Heavy metals in soils

Abstract

The reference text of 14 individually authored chapters comprises two sections. The first contains: a brief introduction to the relevant properties and chemical processes of soils which affect the dynamics of metals; a summary of the major sources of heavy metals; a review of the methods used for the analysis of metals in soils. This introduction to the problems of heavy metal excess or deficiency is followed by 10 chapters bringing together the information available about the behaviour in the soil of: antimony, arsenic, cadmium, copper, chromium, cobalt, gold, lead, mercury, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, silver, thallium, uranium, vanadium, and zinc. They are discussed in a common framework: geochemical occurrence; origins in soils; chemical behaviour in soils; soil-plant relationships and entry into the food chain; polluted soils. Appendices contain summarised data on the concentrations of metals found in soils, plants and sewage sludges, and the critical concentrations which have so far been established. -M.A.Bass