Humic substances are involved in many processes in soils and natural waters: e.g. soil weathering, plant nutrition, pH buffering, trace metal mobility and toxicity, bioavailability, degradation and transport of hydrophobic organic chemicals, formation of disinfection by-products during water treatment, and heterotrophic production in blackwater ecosystems. Accordingly, humic substances have received attention from scientists in a wide variety of disciplines.
The motto of the International Humic Substances Society (IHSS) is: “To Advance the Knowledge and Research of Natural Organic Matter in Soil and Water” . The Society was founded in Denver, Colorado, USA, on September 11, 1981, because there was a need for a society to bring together scientists in the coal, soil, and water sciences with interest in humic substances, and to provide opportunities for them to exchange ideas.
The aims of the Society include the collection of standard samples of humic and fulvic acids from lignite, fresh water, a mineral soil, and an organic soil, and the assembling of characterization data. In addition, the Society has added reference samples that are a source of humic materials for research.
The IHSS convenes biennial international conferences, which bring together scientists from the soil, coal, freshwater, and marine sciences. These conferences are convened by leading scientists in collaboration with the IHSS Board.