Soil Pollution

Primary reference(s)

Rodríguez-Eugenio, N., M. McLaughlin and D. Pennock, 2018. Soil Pollution: A Hidden Reality. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed 5 February 2025.

Annotations

Key relevant UN convention / multilateral treaty

United Nations (2015) Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, 2015). The prevention of soil pollution could reduce soil degradation, increase food security, contribute substantially to the adaptation and mitigation of climate change, and contribute to the avoidance of conflict and migration. Therefore, by taking immediate actions against soil pollution, contributions to the achievement of almost all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are possible, with a significant impact on SDGs 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 17 (FAO, 2018).

Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (1989). At the time of writing, there were 187 parties to the Basel Convention (Basel Convention, 2011). At its fourteenth meeting, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention adopted decision BC-14/12 by which it amended Annexes II, VIII and IX to the Convention with the objectives of enhancing the control of the transboundary movements of plastic waste and clarifying the scope of the Convention as it applies to such waste.

Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (1998). The Convention promotes shared responsibility between exporting and importing countries in protecting human health and the environment from the harmful effects of such chemicals and provides for the exchange of information about potentially hazardous chemicals that may be exported and imported.

Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001). The Convention is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically, accumulate in the fatty tissue of humans and wildlife, and have harmful impacts on human health or on the environment.

Minamata Convention on Mercury (UNEP, 2013). The Convention is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury, which includes a ban on new mercury mines, the phase-out of existing ones, the phase- out and phase down of mercury use in a number of products and processes, control measures on emissions to air and on releases to land and water, and the regulation of the informal sector of artisanal and small-scale gold mining. The Convention also addresses interim storage of mercury and its disposal once it becomes waste, sites contaminated by

Drivers

Soils may be polluted following industrial accidents; overuse of pesticides and conflict may also occur. Soil can also be polluted during volcanic eruptions or by space debris. Different chemicals may be included in soil pollution.

Long-term interactions between soil pollutants and environmental systems create persistent and evolving risk scenarios. Contaminants like heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants can remain bioavailable in soils for decades or centuries, gradually migrating through watersheds and entering food chains. These slow- developing but significant interactions highlight the need for multigenerational monitoring and adaptive management strategies that account for changing environmental conditions over extended timeframes.

Impacts

Contaminated soil in areas exposed to landslides and flood risks can remobilize contaminants through physical (erosion) chemical (leaching) processes and issues such as dumping of waste. When a landslide occurs, contaminated soil may be displaced and flow into rivers or lakes, potentially spreading pollution. Soil and water contamination can also impact agriculture and ecosystems (Grimmer, 2024).

Multi-hazard context

The figure below summarises common interactions between soil pollution and other hazards. This information should be used with caution and not be solely relied upon in Disaster Risk Management, particularly as some interactions may not have been included. Note that hazardous events occurring together or locally in space or time may not necessarily cause, amplify, or be otherwise related to each other. Specific examples of multi-hazard context can be found in the ‘Hazard drivers’ and ‘Impacts’ sections above.

Multi-hazard diagram

Risk Management

The Basel Convention promotes the environmentally sound management of hazardous waste to prevent soil contamination. Key activities include a household waste partnership and technical guidelines on managing hazardous waste like mercury and POPs. The Rotterdam Convention ensures the safe use of hazardous pesticides and chemicals by facilitating information exchange and enabling informed decisions on imports and exports. The Stockholm Convention aims to eliminate or reduce persistent organic pollutants (POPs) due to their toxicity and long-term environmental impact. Efforts include inventory development, phase-out strategies, best practices guidance, and technical assistance for national action plans (FAO&UNEP, 2021). 

Key drivers for the assessment of contaminated land in the UK, primarily in the context of urban development, include remediation of contamination identified as impacting on groundwater quality or ecology and remediating brownfield sites for a change of land use and in particular development for housing. To this local management, using soil guidance values and land quality management is essential (European Commission, no date). As examples of local risk assessment and management, the sites of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and the 2012 Olympic Games in London (Mead et al., 2013) successfully remediated contaminated land sites. However, further remediation could be required for any future land-use change involving more sensitive end-use, such as redevelopment for domestic gardens. 

A number of assessment models and tools are available via CLARINET, the Concerted Action of the European Commission’s Environment and Climate Research and Development Programme, which provides access to technical recommendations based on the concept of Risk Based Land Management for decision-making (EUGRIS, 2008). Also, in the European context, NICOLE is a European forum for the dissemination and exchange of good practice, practical and scientific knowledge and ideas to manage contaminated land in a sustainable and collaborative way. 

The outcome document of the Global Symposium on Soil Pollution ‘Be the Solution to Soil Pollution’ (FAO, 2018) recommends an active and effective implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management, which were developed through an inclusive process and endorsed by the 155th session of the FAO Council (Rome, 5 December 2016) (FAO, 2017). Their implementation is important in order to progress with the accomplishment of several of the sustainable soil management objectives, such as: to ensure that the availability and flows of nutrients are appropriate to maintain or improve soil fertility and productivity, and to reduce their losses to the environment; to reduce soil salinisation, sodification and alkalinisation; to ensure that water is efficiently infiltrated and stored to meet the requirements of plants and ensure the drainage of any excess; to ensure that contaminants are below toxic levels, i.e., those which would cause harm to plants, animals, humans and the environment; to guarantee that soil biodiversity provides a full range of biological functions; and to undertake soil management (FAO, 2018).

Monitoring

No information Available