Legal measures to prevent and manage soil contamination and to increase food safety for consumer health: The case of Spain

Abstract

This article contains a brief overview of the European and Spanish environmental law framework for the prevention of soil contamination, for the management of contaminated soils and for consumers health protection in relation to agricultural crops. Some important aspects of the legislative framework for the prevention and management of soil contamination include recognising the possible risk to both human health and ecosystems that certain agricultural and industrial activities pose given the use of organic and inorganic chemical substances of a hazardous nature and pathogenic microorganisms. It is worth highlighting the milestone that many national constitutions include about the right to the environment. This right entails the obligation to protect it and to, therefore, protect soil from any degradation, including contamination. Legislation that protects soil from contamination and, consequently human health and ecosystems, is related mainly to agricultural activities (use of sewage sludge on farmlands, use of wastewater for irrigation, use of organic fertilisers and pesticides), and to industrial and commercial soil-contaminating activities.Consumer protection may be achieved through a legal system of environmental liability, specific measures to prevent contaminants entering soil, managing contaminated soils and a food traceability system. It is crucial to make the penalties for soil contamination offenses, and for violators of protective prohibitions, effective, proportionate and dissuasive. Global standards and guidelines on soil contamination could provide national legislative systems with substantive and procedural legal mechanisms to help prevent and manage soil contamination. Main finding of the workA sound legal framework for soil contamination prevention and management is not only critical for food production and food safety, but also for soil conservation and human health.

Specifics of the legal regulation of environmental management in agriculture

“…As we have mentioned above these problems are complex in nature, therefore, in the state regulation of the area under consideration, other social and economic measures should be used in addition to legal ones. In this vein, the experience of foreign countries in implementing policies aimed at the ecological, rational use of natural resources in agriculture is of interest [8,9].…”

Dynamic capacity modelling of soil environment carrying capacity, and developing a soil quality early warning framework for development land in China

“…• Dietary structure: Soil contamination has historically impacted food safety which poses an important threat to human health (Ramón and Lull, 2019). The public health risk will be more severe if there is dietary exposure to food and drinking water from contaminated land, especially the increasing problem of contamination of farmland and crops by heavy metals (Islam et al, 2017;Wei and Yang, 2010).…”

Residuals, sludge, and biosolids: Advancements in the field

“…Work in Spain transitions from WWRF specific reporting to include an overview of European and Spanish environmental law related to agricultural soil contamination prevention and management (Ramon & Lull, 2019). Ramon and Lull (2019) make the case for global standards and guidelines to help manage soil contamination that includes the application of “wastewater sludge” on farmlands and wastewater for irrigation.…”