This third edition of the book has been completely re-written, providing a wider scope and enhanced coverage. It covers the general principles of the natural occurrence, pollution sources, chemical analysis, soil chemical behaviour and soil-plant-animal relationships of heavy metals and metalloids, followed by a detailed coverage of 21 individual elements, including: antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, gold, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, silver, thallium, tin, tungsten, uranium, vanadium and zinc. The book is highly relevant for those involved in environmental science, soil science, geochemistry, agronomy, environmental health, and environmental engineering, including specialists responsible for the management and clean-up of contaminated land.

Heavy metals in soils continue to receive increasing attention due to the growing scientific and public awareness of environmental issues and the development of analytical techniques to measure their concentrations accurately. Building on the success and acclaim of the first edition, this book continues to provide an up-to-date, balanced and comprehensive review of the subject in two sections: the first providing an introduction to the metals chemistry, sources and methods used for their analysis; and the second containing chapters dealing with individual elements in detail.

Following a description of the various sources and factors influencing the contents of heavy metal pollution in post-catastrophic and agricultural soils, subsequent chapters examine soil enzymes and eggs as bio-monitors, lead adsorption, the effects of arsenic on microbial diversity, and the effects of Mediterranean grasslands on abandoned mines. A third section focuses on the adaptation strategies used by plants and bacteria, such as Pinus sylvestris in industrial areas, and the rhizosphere in contaminated tropical soils and soil treated with sewage sludge. Further topics addressed include strategies of bioremediation, e.g. using transgenic plants as tools for soil remediation. This new volume on heavy metals in soil will be of interest to researchers and scholars in microbial and plant biotechnology, agriculture, the environmental sciences and soil ecology.

Human activities have dramatically changed the composition and organisation of soils. Industrial and urban wastes, agricultural application and also mining activities resulted in an increased concentration of heavy metals in soils. How plants and soil microorganisms cope with this situation and the sophisticated techniques developed for survival in contaminated soils is discussed in this volume. The topics presented include: the general role of heavy metals in biological soil systems; the relation of inorganic and organic pollutions; heavy metal, salt tolerance and combined effects with salinity; effects on abuscular mycorrhizal and on saprophytic soil fungi; heavy metal resistance by streptomycetes; trace element determination of environmental samples; the use of microbiological communities as indicators; phytostabilization of lead polluted sites by native plants; effects of soil earthworms on removal of heavy metals and the remediation of heavy metal contaminated tropical land.

Report, the editors replaced the term "speciation" wherever it occurred by "identification and quantification," or "description of abundance," or "reactivity," or "transformation" of a chemical species, according to whichever one of the four meanings the author had evidently meant to convey. In line with the Dahlem Workshop Model, this Report comprises the background papers written in advance of the meeting on the current status of problems in environmental research and on advanced analytical tech niques for the identification and quantification of chemical species, as well as the group reports summarizing the results of the discussions held during the meeting. Each group report was prepared during the meeting by one "rapporteur" with the help of members of that group and finalized by the rapporteur (listed as the first author of the group report) after the meeting, taking into account both verbal comments made during the presentation of the reports in the plenary session at the end of the workshop and written comments received afterwards.

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters.Although adverse health effects of heavy metals have been known for a long time, exposure to heavy metals continues and is even increasing in some areas. Remediating heavy metal contaminated soils and water is necessary to reduce the associated health and ecological risks, make the land resource

This edited book, Soil Contamination - Threats and Sustainable Solutions, is intended to provide an update on different aspects of soil contamination exerted by a multiplicity of exogenous and endogenous causes. We hope that this book will continue to increase information from diverse sources and to give some real-life examples, extending the appreciation of the complexity of this subject in a way that may stimulate new approaches in relevant fields.