V.3 ... consists of individual chapters that describe 1) the conceptual background for radionuclides, including tritium, radon, strontium, technetium, uranium, iodine, radium, thorium, cesium, plutonium-americium and 2) data requirements to be met during site characterization.

Over forty years ago, concern was first focussed on cadmium contamination of soils, fertilisers and the food chain. Adverse effects on human health were first highlighted nearly 30 years ago in Japan with the outbreak of Itai-itai disease. Since then, substantial research data have accumulated for cadmium on chemistry in soils, additions to soils, uptake by plants, adverse effects on the soil biota and transfer through the food chain. However, this information has never been compiled into a single volume. This was the stimulus for the Kevin G. Tiller Memorial Symposium "Cadmium in Soils, Plants and the Food Chain", held at the University of California, Berkeley, in June 1997 as part of the Fourth International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements. This symposium brought together leading scientists in the field of cadmium behaviour in soils and plants, to review the scientific data in the literature and highlight gaps in our current knowledge of the subject. This series of review papers are presented here and deal with the chemistry of cadmium in soils, the potential for transfer through the food chain and management to minimise this problem. We hope this information provides a sound scientific basis to assist development of policies and regulations for controlling cadmium in the soil environment.

This document presents key messages and the state-of-the-art of soil pollution, its implications on food safety and human health. It aims to set the basis for further discussion during the forthcoming Global Symposium on Soil Pollution (GSOP18), to be held at FAO HQ from May 2nd to 4th 2018. The publication has been reviewed by the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soil (ITPS) and contributing authors. It addresses scientific evidences on soil pollution and highlights the need to assess the extent of soil pollution globally in order to achieve food safety and sustainable development. This is linked to FAO’s strategic objectives, especially SO1, SO2, SO4 and SO5 because of the crucial role of soils to ensure effective nutrient cycling to produce nutritious and safe food, reduce atmospheric CO2 and N2O concentrations and thus mitigate climate change, develop sustainable soil management practices that enhance agricultural resilience to extreme climate events by reducing soil degradation processes. This document will be a reference material for those interested in learning more about sources and effects of soil pollution.

Sept.-Oct. issue includes list of theses and dissertations for U.S. and Canadian graduate degrees granted in crop science, soil science, and agronomic science during the previous academic year.

Bioavailability refers to the extent to which humans and ecological receptors are exposed to contaminants in soil or sediment. The concept of bioavailability has recently piqued the interest of the hazardous waste industry as an important consideration in deciding how much waste to clean up. The rationale is that if contaminants in soil and sediment are not bioavailable, then more contaminant mass can be left in place without creating additional risk. A new NRC report notes that the potential for the consideration of bioavailability to influence decision-making is greatest where certain chemical, environmental, and regulatory factors align. The current use of bioavailability in risk assessment and hazardous waste cleanup regulations is demystified, and acceptable tools and models for bioavailability assessment are discussed and ranked according to seven criteria. Finally, the intimate link between bioavailability and bioremediation is explored. The report concludes with suggestions for moving bioavailability forward in the regulatory arena for both soil and sediment cleanup.