Fate and Transport of Heavy Metals in Soil, Surface Water, and Groundwater: Implications for Environmental Management

Ahmed Dashtey

doi:10.18535/ijsrm/v12i12.c01

Abstract

Critical challenges caused by heavy metals, such as hexavalent chromium, arsenic, and cadmium, emanate from their persistence and toxicity. This work discusses the fate and transport of heavy metals in the soil, surface water, and groundwater, focusing on their sources, pathways, and mechanisms of mobility. The research, therefore, underlines the key processes governing the behavior of heavy metals in environmental media by using a comprehensive review of field data and advanced modeling techniques. It becomes evident that mining, discharge of industrial waste, and agricultural activities are the predominant anthropogenic sources of contamination. Besides these factors, speciation and, further, the bioavailability of metals depend upon the climatic and soil type, which affects the paths of transport of these species. This research has shown a dire need for some effective environmental management strategies using remediation technologies and regulatory frameworks that might help minimize the risks to ecosystems and human health.

Keywords

Heavy metalsenvironmental pollutionfate and transportsoil contaminationgroundwatersurface waterenvironmental risk

References

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[refR-2] Chanda, M., Bathi, J. R., Khan, E., Katyal, D., & Danquah, M. (2024). Microplastics in ecosystems: Critical review of occurrence, distribution, toxicity, fate, transport, and advances in experimental and computational studies in surface and subsurface water. Journal of Environmental Management, 370, 122492.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-3] Debnath, A., Singh, P. K., & Sharma, Y. C. (2021). Metallic contamination of global river sediments and latest developments for their remediation. Journal of Environmental Management, 298, 113378.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-4] Doyi, I., Essumang, D., Gbeddy, G., Dampare, S., Kumassah, E., & Saka, D. (2018). Spatial distribution, accumulation, and human health risk assessment of heavy metals in soil and groundwater of the Tano Basin, Ghana. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 165, 540-546.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-5] Ferguson, C., Husman, A. M. D. R., Altavilla, N., Deere, D., & Ashbolt, N. (2003). Fate and transport of surface water pathogens in watersheds.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-6] Folkeson, L., Bækken, T., Brenčič, M., Dawson, A., Françoise, D., Kuřímská, P., ... & Vojtěšek, M. (2009). Sources and fate of water contaminants in roads. Water in road structures: Movement, drainage and effects, 107-146.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-7] Haroun, M., Idris, A., & Omar, S. S. (2007). A study of heavy metals and their fate in the composting of tannery sludge. Waste Management, 27(11), 1541-1550.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-8] Hellweg, S., Fischer, U., Hofstetter, T. B., & Hungerbühler, K. (2005). Site-dependent fate assessment in LCA: transport of heavy metals in soil. Journal of Cleaner Production, 13(4), 341-361.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-9] Hemond, H. F., & Fechner, E. J. (2022). Chemical fate and transport in the environment. Academic Press.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-10] Herath, I., Vithanage, M., & Bundschuh, J. (2017). Antimony as a global dilemma: Geochemistry, mobility, fate, and transport. Environmental Pollution, 223, 545-559.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-11] Lipczynska-Kochany, E. (2018). Effect of climate change on humic substances and associated impacts on the quality of surface water and groundwater: A review. Science of the Total Environment, 640, 1548-1565.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-12] Maremane, S. R., Belle, G. N., Oberholster, P. J., & Omotola, E. O. (2025). Occurrence of selected COVID-19 drugs in surface water resources: A review of their sources, pathways, receptors, fate, ecotoxicity, and possible interactions with heavy metals in aquatic ecosystems. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 47(1), 3.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-13] Misra, V., & Pandey, S. D. (2005). Hazardous waste, impact on health and environment for development of better waste management strategies in future in India. Environment International, 31(3), 417-431.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-14] Nordstrom, D. K. (2011). Hydrogeochemical processes governing the origin, transport, and fate of major and trace elements from mine wastes and mineralized rock to surface waters. Applied Geochemistry, 26(11), 1777-1791.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-15] Nzediegwu, C., Prasher, S., Elsayed, E., Dhiman, J., Mawof, A., & Patel, R. (2019). Effect of biochar on heavy metal accumulation in potatoes from wastewater irrigation. Journal of Environmental Management, 232, 153-164.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-16] Pastor, J., & Hernández, A. J. (2012). Heavy metals, salts, and organic residues in old solid urban waste landfills and surface waters in their discharge areas: Determinants for restoring their impact. Journal of Environmental Management, 95, S42-S49.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-17] Piwowarska, D., Kiedrzyńska, E., & Jaszczyszyn, K. (2024). A global perspective on the nature and fate of heavy metals polluting water ecosystems, and their impact and remediation. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 1-23.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-18] Qiao, P., Wang, S., Li, J., Zhao, Q., Wei, Y., Lei, M., ... & Zhang, Z. (2023). Process, influencing factors, and simulation of the lateral transport of heavy metals in surface runoff in a mining area driven by rainfall: A review. Science of the Total Environment, 857, 159119.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-19] Rai, P. K., Lee, S. S., Zhang, M., Tsang, Y. F., & Kim, K. H. (2019). Heavy metals in food crops: Health risks, fate, mechanisms, and management. Environment International, 125, 365-385.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-20] Selvam, S., Jesuraja, K., Venkatramanan, S., Roy, P. D., & Kumari, V. J. (2021). Hazardous microplastic characteristics and its role as a vector of heavy metal in groundwater and surface water of coastal South India. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 402, 123786.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-21] Sherene, T. (2010). Mobility and transport of heavy metals in polluted soil environment. In Biological Forum—An International Journal (Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 112-121).Google Scholar ↗

[refR-22] Wijesekara, S. S. R. M. D. H. R., Mayakaduwa, S. S., Siriwardana, A. R., De Silva, N., Basnayake, B. F. A., Kawamoto, K., & Vithanage, M. (2014). Fate and transport of pollutants through a municipal solid waste landfill leachate in Sri Lanka. Environmental Earth Sciences, 72, 1707-1719.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-23] Xiao, Y., Han, D., Currell, M., Song, X., & Zhang, Y. (2023). Review of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDCs) in China's water environments: Implications for environmental fate, transport, and health risks. Water Research, 120645.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-24] Zeng, J., Tabelin, C. B., Gao, W., Tang, L., Luo, X., Ke, W., ... & Xue, S. (2023). Heterogeneous distributions of heavy metals in the soil-groundwater system empower the knowledge of the pollution migration at a smelting site. Chemical Engineering Journal, 454, 140307.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-25] Zhou, L., Meng, Y., Vaghefi, S. A., Marras, P. A., Sui, C., Lu, C., & Abbaspour, K. C. (2020). Uncertainty-based metal budget assessment at the watershed scale: Implications for environmental management practices. Journal of Hydrology, 584, 124699.Google Scholar ↗