Abstract:
China is one of the world's largest producers and consumers of pesticides, including organochlorines, organophosphates and pyrethroids. Pesticides contamination in soil mainly occur in pesticide-producing sites and agricultural land. Among them, the levels of pesticides residues and organic solvents in the pesticide-producing sites have raised serious concerns. Chemical oxidation technique, due to its advantages on low cost and short remediation time, has gained increasing attention. However, the excessive use of strong oxidants might lead to deterioration of the physicochemical properties of the soil. Therefore, it is important to consider alternative greener chemical oxidants or oxidation techniques to further improve the current technology. This review focuses on the soil remediation of the pesticide-producing sites and summarizes both conventional and emerging chemical oxidation techniques. Future outlook on new oxidants, materials and techniques for soil remediation is also discussed.