological activities, and optimizing the physical qualities of the soil. Researchers, scientists and consultants in the subject of soil pollution and remediation have conducted a great deal of study using a variety of techniques and approaches. However, a fragmented reporting of techniques and results has resulted from the documentation and dissemination of success stories, challenges and findings mostly through individual technical reports and publication in scholarly journals. This book provides an in-depth analysis of the many scientific methodologies used to identify environmental risks related to potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in mining sites and revegetation as a strategy to ameliorating contaminated and degraded mining sites. The book covers application of these methods in identifying soil-human health risks and planning towards reclamation of such derelict ecosystems. The book combines reviews of relevant literature, laboratory investigation on PTEs from representative mine-contaminated soil and spoil samples as well as appraisal of case studies on successful reclamation and revegetation of mine-degraded lands. Applications of the total element concentration method, size fractionation experiments, sequential extraction analyses, risk assessment indices, geospatial analysis, redox chemistry experiments, synchrotron radiation science, incubation experiments, and pot experimental trials in soil remediation works were documented first hand in a single piece in this book. The book is organized into nineteen chapters, each dedicated to soil contamination caused by mining and revegetation as a sustainable solution. The initial parts of the book deal with various techniques for identifying soil-human health risks. They include some topics such as the consequences of heavy metal presence and build-up, the sources from which heavy metal pollutants originate, and the possible hazards they bring to plant, human, and soil health. The second parts begin with the concept of mining sector sustainability and explore revegetation as a strategy for reclaiming and remediating mining-contaminated lands, with the objective of restoring ecosystem functionality, improving soil characteristics, and cleaning metal-contaminated soils. The book may serve as a valuable resource for individuals occupying various professional roles and engaging in academic pursuits, such as project officers operating within the environmental, safety, and health divisions of mining enterprises, consultants specializing in land reclamation, lecturers specializing in environmental and soil sciences, students, and individuals with a strong interest in environmental protection.
Soil Contamination
This edited volume, Soil Contamination - Recent Advances and Future Perspectives, provides a comprehensive overview of soil contamination. Chapters address such topics as using biochar to improve soil quality, electrochemical analysis of pesticides and heavy metals in the environment and food, nitrate leaching in soils, the ability of bacteria to remove heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and much more. This book is a useful resource that opens new possible research paths for further novel developments in the field.