Effects of Pollutants on the Lithosphere

Of particular importance is the contamination of soil, because it receives pollutants from the atmosphere (e.g., sulfates and nitrates resulting from oxidation of nitrogen and sulfur oxides, and metals from smelters) and from the hydrosphere (e.g., sediments that concentrate heavy metals from aqueous bodies and mining operations). In multimedia mass-balance models, soil is an important sink as well as a conduit for mass transfer to vegetation and shallow groundwater. 

Soils are the main and ultimate culprit of many different human exposure pathways to pollutants through the food chain, partly because lipophilic compounds that reside mainly in soils dissolve pesticides, herbicides, and the like. 

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