Introductory remarks to the Special Issue

摘要

Throughout the global environment, soils are exposed to organic chemicals through deliberate application, accidental spillage, waste disposal, industrial activities and/or natural processes. As a result, soils represent a major environmental 'sink' for organic chemicals, in which a variety of biological, chemical and physical interactions may occur. Scientists, industrialists and regulators remain concerned about the potential for organic chemicals to accumulate in the soil environment, perhaps resulting in negative impacts on soil biological function, which in turn may affect the health, fertility and productivity of soil; uptake and accumulation within wildlife and agricultural food-chains, and the contamination of, and transport by, surface- and ground-waters. However, an alternative view is that soils can effectively process organic chemicals and remove them from the environment. Through degradation, binding and sequestration, soils may have the capacity to reduce contaminant transfer to biota.