Metal-Contaminated Soils

An unfortunate by-product of industrialization is the contamination of soil and water resources with toxic metals, which becomes an environmental concern when the concentration in soils begins to affect human health. Current remediation methods applicable to contaminated soils are expensive and environmentally invasive since they are based primarily on civil-engineering techniques. This book represents an overview of efforts in exploiting biological and chemical processes to reduce the inherent risk associated with metal-contaminated soils. It presents a comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of in situ immobilization and inactivation of toxic metals by means of plants, microorganisms and invertebrates.