Metal contamination is a global problem because metals are widely used, from building materials to information technology, and the bioavailable fraction of metals is increasing. The development of infrastructure highly depends on metals because of their useful properties. Because of metals necessity for infrastructure, industrialization causes a huge increase in metal use and waste. Before industrialization the functions were not mechanized and were primarily based on agriculture. As a result of mechanization, the use of metals increased tremendously and then later fell off or at a higher per-capita gross domestic product (GDP), as represented by the environmental Kuznets curve. The inverted U-shaped environmental Kuznets curve best models the amount of pollution emitted by a country as it develops, and shows a drastic increase in metals use followed by a gradual decline owing to regulatory policy. After 1974 there was a significant decrease in the demand for most metals except aluminum, which may correlate with slower growth in the GDP.Because of economic development in India, a many-fold increase in metal production has taken place for iron, aluminum, zinc, and copper, for example. With the increased production of metals comes an increase in environmental hazards. Metals are naturally found in soils but usually in concentrations below those posing significant health risks. Problems arise when metals are highly concentrated and bioavailable, both of which are a direct consequence of anthropogenic extraction and the use of these metals. Therefore, the slow, naturally occurring release of metals from ores will have a low fraction of bioavailable metals whereas drastic increases in metals from anthropogenic sources may have a high fraction of bioavailable metals. Because the development of infrastructure currently depends on the use of metals, the possible rate of development while maintaining a healthy environment depends on developing recycling and recovery technologies for metal contaminants. This is especially true for India, where the high population density and enormous growth over past decades has led to widespread metal contamination. India is entering the "developed phase.". Metal recovery to prevent pollution via developing cost-effective strategies to meet the environmental challenges of India's rapid growth is critical. Therefore, this chapter:. 1.Uses currently available data to predict major sources of metal contamination in the water, soil, and air in India2.Predicts how these sources may change in the near future3.Determined how these sources pose a threat by entering human food and water, as well as the air we breathe4.Reviews evolving scientific knowledge about recovery of metals to prevent pollution. © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.