Environmental Geochemistry of Heavy Metals: Contamination, Impacts, and Countermeasure Strategies

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental degradation from industrialization is often inevitable due to the release of heavy metals from mine wastes, tailings, slags, excavated rocks from tunnel construction, civil engineering works, and mineral processing facilities. These heavy metals, whether naturally occurring or anthropogenic sources, can be released into the environment through acid mine or rock drainage when exposed to oxidative conditions. Metals such as lead, zinc, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury persist in the environment, accumulating in soils and water bodies, and eventually entering the food chain. This contamination process poses significant risks to ecosystems and human health. Therefore, understanding the environmental geochemistry of these metals is crucial for effective countermeasures.

In this Special Issue, we aim to provide an update on novel advances focusing on environmental geochemistry of heavy metals and countermeasure strategies. This Special Issue will cover metal and potentially toxic elements in water, soil, and groundwater, highlighting the latest progress in the following areas:

1. Multi-Element Analysis: understanding inter-element relationships in various compartments, their geochemical behavior, and implications for contamination.
2. Sources and Pathways: examining their sources, contamination levels, and the pathways through which they enter and persist in the environment.
3. Advances in Analysis Methods: quantifying heavy metals in various environmental matrices and investigating the interactions between contaminants and soil components, including batch sorption analysis and column tests.
4. Environmental Monitoring and Countermeasure: exploring novel countermeasure techniques and monitoring strategies to mitigate the impact of heavy metal contamination on ecosystems and human health.

This Special Issue seeks to continuously expand the scope of knowledge and innovation in addressing the complex challenges posed by heavy metal contamination.

Dr. Takahiko Arima
Dr. Walubita Mufalo
Prof. Dr. Toshifumi Igarashi
Guest Editors

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• potentially toxic elements
• soil pollution sources and assessment
• groundwater contamination
• geochemistry of heavy metals
• trace element speciation and mobility
• acid mine drainage
• environmental remediation and monitoring
• naturally occurring heavy metals