SOIL POLLUTION

Ts. Nurhidayah Hamzah, FCE,UiTM

Updated by Ts Dr Jan Jani - nov 21
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
LO1 : Identify the types and sources of soil and
groundwater pollution
LO2 : Describe the procedures for soil remediation
LO3 : Discuss the impacts of soil pollution to environment,
human health and economic
LO1
Identify the types and
sources of soil and
groundwater pollution
BEFORE WE
START, LET’S
WATCH THIS
VIDEO
 The introduction of
substances, biological
organisms, or energy
into the soil by human
activities

What is Soil resulting in a

change of the soil
Contamination? quality,

which is likely to affect

the normal use of the
soil or endangering
public health and the
living environment.
 ◦ Soil contaminants are spilled onto the
surface through many different
activities.
1) accidents involving the vehicles
that are transporting waste
material from site of origin to a
disposal site.
Causes of Soil 2) direct action of humans pouring
potentially toxic materials
Contaminant(s)
3) Illegal dumping (also known as
“open dumping”, “fly dumping”,
and “mid-night dumping”)
4) Sewage
5) Pesticide and herbicide
6) Nuclear
7) Acid Rain
SOURCES OF SOIL POLLUTANTS

• NATURAL, GEOGENIC SOURCES

• ANTHROPOGENIC SOURCES
 Type of pollutants
• Organic contaminant • Inorganic contaminant
1. Polyaromatic hydrocarbon 1. Zinc (Zn2+)
(PAH) 2. Arsenic (As2+)
2.Polychlorinated carbon 3. Chromium Hexavalent (Cr6+)
benzene (PCB) 4. Lead (Pb2+)
3. Tetrachloroetylene (PCE)
4.Trichloroetylene (TCE)

• Organic pollution is a type of chemical pollution caused by carbon pollutants,

such as liquid manure, sewage treatment sludge.

• Inorganic pollutants are the compounds of inorganic by-products arising due to

radiant energy and noise, heat, or light.
Contaminant fate and transport visualization
 Pollutant: pesticides

Biogeochemical
reaction in soil

Source: B. L. Sawhney and K. Brown. 1989. Reactions

and Movement of Organic Chemicals in Soils.
Special Publication No. 22. Madison, Wis.: Soil
Science Society of America.
 Pesticide transport and transformation in the soil-plant environment
and the vadose zone

Source: H. H. Cheng, ed. 1990. Pesticides in the Soil Environment: Processes, Impacts, and Modeling. Soil Science Society of
America Book Series No. 2. Madison, Wis.: Soil Science Society of America.
 ◦ All these processes are controlled by several factors
including;

◦ 1. the physical and chemical properties of the pollutant

and its breakdown products,

◦ 2. the nature and thickness of the soil,

◦ 3. the amount of water applied to the soil,

Contamination ◦ 4. the type and extent of interactions between the
mechanism pollutant and soil components.
◦ pollutant might be washed away by precipitation,
causing little or no harm to the ground on which it was
found
◦ the pollutant, if volatile, could evaporate, again
causing little harm to the soil
◦ pollutant could infiltrate through the unsaturated soil, in
much the same way as ground water
 ANY QUESTIONS???
NOW, YOU CAN CONTINUE WITH
NEXT LEARNING OUTCOME:LO2
 LO2
Describe the procedures for soil
remediation
Dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNPL)
 • Information needed to clean up
materials added to soil include:
1) Kind of material - organic or
inorganic - is the material
biodegradable, is the material
Cleaning dangerous to animals and humans,
2) Quantity - how much material was
Procedure : added to the soil, will it overload the
organisms in the soil;
material 3) C:N ratio - are additional nutrients
(if the concentration of pollutant is above needed ( N & P)
the detection limit)

C:N ratio for normal soil is 10:1, c=carbon

& n= nitrogen
 KIND OF SOIL - WILL THE SOIL BE GROWING CONDITIONS FOR
ABLE TO HANDLE THE MATERIAL
BEFORE GROUNDWATER IS
CONTAMINATED.
THE SOIL ORGANISMS - IS IT
TOO COLD, TOO WET ETC. Soil Cleaning
Procedure

HOW LONG HAS THE MATERIAL BEEN IMMEDIATE DANGER TO

ON THE SITE - IS THERE EVIDENCE OF PEOPLE AND THE
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS, IS IT ENVIRONMENT - URGENCY OF
UNDERGOING DECOMPOSITION. THE SITUATION.
 Cleaning Method

Physical Method Biological Method Chemical method

Washing Bioremediation Aeration
Soaking Phytoremediation Chemical washing
Excavation Thermal remediation
Containment Electromechanical
Physical + chemical method
(Soil vapor extraction=SVE)
(Soil vapor extraction)
Biological method
Here is some explanation about
bioremediation.
Bioremediation

• Use of microbial species to clean up

soil and groundwater that has been
contaminated by discharged
chemicals
• A treatment process that uses
microorganisms (yeast, fungi, or
bacteria) to break down, or degrade,
hazardous substances into less toxic
or nontoxic substances (carbon
dioxide and water)
 Conditions to be considered

1) Temperature favourable for organisms

2) Water available (near field capacity)
3) Nutrients (N, P, K) in adequate supply
4) C:N ratio of material < 30:1
5) Material added is similar to naturally occurring
organic material
6) Oxygen in sufficient quantity
Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potash (K), Calcium, Sulfur (S), and Magnesium are known
as macro-nutrients
Source: Sharma,2020
Advantages of bioremediation:

•Natural process:
• Bioremediation being a natural process is accepted by the public as waste treatment
method for contaminated material such as soil.
• Microbes capable of degrading the contaminant, increase in numbers and produce
harmless products.
• The residues for the treatment are normally harmless products such as carbon
dioxide, water, and cell biomass.
•Complete destruction:
• Bioremediation is employed for the complete destruction of a wide variation of
contaminants.
• Many hazardous compounds can be transformed to non-toxic products. This
reduces the chance of future responsibility related with treatment and disposal of
contaminated material.
• Bioremediation can be performed on site treatment, without causing a major
disturbance of normal activities. This removes the requirement to transport huge
quantities of waste off site and thus decreases potential hazards to human health
and the environment that can arise during transportation.
•Economic process:
• Bioremediation is cost effective in comparison to other methods that are used for
removal of hazardous waste.
Limitations of in situ bioremediation:

• Tedious as compared to other remedial methods.

• Direct exposure to existing environmental factors results
seasonal variation of microbial activity and lack of control of
these factors.
• Difficulty in utilisation of treatment additives such as nutrients,
surfactants and oxygen.
• The micro-organisms act properly only when the waste materials
serves to generate more cells.
• If the native micro-organisms fails in executing biodegradation,
genetically engineered micro-organisms may be added to the
site during in situ bioremediation.

https://www.onlinebiologynotes.com/in-situ-and-ex-situ-
bioremediation/
 Bioventing (Inject air/nutrients
into unsaturated zone – good
Biostimulation for midweight petroleum, jet
fuel)
(stimulates Biosparging (Inject air/nutrients
biological activity) into unsaturated and saturated
In Situ zones)

Bioremediation

Bioaugmentation (inoculates
soil with microbes)
 Slurry- • Soil combined with water/additives in
tank, microorganisms, nutrients,

Ex-situ – phase oxygen added

Bioremediation
Ex situ bioremediation
process is performed out • Land-farming: soil put on pad, leachate
of the location where the
contaminant is found. Solid- collected
• Soil biopiles: soil heaped, air added
• Composting: biodegradable waste mixed with

phase bulking agent

• Land Applied – waste added directly to soil
which is later planted to a crop.
Phytoremediation
What is phytoremediation?
 Phytovolatilization is the removal of
substances from soil or water with
release into the air, sometimes as a
result of phyto transformation to
Phytodegradation (also more volatile and or less polluting
called phyto transformation) substances
uses plants or
microorganisms to degrade
Phytoextraction
organic pollutants in the soil (or phytoaccumulation or phytosequestrat
or within the body of the ion) exploits the ability of plants or algae
plant to remove contaminants from soil or
water into harvestable plant biomass.

Phytostabilization is the Phytostimulation (or

process reduces the rhizodegradation) is the
mobility of substances in enhancement of soil microbial
the environment activity for the degradation of
organic contaminants
Rhizofiltration is a process
that filters water through a
mass of roots to remove toxic
substances or excess nutrients. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoremediation
At Suncor’s Oakville Terminalin southern Ontario addressed contaminated soil by using grasses and
contaminated water with willow trees.
 • Integrated physical-chemical-biological
treatment
1. Nano-material : Nano-zero valent
iron (NZVI), nano-size soil minerals
(e.g., magnetite and pyrite) and
agriculture products
New 2. Biochemical treatment : interaction
between nZVI and microorganism
technology 3. Engineered bacteria : Genetically
modified bacteria to enhance
production of enzyme from bacteria
4. Interaction between enzyme and
nano-material : enzyme vitamin B12
and nZVI or soil mineral
Integrated
physical-
chemical-
biological
 LO3
Discuss the impacts of
soil pollution to
environment, human
health and economic
Environment ALTERATION OF LOWER PYRAMID LEVELS ALTER PLANT
Effect METABOLISM OF
ENDEMIC
OF THE FOOD CHAIN MAY
INGEST ALIEN
METABOLISM, OFTEN
CAUSING A REDUCTION
MICROORGANISMS AND CHEMICALS, WHICH IN CROP YIELDS
ARTHROPODS RESIDENT NORMALLY BECOME
IN A GIVEN SOIL MORE CONCENTRATED
ENVIRONMENT FOR EACH CONSUMING
RUNG OF THE FOOD
CHAIN.
 • Depending on the
1) Exposure period
2) Pollutant type
3) Pathway of attack

Example:
Health Effect exposure to chromium, lead and
other metals, petroleum, solvents,
and many pesticide and herbicide
formulations can be carcinogenic,
can cause congenital disorders, or
can cause other chronic health
conditions
 ECONOMIC VIEW

• Importance factors in determining soil remediation methods;

• Time
• Effectives
• green approaches;
• Less CO2 emission
• Less toxic end products
• Use green materials (e.g., agriculture waste)
 Thank you

Congratulation, now you have finished the topic of soil/land pollution