The soil is a dynamic system that has reached a balance with the other surrounding elements. Man can compromise it with his activities and behaviour. The urban development of cities, industrial expansion, the creation of infrastructure like railways, roads, bridges, agriculture, modified the use of soil and sometimes determined its degradation. Soil degradation becomes apparent through some phenomena: desertification, erosion of the superficial layer, an unusual increase of salt content (salinization), acidification and the presence of pollutants. Soil pollution is a particularly serious phenomenon since it has repercussions not only on soil productivity, but also on the composition of the water it gets in contact with (especially drinking water and aquifer water) and on the atmosphere.
