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Applied Sciences
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Soil Pollution and Remediation: Recent Developments and Future Perspectives
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Soil Pollution and Remediation: Recent Developments and Future Perspectives

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2025 | Viewed by 3973

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. George Fouad Antonious

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Agriculture, Community, and the Sciences, Kentucky State University, Frankfort, KY 40601, USA
Interests: animal manures; organic fertilizers; soil amendments; antioxidants; vitamin C; carotenoids; flavonoids; plant phenols; functional foods; plants bioactive compounds; soil enzymes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent decades, due to intensifying agricultural, industrial, and commercial development, alarming amounts of toxic pollutants have been accumulating in agricultural soils. Consequently, soil has become a sink for various kinds of pollutants, including inorganic, organic, and biological pollutants, such as pesticides, fertilizers, heavy metals, and pharmaceuticals. Soil pollution has been identified as a global environmental issue, posing potential risks to soil ecosystems, natural water resources, food security, and human health. Therefore, emerging soil remediation technologies are required in order to make polluted soils safer for humans and other organisms.

This Special Issue focuses on soil pollution with both traditional and emerging contaminants as well as novel and green remediation technologies to maintain environmental quality and human health. The topics proposed for this Special Issue include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Occurrence, fate, and transformation of contaminants in soil;
  • Soil pollutant monitoring, modelling, and risk assessment.;
  • Risks, toxicity, and ecological effects of soil contaminants;
  • Interactions between soil components and pollutants and their impacts on soil ecosystems;
  • Novel environmentally friendly soil remediation techniques and approaches;.
  • Impacts of soil contaminants on beneficial soil microorganisms and the release of enzyme secretions.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. George Fouad Antonious
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • soil pollution
  • inorganic, organic and biological pollutants
  • soil remediation
  • phytoremediation

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 3332 KiB  
Article
Duality of Biochar and Organic Manure Co-Composting on Soil Heavy Metals and Enzymes Activity
by George F. Antonious
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(6), 3031; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15063031 - 11 Mar 2025
Viewed by 522
Abstract
Technological procedures for immobilizing agrochemical pollutants and activating soil enzymes that break down contaminants are still lacking due to industry’s ever-increasing number of new products to enhance agricultural production systems. Using animal manure as organic fertilizers in plant production is an affordable way [...] Read more.
Technological procedures for immobilizing agrochemical pollutants and activating soil enzymes that break down contaminants are still lacking due to industry’s ever-increasing number of new products to enhance agricultural production systems. Using animal manure as organic fertilizers in plant production is an affordable way to alleviate the production cost of inorganic fertilizers and improve crop yield and quality at an affordable price to limited-resource farmers. Microorganisms in animal manure secrete various extracellular hydrolyzing enzymes capable of breaking down organic matter and releasing C, N, and P for plant uptake. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of combining biochar with animal manure on the activity of three enzymes involved in the N, C, and P cycles as a promising strategy for promoting soil health. The results have revealed variability among animal manure and biochar amendments in the activities of the three hydrolyzing enzymes. Biochar decreased the activity of urease and invertase in soil, indicating that some analytes in biochar act as enzyme inhibitors. The results also indicate that not all soil amendments promote soil enzymes activity, and this might be due to the various characteristics and composition of each animal manure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Pollution and Remediation: Recent Developments and Future Perspectives)
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19 pages, 2311 KiB  
Article
Effect of Adaptation to High Concentrations of Cadmium on Soil Phytoremediation Potential of the Middle European Ecotype of a Cosmopolitan Cadmium Hyperaccumulator Solanum nigrum L.
by Ewa Miszczak, Sebastian Stefaniak, Danuta Cembrowska-Lech, Lidia Skuza and Irena Twardowska
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(24), 11808; https://doi.org/10.3390/app142411808 - 17 Dec 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 809
Abstract
The Cd hyperaccumulator Solanum nigrum L. exhibits a cosmopolitan character and proven high and differentiated efficiency. This suggests the possibility of optimizing its Cd phytoremediation capacity and applicability through searching among remote ecotypes/genotypes. However, the extensive studies on this hyperaccumulator have been limited [...] Read more.
The Cd hyperaccumulator Solanum nigrum L. exhibits a cosmopolitan character and proven high and differentiated efficiency. This suggests the possibility of optimizing its Cd phytoremediation capacity and applicability through searching among remote ecotypes/genotypes. However, the extensive studies on this hyperaccumulator have been limited to Far East (Asian) regions. Pioneer pot experiments on the Middle European ecotype of S. nigrum within a concentration range of 0–50 mg kg−1 Cd in soil revealed its Cd phytoremediation capacity to be comparable to Asian ecotypes but with a fundamentally different Cd tolerance threshold. While biomass of the Asian ecotypes declined sharply at Csoil ≈ 10 mg kg−1 Cd, in the Middle European ecotype, a gradual mild biomass decrease occurred within the whole Csoil ≈ 0–50 mg kg−1 Cd range with no toxic symptoms. Its adapted A50 variety was obtained from the seeds of first-generation plants grown in soil with Csoil ≈ 50 mg kg−1 Cd. In this variety, Cd tolerance, accumulation performance, and all physiological parameters (chlorophyll, carotenoids, RuBisCO, and first- and second-line defense anti-oxidant activity) were significantly enhanced, while cell damage by ROS was considerably lesser. This makes the Middle European ecotype and its adapted variety A50 particularly useful to sustainable decontamination of heavily polluted “hot spots” in degraded post-industrial areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Pollution and Remediation: Recent Developments and Future Perspectives)
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14 pages, 48767 KiB  
Article
How Can Land Use Management in Traditional Cultural Landscapes Become a Policy Instrument for Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration and Climate Change Mitigation? A Transylvanian Case Study
by Vlad Macicasan, Andreea Ocrain, Ramona Balc, Tiberius Dicu, Max D. V. Bodmer and Carmen Roba
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(21), 9851; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14219851 - 28 Oct 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1156
Abstract
Changes in land use from high-nature-value grasslands to arable fields reduce the organic carbon stock in soil, increasing atmospheric carbon concentrations. Maintaining grasslands through traditional agricultural techniques can mitigate climate change by transferring atmospheric carbon to the soil. Benefits of soil organic carbon [...] Read more.
Changes in land use from high-nature-value grasslands to arable fields reduce the organic carbon stock in soil, increasing atmospheric carbon concentrations. Maintaining grasslands through traditional agricultural techniques can mitigate climate change by transferring atmospheric carbon to the soil. Benefits of soil organic carbon sequestration include improved soil properties and enhanced ecosystem services and biodiversity. With Romania’s ratification of the Paris Agreement, it is crucial to review climate-related agricultural policies and incentivize carbon sequestration practices in organic soils. This paper presents a soil carbon study in Transylvania’s Târnava Mare region, Romania, known for its preserved cultural landscapes. Soil samples were taken at a depth of 60 cm to assess organic carbon pools under grassland and arable land management across three soil classes: Cernisoils, Hidrisoils, and Luvisoils. Several statistical tests were applied to evaluate the most significant drivers of soil organic carbon sequestration including land use, soil class, and soil depth. The results indicate that land management has the largest impact, with grasslands storing 45% more carbon than arable land on average. This finding should be integrated into national climate action plans, prioritizing the preservation of grasslands and sustainable agricultural practices to support soil organic carbon sequestration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Pollution and Remediation: Recent Developments and Future Perspectives)
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Review

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18 pages, 2434 KiB  
Review
Exploring the Efficacy of Methylated Gamma-Cyclodextrin (M-γ-CD) in the Removal of Heavy Metals in Soil Systems
by Nontobeko Gloria Maphuhla and Opeoluwa Oyehan Oyedeji
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(4), 2028; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15042028 - 14 Feb 2025
Viewed by 645
Abstract
Heavy-metal contamination of the environment is a serious worldwide issue, as it presents dangerous threats to both human health and aquatic ecosystems. This has led to a paradigm shift toward the development of simple, user-friendly, and economically viable remediation technologies that are essential [...] Read more.
Heavy-metal contamination of the environment is a serious worldwide issue, as it presents dangerous threats to both human health and aquatic ecosystems. This has led to a paradigm shift toward the development of simple, user-friendly, and economically viable remediation technologies that are essential for addressing heavy-metal soil pollution and for the global preservation of the environment. This review provides a comprehensive overview of environmental remediation strategies using cyclodextrin (CD) and its derivatives. Additionally, this study examines the effectiveness of methylated gamma-cyclodextrin (M-γ-CD) as a modified oligosaccharide for the elimination of toxic elements from impure soil matrices. M-γ-CD has emerged as a potent agent for treating soil impurities with noxious metals. As a modified form of cyclodextrin, M-γ-CD features hydrophobic cavities that are particularly adept at forming inclusion complexes with heavy-metal ions, thereby cumulating the aqueous solubility and efficiency of pollutants in environmental applications and improving soil bioremediation. This paper also reviews the unique structural configuration of M-γ-CD, which significantly enhances the solubility and mobility of cyclodextrins and facilitates the extraction of noxious metal particles such as Ni, Cu, and Pb from soil matrices. Furthermore, M-γ-CD is a promising soil remediation agent due to its capacity to boost contaminant solubility, improve environmental safety, offer cost-effectiveness, ensure adaptability, and minimize impact on soil parameters. Therefore, M-γ-CD is a desirable agent for the elimination of toxic metal impurities from soil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Pollution and Remediation: Recent Developments and Future Perspectives)
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