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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil Conservation and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (16 April 2023) | Viewed by 7350

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Prof. Dr. Chee Kong Yap

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Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Interests: microbiology; biotechnology and environmental sciences; ecology; agricultural science

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Dear Colleagues,

Soil pollution is defined as toxic compounds (contaminants or pollutants) in high quantities in the soil that pose ecological disturbance in terms of abundance and distribution of living organisms. Most importantly, soil pollution has becomes a major concern when it directly or indirectly endangers human health through the trophic transfer pathway, dermal contact pathway, inhalation pathway and ingestion pathway. All types of soils contain a variety of naturally occurring substances. Some common instances of pollutants in the soils are heavy metals (now referred to as potentially toxic metals), inorganic ions and salts (such as sulphates, phosphates, nitrates, and carbonates), and a variety of organic molecules such as DNA, lipids, proteins, alcohols, fatty acids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, etc. These chemicals are mostly generated by soil microbial activity and organism degradation. Owing to the growing anthropogenic inputs of pollutants into the soils, remediation of the polluted soils become a focus in the recent research based on the many reported studies in the literature. The remediation of polluted soils is the process of cleaning and reviving the soil. It is removing toxins in order to protect the public's health as well as the environment. The process's overall purpose is to return the soil to its natural, pollution-free state. Reducing the use of chemical fertilisers, promoting reforestation and afforestation, recycling and reusing products, and promoting the use of natural manure are some of the remediation methods currently known. However, the remediation of polluted soils is a complicated issue that necessitates everyone's cooperation, from individuals to the governing bodies. Soil pollution is a complicated issue that must be addressed through monitoring ecological and ecotoxicological studies as well as other disciplines of studies to understand the most effective methods to remediate the polluted soils or at least to alleviate the polluted soil conditions. So, studies on Soil Pollution and Remediation Methods are expected to become interesting topics.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Chee Kong Yap
Guest Editor

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Keywords

polluted compounds
soils
ecological risk
health risk
potential toxic chemicals

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2136 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rapid and Convenient Assessment of Trace Element Contamination in Agricultural Soils through Slurry-TXRF and Ecological Indices: The Ñuble Region, Chile as a Case Study

by Guillermo Medina-González, Yelena Medina, Enrique Muñoz and Patricio Fuentes

Sustainability 2023, 15(12), 9190; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129190 - 7 Jun 2023

Viewed by 1443

Abstract

The study aims to evaluate the applicability of the slurry-TXRF method for estimating background contents and ecological indices in a rapid and convenient way. For this reason, the agricultural soils of the Itata Valley were used as a case study, where 48 soil samples were collected and analyzed. This rapid, minimally sample-intensive, and simultaneous multi-element quantification technique presented high accuracy but lower precision (approx. 20% RSD) compared to the classic total reflection X-ray fluorescence and flame/graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry methods, which require sample digestion. Due to the analytical characteristics of Slurry-TXRF, it can be concluded that the lower precision is likely compensated for, and this method represents a valuable alternative for the rapid and efficient assessment of trace element contamination in agricultural soils. The regional median concentrations of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Cd in the Itata Valley surface soils were found to be 63.7, 9.57, 31.0, 41.1, and 0.56 mg kg⁻¹, respectively, with corresponding upper limits of 47.6, 6.82, 17.0, 30.7, and 0.284 mg kg⁻¹. The ecological indices, including the geoaccumulation index, contamination factor, enrichment factor, and degree of contamination, suggest moderate levels of contamination in the region. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Pollution and Remediation Methods)

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17 pages, 5536 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation and Source Identification of Heavy Metal Pollution in Black Soils, Central-Eastern Changchun, China

by Yaoyao Sun, Yuyan Zhao, Libo Hao, Xinyun Zhao, Jilong Lu, Qiaoqiao Wei, Yanxiang Shi and Chengyou Ma

Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7419; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097419 - 29 Apr 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1589

Abstract

Black soils are vital agricultural resources, and assessing heavy metal contamination in black soils is of great significance to the sustainable development of agriculture and the environment. In this study, 1246 surface soil samples were collected from the central-eastern part of Changchun, where phaeozems and chernozems are widely distributed, and the As, Hg, Cr, Cd, and Pb concentrations were determined to investigate the pollution status in the black soils by the geoaccumulation index (I_geo). To eliminate the influence of background variation and improve the calculation accuracy of the I_geo values, the local background values of these five elements were estimated after classifying the samples into three clusters with the k-means clustering method. The I_geo calculated with the local background values not only identified the pollution that is difficult to recognize in the low-background areas but also eliminated the easily misidentified pollution in the high-background areas. The I_geo results show that the black soils are mainly contaminated with Hg, followed by Cd and Pb, and are almost free from the pollution of As and Cr. The further the sampling sites are from urban areas, the milder the soil pollution is. A positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis shows that industrial activities and coal burning contributed the most to the heavy metal pollution in the black soils, followed by agricultural activities, which should be paid more attention to. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Pollution and Remediation Methods)

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16 pages, 2034 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Contamination and Ecological Risk Assessment of Metal(loid)s in Sediments of Two Major Seaports along Bay of Bengal Coast

by Mohammad Belal Hossain, Md. Yeamim Aftad, Jimmy Yu, Tasrina Rabia Choudhury, Md. Abu Noman, Md. Solaiman Hossain, Bilal Ahamad Paray and Takaomi Arai

Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12733; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912733 - 6 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2298

Abstract

Pollution from shipping, industrial, and municipal wastewater discharges is a major source of heavy-metal contamination at seaports located near estuaries or along the coast. In this study, for the first time, nine metal(loid)s (Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Zn, Ni, Fe, and As) were analyzed from the surface sediment of two major seaports on the Bay of Bengal coast to evaluate the degree of pollution and ecological risk. The average concentrations of metal(loid)s followed the decreasing order of Fe (53,800 ± 4002 mg/kg) > Mn (590 ± 116.8 mg/kg) > Zn (67.59 ± 13.5 mg/kg) > Ni (62.8 ± 22.5 mg/kg) > Cr (36.59 ± 7.22 mg/kg) > Cu (32.63 ± 6.78 mg/kg) > Pb (16.78 ± 3.93 mg/kg) > As (6.33 ± 1.9 mg/kg) > Cd (0.71 ± 0.16 mg/kg). Both sites had much greater Fe concentrations (compared to other metals) than the levels that had been previously recorded at nearby localities. Furthermore, elements such as Fe and Ni surpassed the recommended NOAA and EPA limits for maximum samples from both ports. However, with the exception of one sampling point in Chattogram Port, the pollution-load-index (PLI) values were <1, indicating no heavy-metal contamination. For all metals except Cd, the enrichment factor (EF) values were also <1, indicating that the metals came from natural sources. Besides, the contamination factor (CF) was 1 < CF < 3 for Cd and <1 for other metals, therefore, the study area was under moderate risk for Cd contamination. The geo-accumulation index (I_geo) values indicated that the study area is moderately polluted with Cd (I_geo > 0). In addition, the potential ecological-risk index (PERI) revealed that the both areas are under considerable (PERI > 80) to moderate (PERI > 40) risk due to Cd pollution. Correlation and Principal Component Analyses (PCA), demonstrated the anthropogenic sources of some metals, especially Fe, Ni, and Cd. As a result, it is suggested that the study area should be followed up on, to track changes and design a pollution-control strategy to reduce future pollution hazards. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Pollution and Remediation Methods)

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28 pages, 42888 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on Water-Heat-Solution Transport Law in Cr(VI)-Contaminated Soil during Electric Remediation

by Xiaohui Lu, Yantong Wei, Jianglin Ren, Haitao Zhang and Yang Yang

Sustainability 2022, 14(13), 8136; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14138136 - 4 Jul 2022

Viewed by 1398

Abstract

In order to understand the water-thermal-solute transport pattern during the electrokinetic remediation of Cr(VI)-contaminated soil, this study selected 2.46 m³ of Cr(VI)-contaminated soil from a chemical plant plot for an indoor experiment of electrokinetic remediation, which monitored the changes of three indicators of soil volumetric water content, temperature and Cr(VI) content over time under the conditions of a voltage of 90 V and 110 V and an electrode distance of 1.5 m for 7 days. A numerical model was also developed using the finite element software COMSOL, which was evaluated and calibrated to predict the changes in soil volumetric water content and hexavalent chromium concentration within 15 days. The results showed that the soil volumetric water content near the anode showed a decreasing trend at the beginning, and then gradually increased when the external supplemental water arrived. The decrease in soil volume water content became larger when the voltage increased. During the electrokinetic remediation experiment, the maximum temperature could reach 36.9 °C at 5 cm from the anode under the conditions of 90 V and 1.5 m distance between electrodes, while the maximum temperature could reach 52.4 °C at a voltage of 110 V. Moreover, the higher the voltage, the faster the temperature rise of the soil at the same location. A higher voltage increased the removal rate of hexavalent chromium, and the removal rate of hexavalent chromium in shallow soils was higher than that in deep soils. At 90 V and an electrode distance of 1.5 m, the removal rates of hexavalent chromium at sampling points 6 and 7 reached 66.03% and 60.80%, respectively. The removal rates of points 6 and 7 at 110 V were able to reach 75.96% and 70.74%, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Pollution and Remediation Methods)

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