Soil Pollution: Assessment, Effects, and Solutions

Soil pollution is currently one of the main threats facing people around the world. Anthropogenic impacts, such as industrial activity, mining, urbanization, agriculture and forestry practices, and waste treatment are leading to significant increases in levels of potentially toxic substances for biota in soils, posing a threat to the environment and human health. This special issue contains contributions on the distribution, dynamics, advanced diagnostic techniques, mechanisms of interaction between pollutants and soils, bioavailability, ecotoxicity, risk assessment, and remediation of major soil pollutants in different regions. Hopefully this special issue can contribute to our understanding of the complex processes that control the fate of pollutants in ecosystems, including interactions between soils, plants, microorganisms, and water. This special issue overviews the current knowledge of the multifaceted soil pollution problem with respect to: • major soil inorganic and organic pollutants • main sources, pathways, and extent of soil pollution • interaction between contaminants, soils, and soil components • environmental consequences of soil pollution and regulation problems • reclamation and remediation of contaminated soils Keywords: heavy metal(loid)s, oil, hydrocarbons, accidental spills, red mud, lignite, flyash waste, contaminated and degraded soils, landscapes, technosols, adsorption, sequential fractionation, X-ray absorption spectra, electronic spectroscopy, ecological monitoring, bioavailability, ecotoxicity, critical loads, risk assessment, soil reclamation, remediation, ecosystem restoration, lime, biosolids, microbial consortium, management