Table of Content

No Content Page No

1. Introduction 3-4

2. Factors of soil contamination 5-10

3. Negative impacts 11-13

4. Solutions 14-15

5. References 16-17

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1.0INTRODUCTION

Malaysia is at present undergoing rapid development and tremendous changes

especially in its economic structure. Previously, agriculture has been the main thrust
of the Malaysian economy, but in recent years the industrial sector has continuously
achieved high growth rates and is now the dominant force. This has resulted in an
increase in urban population and the creation of new urban centers. The rapid
industrialization process in Malaysia coupled with global concern about
environmental issues has fuelled environmental awareness in the country. In recent
years reports on the deterioration of environment quality, especially in urban areas,
have increased. Environmental issues are now of important political and social
considerations.

Soil contamination is the occurrence of pollutants in soil above a certain level causing
deterioration or loss of one or more soil functions. Also, soil contamination can be
considered as the presence of man-made chemicals or other alteration in the natural
soil environment. This type of contamination typically arises from the rupture of
underground storage tanks, application of pesticides, and percolation of contaminated
surface water to subsurface strata, leaching of wastes from landfills or direct
discharge of industrial wastes to the soil. The random dumping of hazardous waste in
the industrial area could be the main cause of the soil contamination spreading by
rainwater and wind. The most common chemicals involved are petroleum
hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, lead and other heavy metals. The occurrence of
this phenomenon was correlated with the degree of industrialization and intensity of

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chemical usage. The concern over soil contamination stems primarily from health
risks, both of direct contact and from secondary contamination of water supplies.

Each year around in the world thousands of sites complete soil contamination clean-
up, some by using microbes that “eat up” toxic chemicals in soil many others by
simple excavation and others by more expensive high-tech soil vapor extraction or air
stripping method. At the same time, efforts proceed worldwide in creating and
identifying new sites of soil contamination, particularly in industrial countries other
than the U.S. and in developing countries which lack the money and the technology to
adequately protect soil resources.

Land contamination is addressed in the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (“EQA”).

The EQA is the primary legislation that addresses the prevention, abatement and
control of pollution, as well as the protection of the environment in Malaysia. Section
24(1) of the EQA stipulates that a person will be liable if he or she pollutes, or causes,
or permits the pollution of any soil or surface of any land in contravention of the
acceptable conditions specified under the EQA.
 
Land contamination is also addressed in the Contaminated Land Management and
Control Guidelines (“Guidelines”). The Guidelines are issued by the Department of
Environment (DOE) and compliance with its provisions is only voluntary. The DOE
is, however, seeking to make compliance with the Guidelines mandatory in due
course. The Guidelines apply to the following:
 

1. Any land that is currently being used or was previously used, to perform
polluting activities with the potential to cause soil and groundwater
contamination. Any land that will change with regard to use, from polluting
activities to non-polluting activities, or from non-polluting activities to
polluting activities “Polluting activities” is defined in the Guidelines to mean
any activity involving extracting, mining, manufacturing, storing, using,
handling and disposing of chemicals, pollutants and scheduled waste in land as

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 part of their operating processes. The Guidelines provide a list of industries
that would potentially contaminate subsurface soil and groundwater.

2.0FACTORS OF SOIL CONTAMINATION

There are many causes or factors of soil pollution that occur every day around the
world. Generally, they are split into two categories which are manmade
(anthropogenic) causes and naturally occurring causes.

Anthropogenic (man-made) soil pollution exists in several types of processes, some

deliberate (industrial) and some accidental. Human-caused soil pollution can work
together with natural processes to increase the toxic contamination levels in the
soil.Under this category, we have 4 factors namely industrial activity, agriculture,
waste disposal and accidents.

1. Industrial activities

Industrial activity has been the biggest contributor to the problem in the
last century, especially since the amount of mining and manufacturing has
increased. Most industries are dependent on extracting minerals from the Earth.
Whether it is iron ore or coal, the by products are contaminated and they are not
disposed of in a manner that can be considered safe. Extraction and processing of
mineral ores causes damage to the top layer of the soil. Mining fires destroy lands
around the area and mining wastes cause heaps of wastes to be produced if the
activity is not checked. Setting up of cement factories in the mountainous region
weakens the soil strata leading to landslides. Meanwhile, the cement dust that falls
on natural vegetation and crops blocks their stomata to cause their eventual death.
The pollutants from these industries include highly poisonous organic, inorganic
and toxic metals. Extensive use and combustion of fossil fuels from industrial
activities – anthropogenic activities- bring out a number of toxic trace metals
which are added to the environment. When anthropogenic trace metals enter the
soil system, information on their relocation and transfer within the affected soil

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 system and forest vegetation is required for assessing the short and long-term
environmental consequences. Again, trace metals are distributed and redistributed
naturally in the environment by both geologic and biologic cycles – weathering
and disintegration. These elements are taken up from the soil or water by plants in
the living system and passed on to higher trophic levels. The natural cycling of
trace metals has, however, been disturbed by human activities in two ways.
Firstly, man has caused a rapid increase in the concentration of trace elements in
various components of the environment and biosphere.

Secondly, they have altered the speciation chemical or biochemical form

of these elements so as to make them available to the biosphere. As a result,
the industrial waste lingers in the soil surface for a long time and makes it
unsuitable for use. The industrialization of an area does not only deprive the
environments of the pollution free status they have been enjoying, but could
adversely affect the lives of the inhabitants. In Nigeria, possible sources of
industrial pollution include aluminium production, wastes from breweries, the
manufacturing of paints, batteries, fertilizers, insecticides, plastics, textiles, paper,
detergents, petro-chemicals and other types of consumable chemicals. As an
economy grows, the industrial sector assumes a leading position and may become
susceptible to the possibilities of innovation as new resources are exploited and/or
explored. Such process of industrial development necessitates externalities with
harmful impacts on the environment. Some of which do constitute hazards on
human health ecology and biodiversity. The environmental impact of industrial
pollution leads more or less to a conflict of interest between the polluters, who
pursue objectives of output, profit and cost optimization and the victim of
pollution, who is entitled to hazard-free environment for health living. Thus
industrial pollution, which leads to different types of environmental degradation,
require the control of industrial activities, which release harmful pollutants into
the environment. Man depends on the resources of the environment to provide its
sustenance and meet its basic needs such as air, food, water, shelter and clothing.
However, in the process of obtaining and using these environmental resources
through industrial activities, man may pollute or damage the environment and so
reduce the capacity of the environment to further provide the resources that they
need. Some industrial activities are costly to the environment.

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 Manufacturing increases the carbon-dioxide content of the activities here
leading to the formation of acid rain which is detrimental to agricultural
development and vegetation perturbation which alters the hydrologic cycle,
potentially increasing or decreasing the amount of water in groundwater and the
moisture in the atmosphere. Acid rain will dissolve away some of the important
nutrients found in soil and change the structure of the soil. Forests are valuable
habitats for wild mushrooms and conservation of medicinal plants and the
recharge of aquifers. Again, the shrinking forest cover lessens the landscape's
capacity to intercept, retain and transport precipitation. Extensive deforestation
activities also leave the soil barren and deprive its nutrients.

2. Agriculture activities

With the advancement of technology and high demand for food supply, there are
many modern agriculture/farming practices that effect the soil. There is a need to
fulfill the growing population. Some of the practices are tillage, soil compaction, deep
root removal and extensive farming .Besides that, the extensive usage of herbicides,
pesticides and chemical fertilizers in crop production is also a primary factor.

Pesticide is a substance used for destroying insects or other organisms harmful to

cultivated plants or to animals. A pesticide may be a chemical substance, biological
agent (such as a virus or bacteria), antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against
any pest. Pests include insects, plant pathogens, weeds, molluscs, birds, mammals,
fish, nematodes (roundworms) and microbes that. Herbicides are substances that is
toxic to plants, used to destroy unwanted vegetationn for instance weeds they are
similar to auxins and most are biodegradable by soil bacteria. But, one group which is
derived from trinitrotoluene (2:4 D and 2:4:5 T) has the impurity dioxin, which is
extremely toxic and leads to fatality even in small concentrations. Another herbicide
is Parquet which is highly toxic. All this substance are produced chemically and
cannot be broken down. Plants absorb what they need and the rest goes in the soil.
They seep into the soil and change the composition and property of soil leading

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causing soil to be barren. .Most importantly, they effect the macro fauna habitation in
the soil as it is harmful to the survival of friendly microorganism.

Compaction of soil is the process of compression of soil particles into a smaller

volume, which reduces the size of pore space available for air and water. Meanwhile,
tillage is the agricultural preparation of soil by mechanical agitation of various types,
such as digging, stirring, and overturning. Examples of human-powered tilling
methods using hand tools include shovelling, picking, mattock work, hoeing, and
raking. All this practices damage the soil by reducing air pore size, changing drainage,
causing erosion soil, reducing healthy populations of mycorrhizae and beneficial
worms, insects and bacteria, and providing a good environment for pest species to
thrive without natural competition. The soil also losses nutrient and organic matter
content. Excess irrigation causes waterlogging and makes the soil saline.

3. Waste disposal

Waste is defined as product or substance that is eliminated or discarded as no

longer useful or required after the completion of a process. There are many kinds of
waste for example industrial waste, urban waste, human waste, electronic waste and
much. As much as the problem is in the large production of waste the bigger problem
is the disposal of these wastes. Waste products are being disposed or stored up in
landfills, illegally dumped or left on soil surfaces. Again soil is involved and this
directly or indirectly causes soil pollution or contamination.

There two kinds of wastes that are generated from industrial activities which are
unwanted industrial garbage and unused chemicals. Unused chemicals are like fly ash,
plastic, sludge and sawdust produced from the industry. Unwanted garbage from
industrial activities like glass, metals and wood. One of the common ways to dispose
these ways are by dumping it into landfills or merely leaving it on soil surface. When

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these wastes are left on the soil’s surface, they alter the chemical composition of the
soil as the chemicals or seep or dissolve into the soil.

Urban wastes are waste produced from residential areas. Waste from household
compromises of food scraps, old newspapers, and plastic items, bottles, wood,
glasses, cans, old tools, tiers, worn out furniture, broken toys like glass, plastic, fuel
residues, metals and vehicular products. Urban waste do not disintegrate easily
causing a lot of effect to the soil whereby it is dumped. For example, non-
biodegradable plastic and metal cans. It takes about 45 to 1000 years for a plastic
bottle to degrade. There is also rumors that the first plastic bag to be produced has not
disintegrated yet. And lastly, we have human waste. The sewer system ends at the
landfill. Even with all the filtration and cleaning process, we are not able to eliminate
all the unwanted components completely. They end up into the landfill and into the
soil. And a large amount of human waste is dumped in the form of baby diapers.
Waste disposal effect the soil by reducing the fertility and promoting the growth of
insects and pathogen disrupting the population of living microorganism in the soil.

4. Accidents and Radioactive pollutants

Accidents are linked to oil or chemical spillage.Oil leaks can happen during storage
and transport of chemicals. This can be seen at most of the fuel stations. The
chemicals present in the fuel deteriorates the quality of soil and make them unsuitable
for cultivation. These chemicals can enter into the groundwater through soil and make
the water undrinkable. Over the past five years oil has consistently been among the
UKs top three pollutants. In the ground, soil oils coat or kill the organisms which are
necessary to maintain the environmental balance. Radioactive substances resulting
from explosions of nuclear testing laboratories and industries bring about nunclear
dust radioactive wastes, which penetrate the soil and accumulate giving rise to
land/soil pollution. All the radio nuclides deposited on the soil emit gamma radiations.

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5. Natural Factors

Naturally occurring processes also may have an influence on toxic chemicals

released by human activities, aggravating the effect or impact.This is possible due to
the complexcity of soil environment, involving the existence of other chemicals and
natural conditions which may interact with the released pollutants.

The imbalances between atmospheric decomposition or air pollution and the

leaking away with precipitation water causes natural accumulation in the soil. Besides
that, under certain environmental conditions there is natural production in soil. For
example, due to the presence of a chlorine source, metal and energy from
thunderstorm, there is natural formation of perchlorate in soil. Perchlorate is a strong
oxidizing salt used in manufacturing of explosives and fireworks. The leaks from
sewer line onto the subsurface of soil which generates trihalomethanes such as
chloroform).

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3.0NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF SOIL CONTAMINATION

High amounts of chemicals that are lethal in soil results in soil contamination.
This will bring about various harmful consequences for human and in addition other
living things, for example, animals and plants. Kids are more susceptible in being
influenced or affected by contaminated soil. This is because of the way that children
are more sensitive to different toxins and they may come in close contact with soil by
playing routinely in the ground. Consequently, soil contamination dependably has a
higher risk for kids compared to adults. Despite the fact that anybody is susceptible to
soil contamination, the effects may differ in view of age, general health status and
other factors.

The first impact would be on the health of humans. The soil is simply the
reason humans are able to sustain themselves by making a living out of it. Hence,
contamination of the soil results in major consequences on human health. About 70%
of the pollutants that can be found in soil are carcinogenic in nature. Hydrocarbons,
pesticides, oil, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and heavy metals such as lead, copper,
mercury, cadmium, arsenic, benzene and chromium are some examples of soil
pollutants. Although there are some metals like mercury and lead that may be found
naturally and not caused by human activity, high concentrations of these metals may
result in adverse effect. The presence of pollutants in soil intensifies and increases the
number of cancer causing cells in humans who are exposed to the contaminated soils.
They may suffer from chronic diseases which are not able to be cured easily. For
instance, long-term exposure to PCBs may lead to liver cancer and exposure to
benzene causes leukaemia to both children and adults. As for arsenic, the initial effect
on humans would on the changes in skin pigmentation followed by conjunctivitis,
destruction of blood cells and cardiovascular diseases. In short, people who live near
to contaminated soil have higher chances of suffering from various diseases while the

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immune system of the children might be weakened which causes them to suffer from
organ development or damage problems.

The next negative impact would be bioaccumulation. Bioaccumulation defines

the accumulation of chemicals or pesticides. Soil pollutants may even harm living
things indirectly. One of the ways is through bioaccumulation in which even slightly
polluted soil may result in harmful effect. Generally, plants absorb all the soil
nutrients through its root for it to grow. Plants that grow in a slightly polluted soil will
absorb all the molecules continuously that are essential for it including the soil
pollutants that are present in it. The plants are not able to disregard the pollutants
which are absorbed hence the pollutants will accumulate in the plant. As a result,
there will be more pollutants in the plant compared to the soil. Animals that feed on
plants may get affected since the pollutants are now being transferred from the plant
to the animal that eats it. When humans eat the animals or plants that have
accumulated the soil pollutants, they get affected too. Even if it is in a small amount,
it may still cause food poisoning to humans.

In addition, soil contamination also affects the soil fertility. The most apparent
and fundamental component of the soil is its fertility. Excessive usage of chemical
fertilizers, pesticides, bacterial killers and over utilizing the land due to multi-
cropping system and mining process causes many distortions occurring in the soil.
This leads to changes in the structure of the soil and the soil loses its crucial element
to maintain its fertility. Over using the land may cause decrease in the yield of plants
and crops production. This is because by over using the soil, it loses all its natural
nutrients. On the other hand, during mining process there will be physical damage to
the landscape of the place as well as increase in the number of production of harmful
wastes. The harmful waste comprises of solid, liquid and gaseous contaminants.
When these wastes are discharged into land, water or air, it will causes severe
environmental damage which may lead to deterioration of soil biology and fertility
and many other impacts. Besides, it is not cheap or easy to rehabilitate an abandoned
mining site and the physical destruction made can be irreparable. Most importantly,
the soil contaminants may have already entered into the food chain and it can remain
for a long time.

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 Soil contamination also leaves an impact on soil salinity which is the
accumulation of salt content in soil. Increase in the salt content of the soil makes the
soil unfit for vegetation. Naturally, there is presence of salt in soil in just the right
amount. However, soil contaminants cause it to increase which results in decrease in
yield and crop production. During osmosis process, water moves from soil into the
roots of the plants which controlled by the level of salts in the soil water and in the
water contained in the plant. If there is more salt in the soil water, the water will not
flow into the plant but will flow back into the soil. This causes dehydration in the
plant due to lack of water it obtained. Hence, this cause decline in the yield and may
even cause death of the plant.

Last but not least, it causes imbalance on the ecosystem. In an ecosystem,

living things are interdependent of each other. Soil contamination has a huge impact
on the ecosystem. It may affect the plant and cause it growth process to slow down or
halt it completely. Plants get affected first due to the pollutants in soil. When animals
consume these affected plants, they may get affected too and face similar symptoms
as humans. This may even cause the animals to die which may result in extinction.
Even if the animals do not consume the plants, they may still be affected because the
pollutants may cause the plant to die. This causes plant-eating animals to die because
of lack of food. This will lead to migration of larger animals to other regions to get
food supply. Gradually, this will cause many of the animal species to be completely
wiped out due to extinction.

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4.0SUGGESTIONS TO OVERCOME SOIL CONTAMINATION

AGRICULTURE BEST PRACTICE

The usage of chemical inputs such as pesticides, herbicides and chemical

fertilizers helps to increase agricultural production. Farmers still prefer to use these
despite knowing the side effects of it to the environment. Basically, herbicides are
used to kill unwanted plants such as weeds whereas pesticides are used to kill pests.
Moreover, the chemical fertilizer is used to provide nutrients to the plants. No doubt
the production of crops does increase but this occurs at the cost of the soil losing its
fertility. In order to reduce the occurrence of soil contamination, it is important to
avoid or at least reduce the usage of chemical inputs for agricultural activity since all
these are the major contributors of soil contamination. The first suggestion would be
to encourage farmers to use bio fertilizer, bio pesticide and fungicides instead of
chemical ones. This is because they contain living microbes that not only increases
the yield but also improves the soil fertility and structure. Farmers should also be
encouraged to use bio pesticides and fungicides. These products might take a longer
time to react compared to the chemical ones but they do not have any adverse effect
on the soil. They also assist in making the plant grow healthier and stronger.

REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE

In Malaysia, solid waste is one of major environmental issue. Approximately

23,000 tonnes of waste are produced per day in Malaysia. It is essential to reduce
waste as this helps to reduce the amount of trash that goes to the landfill. Landfills are
basically a site to dispose of waste materials by burying it. However, since most of
these waste materials are non-biodegradable, they heap in the landfills where they
stay for years. The scenario is even worse for poorly managed waste disposal systems

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and normally results in damage to the land and the surrounding environment. This can
be prevented by following the 3R method which is reduce, reuse and recycle. By
following this method, the amount of trash can be reduced. Purchase glass or any
reusable types of items instead of plastic so that it can be used for a longer time.
Practice recycling used items instead of throwing them. Papers and plastic can be
recycled by selling it to recycle centres. There are also recycling and buy back centre
in few shopping malls in Malaysia to promote recycling. Recycling centres like this
should be opened in more shopping malls all over Malaysia. We should also donate or
sell off our used clothes instead of throwing away. The clothes can be donated to
people in need. Another option would be to sell it. There are many applications (apps)
where used items can be sold. For instance, apps like Carousell and Lelong can be
used to sell or buy used items. These apps should be promoted more in social media
to get a wider reach among people.

REDUCE DEFORESTATION AND START REFORESTATION

Make planting a habit. In order to ensure maximum protection of soil

resources, we should plant trees in open spaces and motivate others to do the same.
Maintain a healthy garden at home, near industrial areas and public spaces to keep the
soil healthy and intact. Since soil erosion is the biggest enemy of soil, plants will help
in reducing its impact and ensure greater strength to the foundation of soil. New
forestry should be adopted where there is excessive pollution of forests, excessive
animal feed and surface degradation.

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF INTEGRATED SOLID WASTE

The construction of modern landfills with well-engineered and managed

disposal facilities can significantly lessen the impacts of landfill on soil, air, and
water. Landfills that are well-designed and operated ensure compliance with
environmental preservation requirements and it ultimately ensures that
the environment is free from contaminants. The use of such designs also ensures the
landfills are not located in environmentally-sensitive areas and are incorporated with
on-site environmental monitoring systems. With on-site environmental monitoring

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systems, signs of land fill gas and groundwater contamination can be easily detected
and controlled.

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