Soil pollution

 “Soil pollution” refers to the presence in the soil of a chemical or substance out of place and/or present at a higher than normal concentration that has adverse effects on any non-targeted organism. Soil pollution often cannot be directly assessed or visually perceived, making it a hidden danger. The Status of the World's Soil Resources Report (SWSR) identified soil pollution as one of the main soil threats affecting global soils and the ecosystems services provided by them. Concerns about soil pollution are growing in every region. Recently, the United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA-3) adopted a resolution calling for accelerated actions and collaboration to address and manage soil pollution. This consensus, achieved by more than 170 countries, is a clear sign of the global relevance of soil pollution and of the willingness of these countries to develop concrete solutions to address the causes and impacts of this major threat. The main anthropogenic sources of soil pollution are the chemicals used in or produced as byproducts of industrial activities ,domestic ,livestock ,and and municipal waste ,agrochemical ,and petroleum derived products these chemicals are released to the environment accidently for example from oil pills or leaching from landfills ,or intentionally ,as is the case with use of fertilizers and pesticides irrigation with untreated wastewater ,or land application of sewage sludge soil pollution also results from atmospheric deposition from smelting ,transportation ,spray drift from pesticides applications and incomplete combustion of many substances as well as radionuclide deposition from atmospheric weapons testing and nuclear accidents .new concerns are being raised about emerging pollutants such as pharmaceuticals ,endocrine disruptors ,hormones and toxins ,among otheres ,and biological pollitants ,such as micropollutants in soils ,which include bacteria and viruses 

Based on scientific evidence, soil pollution can severely degrade the major ecosystem services provided by soil. Soil pollution reduces food security by both reducing crop yields due to toxic levels of contaminants and by causing crops produced from polluted soils to be unsafe for consumption by animals and humans. Many contaminants (including major nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus) are transported from the soil to surface waters and ground water, causing great environmental harm through eutrophication and direct human health issues due to polluted drinking water. Pollutants also directly harm soil microorganisms and larger soil-dwelling organisms and hence affect soil biodiversity and the services provided by the affected organisms . The results of scientific research demonstrate that soil pollution directly affects human health. Risks to human health arise from contamination from elements such as arsenic, lead, and cadmium, organic chemicals such as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), and pharmaceuticals such as antibiotics. The health risks associated with the widespread soil contamination by radionuclides from the chernobyl disater in 1986 are an enduring memory for many people Remediation of polluted soils is essential, and research continues to develop novel, science-based remediation methods. Risk assessment approaches are similar worldwide and consist of a series of steps to be taken to identify and evaluate whether natural or human-made substances are responsible for polluting the soil, and the extent to which that pollution is posing a risk to the environment and to human health. Increasingly expensive physical remediation methods such as chemical inactivation or sequestration in landfills are being replaced by science-based biological methods such as enhanced mirobial degradation or phytoremediaton