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Study led by the EU Soil Observatory establishes an initial EU baseline and project a future assessment of the effectiveness of EU policies and regulations targeting pesticides use and soil pollution.

Homegrown eggs from free-ranging laying hens often contain elevated concentrations of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs). A recent study from the University of Antwerp (Flanders, Belgium) provides insights into how (a)biotic factors affect the bioavailability to eggs.

The NORMAN network provides guidance on performing high quality non-target screening (NTS) studies and data interpretation while increasing awareness of the promise but also pitfalls and challenges associated with these techniques.

The production and use of chemicals can lead to the release of toxic compounds. If these end up in water or soil, they can harm the environment. The more chemicals enter the environment, the greater the so-called toxic pressure.

Quantifying PFAS that are prevalent indoors and estimating their exposure risk to humans are important as people tend to spend 90% of their time indoor. To accurately measure these compounds indoors, polyethylene (PE) sheets were employed and validated as passive detection tools and analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry.

The implementation of the Dutch Decree on Soil Reuse, back in 2019, directly lead to a major crisis in the Dutch construction and dredging industry. The omnipresence of PFAS in Dutch soils, combined with the strict standards imposed by the new decree, made almost every transport and reuse of excavated soil impossible.

Cancer is a huge threat for Europe’s citizens and health systems: in 2020 the cancer burden in the EU is estimated to have risen to 1.3 million deaths, making it the second leading cause of death.

Soil invertebrates perform a variety of different ecosystem services essential for agricultural sustainability. Yet, habitat loss and agrichemical pollution due to agricultural intensification have accelerated the decline of terrestrial invertebrates and, as a result, have contributed to the reduction of soil ecosystem services.

Climate change, environmental pollution, biodiversity loss and an unsustainable use of natural resources pose multiple risks to human, animal and ecosystem health. To build a Healthy Planet for All, the European Green Deal calls for the EU to better monitor, report, prevent and remedy air, water, soil and consumer products pollution, among other things.

Contrary to water and air, there is currently no coherent and integrated EU legal framework for protecting Europe’s soil. Measures on soil protection are fragmented among many policy instruments that lack coordination and which are often non-binding. A previous proposal to introduce a legal framework for soil protection in the EU was unsuccessful and was withdrawn in May 2014 by the Commission following years of blockage in the Council.