Ecological Remediation of Heavy Metal-Polluted Environment

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on sustainable ecological approaches for remediating heavy metal pollution in terrestrial, aquatic, and agroecosystems. Heavy metals (e.g., Cd, Pb, Hg, As, and Cr) pose severe risks to environmental and human health due to their persistence, toxicity, and bioaccumulation. Traditional remediation methods (e.g., chemical stabilization) are often costly and disruptive, whereas ecological remediation—using plants (phytoremediation), microbes (bioremediation), and natural/synthetic amendments—offers sustainable, cost-effective alternatives.

The issue will cover the following:

• Mechanistic insights: Molecular and biochemical interactions in plant—microbe—heavy metal systems.
• Emerging techniques: Nano-bioremediation, genetic engineering for hyperaccumulators, and AI-assisted remediation planning.
• Field applications: Case studies on large-scale restoration of mining sites, industrial zones, and agricultural soils.
• Ecosystem recovery: Long-term monitoring of biodiversity and soil health post-remediation.
• Policy and socio-economic aspects: Barriers to implementation, cost–benefit analyses, and stakeholder engagement.

While prior research has explored individual remediation strategies (e.g., phytoremediation and biochar adsorption), this issue integrates cross-disciplinary advances to address the following gaps:

• Scalability: Bridging lab-scale innovations with real-world deployment challenges.
• Ecological trade-offs: Assessing unintended impacts (e.g., secondary pollution and microbial community shifts).
• Circular economy: Linking remediation with resource recovery (e.g., phytoextracted metals for industrial reuse).
• Climate resilience: How climate change alters heavy metal mobility and remediation efficacy.

By synthesizing cutting-edge science and practical solutions, this issue seeks to foster interactive discussions on emerging technologies and challenges in the ecological remediation of heavy metal-contaminated environments while providing actionable insights for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners in environmental management.

Prof. Dr. Ruyi Yang
Dr. Yongjie Wang
Guest Editors

Dr. Meng Zhu
Guest Editor Assistant

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. Toxics 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.

• heavy metal pollution
• ecological remediation
• emerging techniques
• rhizosphere microecological processes
• remediation efficiency optimization
• ecosystem health assessment post-remediation
• remediation policies and standards