Abstract
Soil is a substantial constituent of the environment, accumulating an excessive amount of pollutants, especially heavy metals. Both natural and anthropogenic activities increase the heavy metal content in soil. Biomagnification of metals through the food chain affects both flora and fauna. This chapter provides a composite and analytical evaluation of heavy metal contamination by employing different pollution indices, such as enrichment factor, geoaccumulation index, contamination factor, pollution index, potential contamination index, and modified pollution index. Further, different methodologies adopted for the assessment of risk related with metals in soil, such as the potential ecological risk index and modified potential ecological risk index, are also discussed in this chapter. Finally, the chapter also summarizes the status of contamination indices and ecological risk assessment in agricultural, urban, roadside, and industrial soils.
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