TY - JOUR
T1 - Metal contamination and bioremediation of agricultural soils for food safety and sustainability
AU - Hou, Deyi
AU - O’Connor, David
AU - Igalavithana, Avanthi D.
AU - Alessi, Daniel S.
AU - Luo, Jie
AU - Tsang, Daniel C.W.
AU - Sparks, Donald L.
AU - Yamauchi, Yusuke
AU - Rinklebe, Jörg
AU - Ok, Yong Sik
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was carried out with the support of the Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science and Technology Development (project no. PJ01475801), Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea. This work was also supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) (NRF-2015R1A2A2A11001432) and the NRF Germany-Korea Partnership Program (GEnKO Program) (2018–2020). Y.S.O. and A.D.I. were partly supported by the KU Future Research Grant (KU FRG) Fund, Korea Biochar Research Center (KBRC) Fund and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) Sustainable Waste Management Program from the Korea University, Republic of Korea. D.H. and D.O.C. were supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant no. 2018YFC1801300), the National Water Pollution Control and Treatment Science and Technology Major Project (no. 2018ZX07109-003) and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment’s National Soil Pollution Investigation Project in China.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2020/7
Y1 - 2020/7
N2 - Agricultural soil is a non-renewable natural resource that requires careful stewardship in order to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. However, industrial and agricultural activity is often detrimental to soil health and can distribute heavy metal(loid)s into the soil environment, with harmful effects on human and ecosystem health. In this Review, we examine processes that can lead to the contamination of agricultural land with heavy metal(loid)s, which range from mine tailings runoff entering local irrigation channels to the atmospheric deposition of incinerator and coal-fired power-plant emissions. We discuss the relationship between heavy metal(loid) biogeochemical transformations in the soil and their bioavailability. We then review two biological solutions for remediation of contaminated agricultural land, plant-based remediation and microbial bioremediation, which offer cost-effective and sustainable alternatives to traditional physical or chemical remediation technologies. Finally, we discuss how integrating these innovative technologies with profitable and sustainable land use could lead to green and sustainable remediation strategies, and conclude by identifying research challenges and future directions for the biological remediation of agricultural soils.
AB - Agricultural soil is a non-renewable natural resource that requires careful stewardship in order to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. However, industrial and agricultural activity is often detrimental to soil health and can distribute heavy metal(loid)s into the soil environment, with harmful effects on human and ecosystem health. In this Review, we examine processes that can lead to the contamination of agricultural land with heavy metal(loid)s, which range from mine tailings runoff entering local irrigation channels to the atmospheric deposition of incinerator and coal-fired power-plant emissions. We discuss the relationship between heavy metal(loid) biogeochemical transformations in the soil and their bioavailability. We then review two biological solutions for remediation of contaminated agricultural land, plant-based remediation and microbial bioremediation, which offer cost-effective and sustainable alternatives to traditional physical or chemical remediation technologies. Finally, we discuss how integrating these innovative technologies with profitable and sustainable land use could lead to green and sustainable remediation strategies, and conclude by identifying research challenges and future directions for the biological remediation of agricultural soils.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108317612&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s43017-020-0061-y
DO - 10.1038/s43017-020-0061-y
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85108317612
SN - 2662-138X
VL - 1
SP - 366
EP - 381
JO - Nature Reviews Earth and Environment
JF - Nature Reviews Earth and Environment
IS - 7
ER -
