This report provides the scientific supporting information & rationale for the development of Canadian soil quality guidelines for benzene for the protection of environmental health. Information is provided on benzene physical & chemical properties, analytical methods, benzene production & uses, sources & levels of benzene in the Canadian environment, environmental fate & behaviour of benzene in soil & water & sediments, and behaviour & effects in biota (terrestrial plants & invertebrates, soil microbes, livestock & wildlife), and behaviour & effects of benzene in humans & mammals, including metabolism and acute & chronic toxicity. The final sections describe how the soil quality guidelines for benzene were derived and set out the guidelines for agricultural, residential/parkland, commercial, & industrial land use, groundwater protection for aquatic life & livestock watering, human & background exposure, and protection of potable groundwater. Areas for future research are also summarized.

This book is dedicated to the occurrence and behaviour of PHEs in the different compartments of the environment, with special reference to soil. Current studies of PHEs in ecosystems have indicated that many industrial areas near urban agglomerates, abandoned or active mines, major road systems and ultimately also agricultural land act as sources and at the same time sinks, of PHEs and large amounts of metals are recycled or dispersed in the environment, posing severe concerns to human health. Thanks to the collaboration of numerous colleagues, the book outlines the state of art in PHEs research in several countries and is enforced with case studies and enriched with new data, not published elsewhere. The book will provide to Stakeholders (both Scientists Professionals and Public Administrators) and also to non-specialists a lot of data on the concentrations of metals in soils and the environment and the critical levels so far established, in the perspective to improve the environmental quality and the human safety.

Despite the connections between soils and human health, there has not been a great amount of attention focused on this area when compared to many other fields of scientific and medical study. Soils and Human Health brings together authors from diverse fields with an interest in soils and human health, including soil science, geology, geography, biology, and anthropology to investigate this issue from a number of perspectives. The book includes a soil science primer chapter for readers from other fields, and discusses the ways the soil science community can contribute to improving our understanding of soils and human health. Features Discusses ways the soil science community can contribute to the improvement of soil health Approaches human health from a soils-focused perspective, covering the influence of soil conservation and contact with soil on human health Illustrates topics via case studies including arsenic in groundwater in Bangladesh; the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam; heavy metal contamination in Shipham, United Kingdom and Omaha, Nebraska, USA; and electronic waste recycling in China. In a scientific world where the trend has often been ever-increasing specialization and increasingly difficult communication between fields and subfields, the interdisciplinary nature of soils and human health studies presents a significant challenge going forward. Fields with an interest in soils and human health need to have increased cross-disciplinary communication and cooperation. This book is a step in the direction of accessibility and innovation, elucidating the state of knowledge in the meeting of soil and health sciences, and identifying places where more work is needed.

This report provides the scientific supporting information & rationale for the development of Canadian soil quality guidelines for the protection of environmental health for toluene, ethylbenzene, & xylenes (TEX). Information is provided on TEX physical & chemical properties, analytical methods, TEX production & uses, global sources of TEX, sources & levels of TEX in the Canadian environment, environmental fate & behaviour of TEX in soil & water, and behaviour & effects in biota (terrestrial plants & invertebrates, soil microbes, livestock & wildlife), and behaviour & effects of TEX in humans & mammals, including uptake, metabolism, elimination, & toxicity. The final sections describe how the soil quality guidelines for TEX were derived and set out the guidelines for agricultural, residential/parkland, commercial, and industrial land use. Areas for future research are also summarized.

Phytotechnologies: Remediation of Environmental Contaminants highlights the use of natural and inherent traits of plants and associated microbes to exclude, accumulate, or metabolize a variety of contaminants, with the goal of efficiently and sustainably decontaminating the biosphere from unwanted hazardous compounds. Contributed by an internationa

Volume 1 briefly reviews selected “Approaches to Soil Health Analysis” including a brief history of the concept, challenges and opportunities, meta-data and assessment, applications to forestry and urban land reclamation, and future soil health monitoring and evaluation approaches. Volume 2 focuses on “Laboratory Methods for Soil Health Analysis” including an overview and suggested analytical approaches intended to provide meaningful, comparable data so that soil health can be used to guide restoration and protection of our global soil resources.