From Contamination to Mitigation: Addressing Cadmium Pollution in Agricultural Soils

Felicia Chețan, Paula Ioana Moraru (), Teodor Rusu, Alina Șimon, Lucian Dinca () and Gabriel Murariu
Additional contact information
Felicia Chețan: Laboratory of Technology and Mechanization, Agricultural Research and Development Station Turda, Agriculturii Street 27, 401100 Turda, Romania
Paula Ioana Moraru: Department of Technical and Soil Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Mănăstur Street 3–5, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Teodor Rusu: Department of Technical and Soil Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Mănăstur Street 3–5, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Alina Șimon: Laboratory of Technology and Mechanization, Agricultural Research and Development Station Turda, Agriculturii Street 27, 401100 Turda, Romania
Lucian Dinca: National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry “Marin Dracea”, Eroilor 128, 077190 Voluntari, Romania
Gabriel Murariu: Department of Chemistry, Physics and Environment, Faculty of Sciences and Environmental, Dunărea de Jos University Galati, Românească Street No. 47, 800008 Galati, Romania

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 20, 1-31

Abstract: Cadmium (Cd) contamination in agricultural soils originates mainly from atmospheric deposition, irrigation water, fertilizers, pesticides, and industrial waste discharges. This human-induced pollution adversely affects soil fertility and structure, disrupts plant growth and physiological activities, and poses severe health risks through food-chain accumulation. Despite increasing research attention, comprehensive assessments that integrate global patterns, remediation strategies, and knowledge gaps remain limited. Therefore, this literature review critically synthesizes findings from 1060 peer-reviewed studies (screened using PRISMA guidelines) retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science databases, focusing on Cd sources, environmental behavior, plant responses, and soil remediation techniques. Results show that most research has been concentrated in Asia—particularly China—and Latin America. The most frequently investigated topics include Cd accumulation in crops, soil amendments, phytoremediation, and microbial-assisted remediation. Among remediation strategies, assisted phytoremediation and integrated biological–chemical approaches (biochar, PGPR, and soil amendments) emerged as the most promising for sustainable Cd mitigation. In conclusion, this review highlights regional disparities in research coverage, emphasizes the effectiveness of combined remediation approaches, and identifies the need for interdisciplinary and field-scale studies to advance sustainable solutions for Cd pollution control in agricultural systems.

Keywords: cadmium (Cd); soil contamination; plants; phytoremediation; biochar; heavy metal pollution; remediation techniques (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/20/2179/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/20/2179/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:20:p:2179-:d:1776436

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().