Soil Pollution

Soil degradation and environmental pollution have a severe impact on human life. Every year, air pollution leads to over 2 million deaths. Exposure to harmful chemicals at the workplace which is present in the environment in the soil, air, and vegetation in the form of organochlorine pesticides presents a high carcinogenic risk and has a significant heavy metal concentration. The problem of pollution is an important one which public policies need to tackle. Risk assessment should be integrated into the public health and environment security framework; concentrations of heavy metals have been found in crops closely related to soil contamination.

Providing accessible information to the readers and real-world cases allied to soil contamination, this book provides sustainable techniques to diminish environmental damage. This book elaborates upon the effects of soil contamination, recommending alternatives for sustainable development to reduce the harmful effects of anthropogenic activity. The largest contributing factor to the contamination of soil, water, and air is the presence of trace elements (TEs). These are introduced due to human activity in these ecosystems such as extraction of raw materials, combustion of fossil fuels, sewage treatment, storage of waste and industrial production. Soil components have a strong tendency to retain contaminants which makes it the main recipients of TEs. Soil contamination can be attributed primarily to industries, especially mining and road transport. This leads to numerous problems in the commercial agriculture and horticulture industry. One of the sources of contamination are fertilizers and waste materials polluted by heavy metals, particularly cadmium. In the case of water contamination, agriculture can be identified as the primary factor. Horticulture can also adversely affect the soil environment. With an ever-increasing world population, modern agriculture faces the challenge to satisfy the increase in food demands. This book will serve as an ideal resource for students, researchers, and professionals, giving the state of the art foundational content for those who are already familiar with the subject.