Contamination in Soil Environment

Soil is a complex structure and encompasses five major components i.e. mineral matter, water, air, organic matter and living organisms. Soil pollution with heavy metals has become a critical environmental concern due to its potential adverse ecological impacts. The rapid industrialization and intensive agricultural activities over the last few decades have resulted in accumulation of various pollutants in the environment, which are distributed over wide areas by means of air and water. This type of contamination typically arises from the application of pesticides, percolation of contaminated surface water to subsurface strata, oil and fuel dumping, leaching of wastes from landfills or direct discharge of industrial wastes on land. During the past decades, the prevention of soil pollution and cleanup of contaminated soils have become a world-wide environmental priority. The goal of soil bioremediation is not only limited to enhance the timely degradation, transformation, remediation, or detoxification of these pollutants by biological means, but also to protect soil quality. The present book is an attempt to introduce several approaches by various scientist and researchers for soil remediation and risk assessment, including advances in phytoremediation and implementation of metabolomics in soil sciences.