Soil Pollution - An Emerging Threat to Agriculture


Book Description

The book provides reader with a comprehensive up-to-date overview of various aspects of soil pollutants manifestation of toxicity. The book highlights their interactions with soil constituents, their toxicity to agro-ecosystem & human health, methodologies of toxicity assessment along with remediation technologies for the polluted land by citing case studies. It gives special emphasis on scenario of soil pollution threats in developing countries and ways to counteract these in low cost ways which have so far been ignored. It also explicitly highlights the need for soil protection policy and identifies its key considerations after analyzing basic functions of soil and the types of threats perceived. This book will be a useful resource for graduate students and researchers in the field of environmental and agricultural sciences, as well as for personnel involved in environmental impact assessment and policy making.




Soil pollution: a hidden reality


Book Description

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.




Global Assessment of Soil Pollution


Book Description

World soil health is under pressure from erosion, loss of soil organic carbon and biodiversity, pollution, and salinization. This report presents the status and drivers of global soil pollution, as well as recommendations to address the issue such as using bioremediation technologies.




Emerging Contaminants in the Environment


Book Description

Emerging Contaminants in the Environment: Challenges and Sustainable Practices covers all aspects of emerging contaminants in the environment, from basic understanding to different types of emerging contaminants and how these threaten organisms, their environmental fate studies, detection methods, and sustainable practices of dealing with contaminants. Emerging contaminant remediation is a pressing need due to the ever-increasing pollution in the environment, and it has gained a lot of scientific and public attention due to its high effectiveness and sustainability. The discussions in the book on the bioremediation of these contaminants are covered from the perspective of proven technologies and practices through case studies and real-world data. One of the main benefits of this book is that it summarizes future challenges and sustainable solutions. It can, therefore, become an effective guide to the elimination (through sustainable practices) of emerging contaminants. At the back of these explorations on sustainable bioremediation of emerging contaminants lies the set of 17 goals articulated by the United Nations in its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all its member states. This book provides academics, researchers, students, and practitioners interested in the detection and elimination of emerging contaminants from the environment, with the latest advances by leading experts in emerging contaminants the field of environmental sciences. - Covers most aspects of the most predominant emerging contaminants in the environment, including in soil, air, and water - Describes the occurrence of these contaminants, the problems they cause, and the sustainable practices to deal with the contaminants - Includes data from case studies to provide real-world examples of sustainable practices and emerging contaminant remediation




International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management


Book Description

The understanding that some pesticides are more hazardous than others is well established. Recognition of this is reflected by the World Health Organization (WHO) Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard, which was first published in 1975. The document classifies pesticides in one of five hazard classes according to their acute toxicity. In 2002, the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) was introduced, which in addition to acute toxicity also provides classification of chemicals according to their chronic health hazards and environmental hazards.




Spatial Modeling and Assessment of Environmental Contaminants


Book Description

This book demonstrates the measurement, monitoring and mapping of environmental contaminants in soil & sediment, surface & groundwater and atmosphere. This book explores state-of-art techniques based on methodological and modeling in modern geospatial techniques specifically focusing on the recent trends in data mining techniques and robust modeling. It also presents modifications of and improvements to existing control technologies for remediation of environmental contaminants. In addition, it includes three separate sections on contaminants, risk assessment and remediation of different existing and emerging pollutants. It covers major topics such as: Radioactive Wastes, Solid and Hazardous Wastes, Heavy Metal Contaminants, Arsenic Contaminants, Microplastic Pollution, Microbiology of Soil and Sediments, Soil Salinity and Sodicity, Aquatic Ecotoxicity Assessment, Fluoride Contamination, Hydrochemistry, Geochemistry, Indoor Pollution and Human Health aspects. The content of this book will be of interest to researchers, professionals, and policymakers whose work involves environmental contaminants and related solutions.




Sustainable Agriculture Reviews 50


Book Description

This book reviews contaminants of emerging nature affecting the agroecosystem and includes important information regarding the their sources, types, transportation, environmental threats and strategies to decontaminate the affected agroecosystems. The contents of this volume will help the policy makers and environmental engineers in combating the continuously rising threats to cultivated ecosystems.




New and Future Developments in Microbial Biotechnology and Bioengineering


Book Description

New and Future Developments in Microbial Biotechnology and Bioengineering: Microbes in Soil, Crop and Environmental Sustainability reviews the exploitation of microbial biodiversity in soil with respect to nutrient-use efficiency, also discussing the improvement and maintenance of certain physical and chemical conditions in soil that can provide economic and environmental benefits toward agricultural sustainability. The utilization of microbes ranges from applications in biotechnology, marginal land restoration, the formulation of microbial inoculants, the enhancement of crop productivity, and the mitigation of global warming gases. Finally, various uses for microbial resources in crop disease management, bioenergy production, and income based on microbial cultivation are explored. - Highlights the developments and achievements of microbial resources and their role in the sustainable management of soil fertility and agriculture productivity - Outlines the role of microbial resource and biotechnology in sustainability to industry, agriculture, forest and management of environment - Provides up-to-date information on the application of microbial resources and the role of biotechnology to meet the ever increasing demand of food, soil and plant productivity management - Outlines enhancement in productivity through interventions of microbial bio-agents and eco-friendly technology




Frontiers in Soil and Environmental Microbiology


Book Description

Soil harbours a wide range of microorganisms with biotic potentials which can be explored for social benefits. The book Frontiers in Soil and Environmental Microbiology comprises an overview of the complex inter-relationship between beneficial soil microbes and crop plants, and highlights the potential for utilisation to enhance crop productivity, bioremediation and soil health. The book focusses on important areas of research such as biocide production, pesticide degradation and detoxification, microbial decay processes, remediation of soils contaminated with toxic metals, industrial wastes, and hydrocarbon pollutants. Features Presents the state of the art of microbial research in environmental and soil microbiology Discusses an integrated and systematic compilation of microbes in the soil environment and its role in agriculture and plant growth and productivity Elucidates microbial application in environmental remediation Explores advanced genomics topics for uncultivable microbes of soil




Bioremediation of Agricultural Soils


Book Description

The quality of agricultural soils are always under threat from chemical contaminants, which ultimately affect the productivity and safety of crops. Besides agrochemicals, a new generation of substances invades the soil through irrigation with reclaimed wastewater and pollutants of organic origin such as sewage sludge or cattle manure. Emerging pollutants such as pharmaceuticals, nanomaterials and microplastics are now present in agricultural soils, but the understanding of their impact on soil quality is still limited. With focus on in situ bioremediation, this book provides an exhaustive analysis of the current biological methodologies for recovering polluted agricultural soils as well as monitoring the effectiveness of bioremediation.