Arsenic Pollution: Sources, Speciation and Remediation Strategies
A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 April 2026 | Viewed by 12
Special Issue Editors
Interests: fate, speciation and bioavailability of contaminants in the environment; historical mining sites—risks, management and remediation; soils polluted with potentially toxic elements, particularly with copper and arsenic; remediation of contaminated soils, phytoremediation; environmental risk assessment; soil health and ecotoxocology; soil monitoring in polluted areas and in the areas of protected nature
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: soil protection and remediation of contaminated lands; soils polluted with arsenic and antimony; speciation, bioavailability and toxicity of metals and metalloid; the effects of various amendments on the mobility of contaminants in soils; phytomanagement of polluted soils; remote sensing for the assessment of soil properties; impact of soil-forming processes on the development and preservation of sedimentary structures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Arsenic is an element with a strong toxic and carcinogenic effect on humans and other living organisms. Although it is highly dispersed in the Earth's crust, there are many known places in the world where high concentrations of arsenic occur in the environment, including rocks, soils, and water. Elevated concentrations of arsenic in groundwater cause serious health problems for millions of people in various regions, and the WHO has classified it as one of the ten substances causing the most deaths worldwide. Environmental enrichment in arsenic can be caused either by natural processes related to geothermal sources and the dissolution of As-bearing minerals in rocks, soils, and sediments, or by various anthropogenic activities, such as mining and processing of metal and metalloid ores. The fate of arsenic in the environment, its mobility, bioavailability, and toxicity are determined by complex sets of factors dependent on mineralogy, chemical speciation, and biological transformations usually driven by microbial activity. In soil–water systems, arsenic is strongly adsorbed by the solid phase, mainly by iron hydroxides and clay minerals, but it can also be desorbed depending on the chemistry of the aqueous phase, in particular pH, redox conditions, and the presence of competing ions. In the areas where the presence of arsenic in the environment poses ecological or human health threats, remediation measures are necessary to eliminate or at least reduce related risks. They are most often based on arsenic immobilization aimed at limiting its release into water and input into the food chain. However, other remediation methods and ways to reduce risk can also be applied.
This Special Issue invites submissions that include original scientific research related to the problems associated with elevated concentrations of arsenic in the environment, from both natural and human-made sources. The Special Issue focuses on the following topics: (1) the sources of arsenic in the environment and assessment of related risks; (2) arsenic speciation, mobility, bioavailability, and biogeochemical transformations; (3) remediation of environments highly enriched in arsenic, with a special focus on arsenic-contaminated soils and sediments.
Prof. Dr. Anna Karczewska
Prof. Dr. Karolina Lewińska
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. Minerals 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 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
- arsenic
- soil
- contamination
- remediation
- immobilization
- release
- solubility
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