Environmental pollution has become and increasing concern due to growing risk to human health. Soil pollution is an aspect of environmental pollution that has received comparatively less attention than water pollution. However, considering direct effects of contaminants transmission through ingestion to the human body, it can lead to greater risks for human health. Arsenic is a highly prevalent environmental pollutant, and considerable number of people worldwide suffer from constant exposure to it. While there are several ways to manage and remediate contaminated soils, phytoremediation has been paid special attention due to its higher social acceptability and lower cost. Nevertheless, this approach faces challenges, including effectively handling significant quantities of contaminated biomass, managing it appropriately, and selecting suitable plant species for the remediation process. In this regard, numerous endeavors have been undertaken to tackle these obstacles like strategies encompass the utilization of amendments, adept management of biomass, and the implementation of hybrid remediation approaches. This study aims to review prior research on mechanisms, challenges, and enhanced phytoremediation of arsenic-contaminated soils, encompassing reduction of contaminated biomass after phytoremediation.

This study is conducted to determine the extent to which transfer stations in the Karkh neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq, contribute to physicochemical and heavy-metal contamination of the soils in the immediate area. The concentrations of physicochemical primary indicators (pH, OC, OM, Ca+2, Mg+2, Na+1, NO3-1, Cl-1, SO4-2) and heavy metals (Pb, Cd, and Cu) were measured during July 2022 at four investigation sites that were located at distances of 5 m (Site 1), 10 m (Site 2), 15 m (Site 3), and 20 m (Site 4) from the edges of the mentioned transfer stations (Al-Rasheed, Al-Mansour, Al-Shula, and Al-Dora). The concentrations of the physico-chemicals and heavy metals were compared to the standards of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Consensus-Based Sediment Quality Guidelines (CBSQG). Based on the data collected, it was determined that Site 1 had the greatest physico-chemical and heavy metal concentrations, whereas Site 4 had the lowest. The metals tested were found to accumulate in the following order: Cu > Pb > Cd. Additionally, it was noticed that all the measured concentrations of metals were higher than the limitations of the CBSQG. The presence of Ca+2, Mg+2, Na+1, Pb, Cd, and Cu in soil suggests that leachate percolation is having a major impact on the soil.