This Research Topic is Volume II of a series. The previous volume can be found here:
Recent Research Advances on Heavy Metals, Microplastics, Persistent Organic Pollutants, and Solid Waste in Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems.
From the local to the global scale, with the steady progress of industrialization and urbanization, many human activities, including mining activities (such as mining and smelting), agricultural activities (such as fertilization, sewage irrigation, plastic mulching), industrial activities (such as petrochemical process, pharmaceutical process, industrial coating, waste incineration, coal burning) and daily life (such as domestic sewage, plastic bag use, daily waste), have greatly contributed to volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, microplastics, and solid wastes pollution. The accumulation of volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, microplastics, and solid wastes in air, water, and land from human sources may pose a high environmental risk to wildlife, crops, or human health. This has attracted more and more attention from the public all over the world. It is urgent to conduct in-depth research on the air, water, and land polluted by volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, microplastics, and solid wastes to seek environmentally friendly remedial measures. At present, there are much basic research, technical achievements, and practical applications for volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, microplastics, and solid wastes, such as physical, chemical, and biological remediation methods for volatile organic compounds and heavy metals, recycling of plastics and other solid wastes, etc. However, due to the characteristics of these pollutants, such as diverse species, complex sources, wide pollution area, and serious pollution, as well as their special instincts and behaviors in the ecosystems, the existing theoretical research and key technologies are still flawed, posing a huge challenge to the actual environmental protection work.
Therefore, our purpose is to gather the latest research on volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, microplastics, and solid wastes, introduce efficient analytical methods, analyze their migration and transformation behavior in the environment, and develop new and environment-friendly solutions. We hope to solve the pollution problems of volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, microplastics, and solid wastes in an interdisciplinary way and encourage serious discussion on existing disputes.
We welcome original research on the following topics (including but not limited to):
• Development of advanced analytical techniques for volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, microplastics, and solid wastes;
• Migration and transformation characteristics of volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, and microplastics in air, water, and soil;
• Control or elimination measures for volatile organic compounds pollution in air;
• Treatment measures for heavy metal pollution in water and soil;
• Study on the key technology of plastic pollution control.