Heavy metal pollution threatens human health due to its bioaccumulation and toxicity. Nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) is widely used for heavy metal pollution remediation in soil and water environments due to its excellent heavy metal removal ability. But its disadvantages, such as easy agglomeration, oxidation, passivation, and poor electroneutrality, limit its practical application. In this paper, by summarising the different modification methods of nZVI and their effects on the physicochemical properties, the reaction mechanism of modified nZVI on heavy metals and the influencing factors of its application in soil environment were reviewed, and the dispersibility, specific surface area and electron transfer efficiency of nZVI were enhanced from the perspective of optimised modification of the material to achieve the high efficiency of heavy metal removal. Meanwhile, this paper pointed out the problems of nZVI in remediation of heavy metals in aqueous soil environments, and looked forward to the challenges faced by nZVI in the study of soil and water pollution remediation, providing ideas for the synthetic modification and application of nZVI.