Welcome to part 7 of our mini series promoting #WorldSoilDay on 5th December 2021. Here we look at soil contamination and the transfer into the food chain. This is part of our series on Growing Sustainably.
You can find all content in this mini series at Mini Series: #WorldSoilDay 2021 Salt Affected Soils.
The source is content for this article is fao.org/3/i6475e/i6475e.pdf and https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LFOKSMRRZaJ6O07a44yebg3C_rmZ6CND.
Part 6 of this mini series covered How Soils Help Climate Change. This time we’re looking at soil contamination and the transfer into the food chain.
Soil Contamination
Increase in toxic compounds (heavy metals, pesticides, etc.) in soils affects human health and/or the provision of soil ecosystem services. The three major pathways for diffuse soil contamination are atmospheric deposition, agriculture and flood events.
Soil contamination can reduce food security by decreasing crop yields and rendering crops unsafe for consumption.
In Europe, 340,000 sites are thought to be contaminated.
SOURCE: fao.org/3/i6475e/i6475e.pdf
Countries are implementing policies and programmes that encourage reporting and remediation of contaminated sites and soils.
Read more at Soil Contamination #WorldSoilDay