Heavy Metals in Soils: Trace Metals and Metalloids in Soils and Their Bioavailability (3rd ed.)
About this book
Heavy Metals in Soils: Trace Metals and Metalloids in Soils and Their Bioavailability, edited by Brian J. Alloway and published by Springer in its third edition in 2013, is one of the most authoritative and widely cited reference works in environmental soil science. The volume is part of the Environmental Pollution series (volume 22) and provides an exhaustive treatment of twenty-one elements of environmental concern, covering their geochemical origins, anthropogenic inputs, chemical behaviour in the soil system, biological interactions, and implications for human health and ecosystem integrity.
The book begins by establishing the conceptual and analytical framework for understanding trace metal behaviour in soils. The distinction between total metal concentration and bioavailable fraction is introduced as the central organizing principle: the total concentration of a metal in a soil sample as measured by acid digestion gives only a partial picture of environmental risk, because only the fraction accessible to plant roots, soil organisms, or leaching pathways determines actual ecological and toxicological consequences. Bioavailability is conditioned by a complex interplay of soil physicochemical properties including pH, organic matter content, clay mineralogy, redox potential, and competing ion concentrations.
The book provides detailed mechanistic explanations of metal adsorption, precipitation, complexation, and dissolution reactions, and explains how these processes shift under changing environmental conditions—for instance, how drainage of waterlogged soils or acidification by atmospheric deposition can mobilize previously immobile metal fractions. A major strength of the third edition is the breadth of elements covered. The book provides individual chapters on lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), and a further suite of elements including cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, antimony, barium, gold, silver, thallium, tin, tungsten, uranium, and vanadium.
For each element, a consistent structure covers natural background concentrations in different soil parent materials, major anthropogenic sources (mining and smelting, phosphate fertilizers, sewage sludge application, pesticide use, atmospheric deposition from traffic and combustion), speciation chemistry, plant uptake mechanisms, phytotoxicity thresholds, and entry into the human food chain. This element-by-element organization makes the volume an indispensable desk reference for practitioners who need rapid access to element-specific data. Soil-to-plant transfer is addressed with particular rigor.
The book explains the continuum from bulk soil solution through the rhizosphere—where microbial activity and root exudates create distinctive pH and redox microenvironments—to root surface uptake via ion channels and carrier proteins, xylem loading, and translocation to above-ground tissues. Transfer factors (the ratio of metal concentration in plant tissue to that in soil) vary enormously depending on species, cultivar, soil conditions, and element speciation, and the book synthesizes data across a wide range of experimental and field studies to provide indicative ranges. The third edition expanded significantly compared to its predecessors by adding new chapters on toxicity mechanisms in soil organisms, the use of critical load modelling for risk assessment and environmental legislation, and the role of heavy metals as micronutrients at trace concentrations in plant and animal metabolism.
Remediation strategies receive thorough coverage: the book evaluates immobilization amendments (lime, phosphates, zeolites, organic matter additions), phytoextraction using hyperaccumulator species such as Thlaspi caerulescens for zinc and cadmium and Pteris vittata for arsenic, phytostabilization, soil washing, electrokinetic remediation, and monitored natural attenuation. Each approach is assessed in terms of efficacy, cost, scalability, and potential side-effects on soil structure and biological communities. The treatment of risk assessment frameworks—including critical load calculations and human exposure pathway analysis—equips environmental managers and regulators with tools for setting remediation targets and evaluating residual risk at contaminated sites.