Soil pollution mainly results from the following sources:
(𝐢) Industrial wastes: wastes discharged from pulp and paper mills, chemical industries, oil refineries, coal and mining industries, etc., are responsible for soil pollution.
(𝐢𝐢) Urban wastes: solid wastes and refuse in urban areas contribute to soil pollution.
(𝐢𝐢𝐢) Radioactive pollutants: radioactive substances resulting from explosions of nuclear devices, atmospheric fall out from nuclear dust penetrate the soil and pollute it.
(𝐢𝐯) Fertilisers: excessive application of fertilisers to the soil to increase food and vegetable production causes soil pollution.
(𝐯) Pesticides: different kinds of pesticides used to control pests cause soil pollution.
(𝐯𝐢) Farm wastes: wastes from cows, cattle, pigs and poultries are one of the major sources of soil pollution.
(vii) Chemical and metallic pollutants: synthetic chemicals are a source of trace metals which are added to the soil either deliberately or as an impurity.
(𝐯𝐢𝐢𝐢) Biological agents: soil gets large quantities of human, animal, bird excreta which constitute the major source of soil pollution by biological agents.