Soil Pollution by Heavy Metals: Monitoring, Remediation, and Land Management Strategies
A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Land, Soil and Water".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026 | Viewed by 39
Special Issue Editors
Interests: soil pollution; mining; multispectral images; UAV; vegetation index
Interests: soil science (recovery degraded soils); phytoremediation; reuse of by-products for the recovery of contaminated or degraded soils; deep knowledge in biochar; organic amendments and nanopart
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Heavy metal contamination of soils remains a pervasive threat to food security, ecosystem health, and human well-being. This Special Issue invites advances that close the gap between high-resolution monitoring, effective remediation, and pragmatic land management. We welcome studies that quantify sources and pathways from mining, industry, and agriculture; characterize speciation and bioavailability; and integrate sensor networks, portable XRF, proximal and remote spectroscopy (VIS–NIR–MIR), remote sensing platforms, and machine learning, deep learning and/or AI data modeling for mapping and management of soil degraded studies. Submissions on exposure and risk assessment, thresholds, and decision frameworks are encouraged.
We seek innovative remediation approaches—phytoremediation and phytostabilization, microbe-assisted strategies, immobilization via amendments (e.g., biochar, phosphates, lime), electrokinetic and hydrometallurgical techniques, and safe use of nano-enabled materials—supported by field validation, life-cycle and techno-economic analyses, and attention to co-contaminants. Contributions should link remediation performance to soil functions, carbon dynamics, and agronomic productivity.
Equally important are land management strategies for agricultural, urban, and post-mining landscapes: crop and cultivar selection, amendment management, mosaic land uses, green infrastructure, and long-term monitoring with citizen science. Comparative case studies across climates, meta-analyses, open datasets, and decision-support tools are welcome. Our goal is to provide actionable, policy-relevant science that enables regulators, practitioners, and communities to reduce risks while restoring soil health.
Dr. Lorena Salgado
Dr. Rubén Forján Castro
Guest Editors
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. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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
- heavy metals
- soil pollution
- bioavailability
- risk assessment
- diffuse spectroscopy
- remote sensing
- machine learning
- phytoremediation
- biochar amendments
- microbial remediation
- land management
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