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The quality of agricultural soils are always under threat from chemical contaminants, which ultimately affect the productivity and safety of crops. Besides agrochemicals, a new generation of substances invades the soil through irrigation with reclaimed wastewater and pollutants of organic origin such as sewage sludge or cattle manure. Emerging pollutants such as pharmaceuticals, nanomaterials and microplastics are now present in agricultural soils, but the understanding of their impact on soil quality is still limited. With focus on in situ bioremediation, this book provides an exhaustive analysis of the current biological methodologies for recovering polluted agricultural soils as well as monitoring the effectiveness of bioremediation.
List of contents
Chemical stressors in agroecosystems. Toxicity of persistent organic pesticides to soil biota. Current-use pesticides: an overview. Nanopesticides. Inorganic anions: fertilizers versuspollutants. Agriculture in metal-polluted soils: plant uptake and toxicity. Metal toxicity on soilorganisms. Engineering nanoparticles: sources, transport and impacts on agricultural soils. Pharmaceuticals in soil: sources and occurrence. Pharmaceuticals in reclaimed wastewaterirrigation: plant uptake. Microplastics in soil: a real environmental hazard? In situbioremediation. Bacterial bioremediation strategies. Fungal bioremediation of agrochemicals. Genetically modified organisms in soil bioremediation. Phytoremediation in agroecosystems. Synthetic biology: a promising technology for in situ bioremediation. Biostimulation ofagricultural soils: nutrient addition. Vermicompost and its enzymatic bioremediation potential. Biochar: a partner in the fighting against soil contamination. Natural attenuation of contaminated soils. Biological methodologies for assessing and monitoring bioremediation. Microbial molecular techniques for assessing contaminated soil. Ecotoxicity testings using soilmeso - and macrofauna. In situ biomonitoring approaches. Microbial indicators: soil enzymeactivities. Urban agriculture: pollution monitoring tools for healthy vegetables.
About the author
Juan C. Sanchez-Hernandez is a professor in Environmental Toxicology and Animal Physiology at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). His research interests include the ecotoxicity of agrochemicals on non-target organisms and vermiremediation. He has published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles on these topics, and he is a frequent reviewer both for several of top journals in the field of environmental sciences as well as for a number of international research institutions.
Summary
Agricultural lands face a threat from several contaminants that affect the quality of crops. With focus on in situ bioremediation, this book provides an exhaustive analysis of the current biological methodologies for assessing, monitoring, and remediating polluted agricultural soils.
