Abstract
Soils, sediments, and water require careful stewardship for the planet’s security to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) set from the United Nations. However, the contamination of these natural resources can damage ecological and human health, and thus we need a comprehensive approach to provide a remediation reference for the SDGs. The aim of this Special Issue (SI) was to gather the papers emphasizing different aspects and findings of the contamination processes, remediation techniques, and risk assessment of soils, sediments, and water. The Guest-Editor of this SI collected seven papers dealing with biochar application for the reduction in soil nutrient leaching by Kuo et al. and for the immobilization of soil cadmium by Chen et al. Their works contributed to not only sustain soil functions but also to prevent sediments and water from contamination. Moreover, in situ stabilization by environmentally compatible approach is a green remediation of sediments such as thin-layer capping for freshwater and estuary sediments by Ou et al. and Ch’ng et al., respectively. Bioassays including microbiological response and enzyme activities were used to test water quality by Martín et al. and Aljahdali et al., in addition to the finding of antibiotic-degrading bacterial strains reported by Yang et al. in sewage sludge. These papers may aid to update and incorporate new views and discussion for the SDGs.
Highlights
There has long been concern about the issue of soils, sediments, and water pollution by various contaminants worldwide
Soil provides an interface between the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, and improvement of soil function has recently become a major priority in ecosystems, because of the growing awareness regarding the role of soil in controlling sediment and water quality crucial for human benefit [1]
Seven original papers are published in this Special Issue: two are the topics of soil remediation by using biochar, two are heavy metal stabilization by iron sulfide-based amendments in sediments, two are evaluation of the biomarkers of heavy metal contamination in river water, and one is biodegradation of antibiotics by specific bacterial strains screened from sewage sludge
Summary
There has long been concern about the issue of soils, sediments, and water pollution by various contaminants worldwide. To identify the impact of contaminants in water by bioassays, it is necessary to test different representatives of biomarkers as indicators of substances that are harmful to living cells and tissues, useful even in the cases where physicochemical parameters fulfill the requirements of water quality. This identification approach may coincide with the GSR principles of soil and sediment contamination for ecological and human health
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