In developed countries, contamination of soil due to industrial activities and illegal toxic waste disposal has been identified as major environmental problems. Established mechanisms for iden-tifying, prioritizing, characterizing, assessing, and improving soil conditions have been imple-mented to reduce risks to human health and environmental receptors. However, the Contaminated Land Management System (CLMS) and the practices for the management of this contaminated land in Malaysia, including the enforcement of legislation are ineffective. The objective of this study is to discuss an overview of potential chemical substances, especially regarding its exis-tence in contaminated soil in Malaysia. The report also examines the parameters of several heavy metals especially arsenic and mercury found in contaminated soil areas. In addition, this study is an explanatory effort to assess the level and characteristics of illegal disposal including current enforcement practices in Malaysia after three guidelines related to contaminated land management were developed by the Department of Environment (DOE) Malaysia in 2009.
