The Remediation Mechanisms and Effects of Chemical Amendments for Heavy Metals in Contaminated Soils: A Review of Literature

Abstract

Many countries around the world are suffering from serious problems associated with soil heavy metal pollution, especially developing countries. Heavy metal contaminants in soils mainly result from soil natural weathering and anthropogenic activities such as industrial and agricultural activities, coal-burning as well as transportation. It is widely acknowledged that heavy metal pollution may lead to the deterioration of soil environmental quality and the loss of soil ecological functions. Therefore, the control and remediation for soil heavy metal pollution need to be urgently carried out to guarantee human health and food security. To date, soil amendments are increasingly employed to remediate heavy metal contaminated soils. In recent years, the research progress at an international scale is reviewed with regard to soil amendments used for the remediation of heavy metal polluted soils by laboratory and field-scale studies. A summary is provided with soil amendment types, metal stabilization mechanisms, as well as the influences of soil amendment application on soil properties. At last, future research prospects are put forward to broaden the development of this field. It is expected to provide valuable references for the research and practice of heavy metal stabilization in polluted soils.

Health Risk Assessment of Soil Heavy Metals in the Urban-Rural Area of Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, China

“…From a health risk perspective, Cr and As were the dominant pollutants in the soil heavy metals of this study area. Cr and As are common heavy metals in soil [44,45], especially in the vicinity of industrial and mining enterprises, which usually have high concentrations, ecological risks, and health risks [46][47][48][49]. Cr and As are strongly bioaccumulative and nonbiodegradable, so they can directly affect human food safety and physical health through agricultural soil [46,47].…”