Special Issue "Frontiers on Ecological and Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Social Ecology and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Vinod Kumar
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Botany, Government Degree College Ramban, Jammu & Kashmir 182144, India
Interests: heavy metal pollution in water, soil, sediments, food crops, and plant species; multivariate statistical analysis and remote sensing
Dr. Raj Setia
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, Ludhiana, India
Interests: heavy metal contamination in soil, sediments and water; modelling of soil organic cabon; remote and proximal sensing; GIS

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The surface and groundwater quality is mainly imperiled due to industrial, agricultural and urban sectors throughout the world. The release of waste water, waste dumping, industrial, agricultural and transport activities are the primary sources of contamination of metals in water bodies. The metals enter into water bodies/soil/sediments/plants through various processes and affect human/ animal health. The metal contamination in water, soil, sediments and plants is evaluated using multiple approaches (like statistical analysis, modeling, indices and geospatial mapping, etc.). Different strategies are used to reduce the risk of health hazards like adopting natural remediation techniques, advanced treatment systems, and alternative water resources, etc.

This Special Issue focuses on the following topics:

  • Appraisal of heavy metal contamination in water resources (surface and ground water resources), soils, sediments, food crops and plant species using machine learning techniques/ multivariate statistics
  • Integrated analysis on source-exposure risk of heavy metals in the water-soil-plant continuum
  • Geospatial assessment of environmental pollutants
  • Modeling and simulation of heavy metal tranport in water, soils, and sediments
  • Advanced treatment processes for management of heavy metal contamination in water, soil and plants
  • Developing decision support systems for quantifying heavy metal contamination, risk assessment, and remediation

The research outcomes, remediation techniques, recommendations and management plans covering the above themes will be useful for decision and policy makers, international research community, and private organisations to implement the water quality managment projects which will be helpful in restoring the ecological stability and economic viability of the water resources.

We encourage submissions that involve new findings. Submit your paper to our Special Issue, as we are looking for new and innovative scientific studies. 

Dr. Vinod Kumar
Dr. Raj Setia
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 papers will be 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. Sustainability 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 1900 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
  • soils
  • sediment
  • water
  • contamination factor
  • enrichment factor
  • geoaccumulation index
  • pollution index
  • health risk assessment
  • multivariate statistical analysis

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
Evaluation of Compost and Biochar to Mitigate Chlorpyrifos Pollution in Soil and Their Effect on Soil Enzyme Dynamics
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9695; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179695 (registering DOI) - 29 Aug 2021
Abstract
The widespread environmental contamination of chlorpyrifos (CP) has raised human health concerns and necessitated cost-effective methods for its remediation. The current study evaluated the degradation behavior of CP in compost and biochar amended and unamended (original and sterilized) soils in an incubation trial. [...] Read more.
The widespread environmental contamination of chlorpyrifos (CP) has raised human health concerns and necessitated cost-effective methods for its remediation. The current study evaluated the degradation behavior of CP in compost and biochar amended and unamended (original and sterilized) soils in an incubation trial. Two levels of CP (100 and 200 mg kg-1), compost and biochar (0.50%) were applied, and soil was collected at different time intervals. At the higher CP level (200 mg kg-1), CP a showed lower degradation rate (ƙ = 0.0102 mg kg-1 d-1) compared with a low CP level (ƙ = 0.0173 mg kg-1 d-1). The half-lives of CP were 40 and 68 days for CP at 100 and 200 mg kg-1 in original soil, respectively, and increased to 94 and 141 days in sterilized soils. CP degradation was accelerated in compost amended soils, while suppressed in biochar amended soils. Lower half lives of 20 and 37 days were observed with compost application at CP 100 and 200 mg kg-1 doses, respectively. The activities of soil enzymes were considerably affected by the CP contamination and significantly recovered in compost and biochar amended soils. In conclusion, the application of organic amendments especially compost is an important strategy for the remediation of CP contaminated soil. Full article
Article
Proximate Composition and Nutritive Value of Some Leafy Vegetables from Faisalabad, Pakistan
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8444; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158444 - 28 Jul 2021
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Abstract
The supply of nutrients and proximate matter is insufficient to fulfil the dietary needs of the quickly expanding human population. Green leafy vegetables can prove economical sources of minerals, vitamins and fibers to overcome nutritional deficiencies. Five leafy vegetables (Brassica juncea, [...] Read more.
The supply of nutrients and proximate matter is insufficient to fulfil the dietary needs of the quickly expanding human population. Green leafy vegetables can prove economical sources of minerals, vitamins and fibers to overcome nutritional deficiencies. Five leafy vegetables (Brassica juncea, Spinacia oleracea, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Chenopodium album and Lactuca sativa) were collected from a horticulture garden and vegetable market for the evaluation of their proximate matter and nutritional composition. Their contents of proximate (moisture, ash, fats, fibers, carbohydrates and protein), minerals (Ca2+, K+ and P+) and anti-nutrients were examined using standard protocols. The contents of fats (0.43 mg g−1f.w.) in S. oleracea; fibers (0.8 mg g−1f.w.) in S. olerace; carbohydrates (0.89 mg g−1f.w.); in B. juncea, proteins (0.91 mg g−1f.w.) in L. sativa; and vitamin A (1.18 mg g−1f.w.) in C. album from the horticulture garden were high enough to meet the daily dietary requirements of adults. Tannins were higher in species collected from the market, which is toxic for human health. It is concluded that vegetables of horticulture garden grown in suitable environmental conditions possess better nutritional composition as compared to vegetables purchased from markets. However, a large-scale research is needed for the analysis of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, anti-nutrients and heavy metals in leafy vegetables. Further research on ethnomedicinal attributes of leafy vegetables is recommended. Full article
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Article
Identification of Ecological Risk Zoning on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from the Perspective of Ecosystem Service Supply and Demand
Sustainability 2021, 13(10), 5366; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105366 - 11 May 2021
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Abstract
With the interaction of global change and human activities, the contradistinction between supply and demand of ecosystem services in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is becoming increasingly tense, which will have a profound impact on the ecological security of China and even Asia. Based on [...] Read more.
With the interaction of global change and human activities, the contradistinction between supply and demand of ecosystem services in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is becoming increasingly tense, which will have a profound impact on the ecological security of China and even Asia. Based on land cover data on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in 1990, 2005, and 2015, this paper estimated the supply capacity of ecosystem services using the value equivalent method, calculated the demand for ecosystem services using population density and economic density, established an ecosystem risk index based on the idea of an ecosystem service matrix to reveal the spatio-temporal pattern of the supply and demand of ecosystem services in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and identified the potential ecological risk areas arising from the imbalance between supply and demand. The results showed that: (1) In terms of the spatio-temporal pattern of land use change, the desert area of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau decreased the most with 26,238.9 km2, and other types of land use increased, of which construction land increased by 131.7%; (2) In terms of the supply and demand of ecosystem services, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was mainly dominated by low-level surplus areas, accounting for 64.0%, and the deficit in some areas has worsened significantly; and (3) In terms of division pattern of ecological risk areas, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau presented characteristics of high risk in the east and low risk in the west. The high-risk area accounted for 1.1%, mainly distributed in the Huangshui Valley and the “One River and Two Tributaries” (Yarlung Zangbo River, Lhasa River, Nianchu River). The research results can provide reference for ecosystem management and policy formulation of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and have important significance for realizing the coupling and coordinated development of human–land relationship in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Full article
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