Environmental Risk Assessment of Soil Heavy Metal Pollution

Dear Colleagues,

Since the dawn of the industrial revolution in the 1800s, the heavy metal concentration in various ecological compartments has been rising sharply. Soil being a conduit for agricultural activities, along with energy and material cycling in the ecosystem, is what is at stake. Anthropogenic activities, such as mining, industrial activity, operation of fossil fuel engines, etc., have led to increases in unabated ecological risk factors. Sites present in the proximity of the aforementioned activity hotspots are heavily fouled with heavy metals, which are then transferred to the living biota, causing severe heavy complications. Soil serves as the ultimate sink for heavy metals, which can be used as an ecological indicator for assessing the extent of the contamination. Concern for heavy metals is paramount due to their accumulative, non-degradable, low-mobility nature in soils, which can easily enter the food chain and disrupt the balance of ecosystems. Under the gravity of the current situation, the onus falls on the governments of different nations to assess the health risk factors caused by heavy metal pollution and devise effective measures for remedy. It can help in devising future risk projections while formulating important policy frameworks to mitigate any possible ecological catastrophe, which could befall them.

This Special Issue is entitled “Environmental Risk Assessment of Soil Heavy Metal Pollution” will focus on relevant research progress involving aspects of risk assessment in the context of heavy metal pollution in the edaphic compartment. This will involve touching upon the different advanced techniques/indices employed in various works of risk assessment in urban and rural settings. The scope of this Special Issue will also involve highlighting the present level of heavy metals in different areas of the environment, behaviors, transports, fate, mitigation measures, and the research gaps that could provide a strong foundation for further works to be conducted in this relevant field.

Dr. Rana Pratap Singh
Dr. Kuldeep Bauddh
Dr. Ying Ma
Prof. Dr. Rudro Deo Tripathi
Guest Editors

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• heavy metals
• metal toxicity
• soil pollution
• monitoring
• phytoremediation