Water and soil contamination refers to the introduction of harmful substances into surface water, groundwater, and soils at concentrations that degrade environmental quality and threaten human and ecological health. Principal contaminants include heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, chromium, and aluminium compounds;…
Water and soil contamination refers to the introduction of harmful substances into surface water, groundwater, and soils at concentrations that degrade environmental quality and threaten human and ecological health. Principal contaminants include heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, chromium, and aluminium compounds; agrochemicals including pesticides and herbicides; petroleum hydrocarbons; and microbial and nutrient pollutants from waste disposal. These enter the environment through industrial discharge, open-air dumpsites, leaking flow stations and pipelines, agricultural runoff, and inadequate sanitation, then migrate through leaching, runoff, and infiltration to reach creeks, rivers, aquifers, and croplands. Assessment relies on measuring contaminant distribution and concentration in soils, sediments, water, and bioindicator species, and on deriving environmental risk indices, bioaccumulation factors, and toxicity endpoints. Exposure to such pollutants can produce acute toxicity and behavioural and physiological disturbance in aquatic organisms, including fish exposed to compounds like paraquat and phosphide formulations, and can alter enzyme systems such as transferases in liver and muscle tissue, signalling sublethal biochemical stress. In humans, chronic exposure is linked to a range of systemic effects. Effective control combines source regulation, waste-management strategies, remediation of affected media, and continued monitoring to limit transfer of contaminants through food and water systems.
6 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
The 6 articles above have been cited 57 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Water & Soil Contamination, linking to each citing work.