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Surface Water Quality for Environment and Health
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Surface Water Quality for Environment and Health

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2019) | Viewed by 24984

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Gianni Tartari

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Water Research Institute, National Research Council, 20861 Brugherio, Italy
Interests: integrated studies on nutrient circulation in freshwater bodies; applied limnology; effects of physical and chemical anthropic impacts in remote areas; nutrients and trace element speciation; QA/QC protocols
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Sara Castiglioni

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research - IRCCS, Milan, Italy
Interests: wastewater-based epidemiology; public health; emerging pollutants; mass spectrometry; antibiotic-resistance

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues

Water quality in the second half of the last century was seen culturally as a component that qualified the natural environment. Although caused by the alteration of the cycles of elements by the anthropic pressure, eutrophication and acidification were considered mainly from the point of view of their effects on aquatic life. However, fears for human health have also emerged because of the degradation of surface water quality occurring, for instance, by the growing phenomenon of blooms of toxic algae, as well as the spread of persistent organic micro-pollutants and toxic metals.

With the doubling of the population living on the Earth in half of the century, with 54% of the population living in urban areas, has opened new scenarios in the study of surface water quality beyond the environmental protection. In fact, the health and safety protection in large parts of the world is strictly connected with sustainable surface water quality.

Conventional contaminants (mainly macro contaminants and pathogenic micro-organisms), toxic and persistent contaminants (mainly organic micro-pollutants and toxic metals), and emerging contaminants (therapeutic and illicit drugs and their metabolites, natural and synthetic hormones, sun filters, fragrances, perfumes and products cosmetics, etc.) are currently affecting water quality. Through urban sewers and industrial discharges, these substances enter the urban water cycle in high amounts every day. The growing urbanization and the increasing use of these substances pose serious challenges for wastewater treatment, water reuse, and drinking water distribution. There is an urgent need for comprehensive monitoring approaches and reliable methodologies for the evaluation of risks to human health, which should take into account the presence of complex mixtures of pollutants in the water cycle. Considering the necessary adaptations to climate change, the challenge concerns the exchange of knowledge that has been acquired regarding the management of water quality in the most advanced countries, to the rest of the world.

In this Special Issue, we want to collect contributions that represent the various aspects of ongoing research activities on surface water quality, and as well as the evaluation of risks in different areas of the world. It will have the specific aim of highlighting the state of the art of both the protection of the environment and the health status of the population.

Dr. Gianni Tartari
Dr. Sara Castiglioni
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Effects of water quality deterioration by change in the trophic state of lakes and rivers
  • Consequences on human health by cyanobacteria blooms in freshwaters
  • Effects on aquatic environments and human health by the nutrient loads remediation
  • Effects of climate change on water quality and consequences for aquatic life and human health
  • Studies on effects of micro/nano emerging and persistent pollutants on aquatic life and human health
  • Cycle of primary and secondary micro/nano plastic particles in aquatic environments: potential effects on human health
  • Advanced on surface water quality monitoring technologies
  • Advanced analytical methods for conventional and emerging contaminants
  • Application of modern ecotoxicological approaches to protect the environment and health
  • Advanced of water quality classification
  • Advanced wastewater technologies for conventional and emerging contaminants
  • Approaches for surface water quality plans in megacities
  • Surface water quality and supply drinking waters
  • Advanced methodologies for risk assessment of complex mixtures of pollutants
  • Impact of surface water reuse in agriculture

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 6397 KiB  
Article
Assessing Cadmium and Chromium Concentrations in Drinking Water to Predict Health Risk in Malaysia
by Minhaz Farid Ahmed and Mazlin Bin Mokhtar
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(8), 2966; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17082966 - 24 Apr 2020
Cited by 39 | Viewed by 5728
Abstract
Although toxic Cd (cadmium) and Cr (chromium) in the aquatic environment are mainly from natural sources, human activities have increased their concentrations. Several studies have reported higher concentrations of Cd and Cr in the aquatic environment of Malaysia; however, the association between metal [...] Read more.
Although toxic Cd (cadmium) and Cr (chromium) in the aquatic environment are mainly from natural sources, human activities have increased their concentrations. Several studies have reported higher concentrations of Cd and Cr in the aquatic environment of Malaysia; however, the association between metal ingestion via drinking water and human health risk has not been established. This study collected water samples from four stages of the drinking water supply chain at Langat River Basin, Malaysia in 2015 to analyze the samples by inductivity coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Mean concentrations of Cd and Cr and the time-series river data (2004–2014) of these metals were significantly within the safe limit of drinking water quality standard proposed by the Ministry of Health Malaysia and the World Health Organization. Hazard quotient (HQ) and lifetime cancer risk (LCR) values of Cd and Cr in 2015 and 2020 also indicate no significant human health risk of its ingestion via drinking water. Additionally, management of pollution sources in the Langat Basin from 2004 to 2015 decreased Cr concentration in 2020 on the basis of autoregression moving average. Although Cd and Cr concentrations were found to be within the safe limits at Langat Basin, high concentrations of these metals have been found in household tap water, especially due to the contamination in the water distribution pipeline. Therefore, a two-layer water filtration system should be introduced in the basin to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 agenda of a better and more sustainable future for all, especially via SDG 6 of supplying safe drinking water at the household level. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surface Water Quality for Environment and Health)
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12 pages, 2471 KiB  
Article
Distribution of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Three Different Natural Water Bodies-A Lake, River and Sea
by Sicong Su, Chenyu Li, Jiping Yang, Qunying Xu, Zhigang Qiu, Bin Xue, Shang Wang, Chen Zhao, Zhonghai Xiao, Jingfeng Wang and Zhiqiang Shen
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(2), 552; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020552 - 15 Jan 2020
Cited by 51 | Viewed by 4752
Abstract
Currently, due to abuse in the use of human antibiotics and the weak regulatory control that the authorities have over sewage discharge and manure management, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have become a new type of environmental pollutant. Three different natural water bodies (Poyang [...] Read more.
Currently, due to abuse in the use of human antibiotics and the weak regulatory control that the authorities have over sewage discharge and manure management, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have become a new type of environmental pollutant. Three different natural water bodies (Poyang Lake, Haihe River and Qingdao No.1 Bathing Beach seawater) were sampled during the same periods to conduct a longitudinal comparison of distribution. The distribution and expression of 11 ARGs in 20 species were studied, and the correlations between the expression and the distribution of time and space of the ARGs in different water bodies were also analyzed. With the exception of ermA, blaNDM-1 and vanA, which were not detected in seawater, the other ARGs could be detected in all three water bodies. Tetracycline resistance genes (tetC, tetM and tetQ) in the seawater and Haihe River had even reached 100%, and sulfa ARGs (sul1 and sul2) in the seawater and Poyang Lake, as well as sul2 and sul3 in the Haihe River, had also reached 100%. The ARG pollution in Haihe River was much more serious, since 14 and 17 of 20 ARG species were significantly higher compared with seawater and Poyang Lake, respectively. Some ARGs also had a high absolute abundance. The absolute abundance of macrolide resistance genes (ermB) in seawater was as high as 8.61 × 107 copies/L, and the anti-tuberculosis resistant genes (rpoB and katG) in the Haihe River Basin were highly abundant at 1.32 × 106 copies/L and 1.06 × 107 copies/L, respectively. This indicates that ARGs have gradually become more diverse and extensive in natural water bodies. The results of a redundancy analysis (RDA) of the three water bodies showed that although each water body is affected by different factors in space and time, overall, the presence of AGRs is closely related to the production and life of human beings and the migration of animals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surface Water Quality for Environment and Health)
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19 pages, 2910 KiB  
Article
Urbanization Impacts the Physicochemical Characteristics and Abundance of Fecal Markers and Bacterial Pathogens in Surface Water
by Tianma Yuan, Kiran Kumar Vadde, Jonathan D. Tonkin, Jianjun Wang, Jing Lu, Zimeng Zhang, Yixin Zhang, Alan J. McCarthy and Raju Sekar
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(10), 1739; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16101739 - 16 May 2019
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 4789
Abstract
Urbanization is increasing worldwide and is happening at a rapid rate in China in line with economic development. Urbanization can lead to major changes in freshwater environments through multiple chemical and microbial contaminants. We assessed the impact of urbanization on physicochemical characteristics and [...] Read more.
Urbanization is increasing worldwide and is happening at a rapid rate in China in line with economic development. Urbanization can lead to major changes in freshwater environments through multiple chemical and microbial contaminants. We assessed the impact of urbanization on physicochemical characteristics and microbial loading in canals in Suzhou, a city that has experienced rapid urbanization in recent decades. Nine sampling locations covering three urban intensity classes (high, medium and low) in Suzhou were selected for field studies and three locations in Huangshan (natural reserve) were included as pristine control locations. Water samples were collected for physicochemical, microbiological and molecular analyses. Compared to medium and low urbanization sites, there were statistically significant higher levels of nutrients and total and thermotolerant coliforms (or fecal coliforms) in highly urbanized locations. The effect of urbanization was also apparent in the abundances of human-associated fecal markers and bacterial pathogens in water samples from highly urbanized locations. These results correlated well with land use types and anthropogenic activities at the sampling sites. The overall results indicate that urbanization negatively impacts water quality, providing high levels of nutrients and a microbial load that includes fecal markers and pathogens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surface Water Quality for Environment and Health)
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13 pages, 2777 KiB  
Article
Geographic Inequalities in Accessing Improved Water and Sanitation Facilities in Nepal
by Chao Wang, Jing Pan, Sanni Yaya, Ram Bilash Yadav and Dechao Yao
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(7), 1269; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071269 - 9 Apr 2019
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 5073
Abstract
In this study, we aimed to assess the geographic inequalities in access to improved water and sanitation facilities among Nepalese households. We conducted this study based on cross-sectional data obtained from Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys. The quality of water sources and sanitation [...] Read more.
In this study, we aimed to assess the geographic inequalities in access to improved water and sanitation facilities among Nepalese households. We conducted this study based on cross-sectional data obtained from Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys. The quality of water sources and sanitation were defined by World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. The geographic categories used in the analyses included developmental region, ecological zone, and urbanicity. Percentages of households having access to improved toilet (5.6% in 1996 vs. 40.5% in 2016) and water (19.3% in 1996 vs. 27% in 2016) facilities has been increasing steadily since 1996 with a great proportion of the households still lacking access to these services. The number of households sharing the same toilet and traveling time to reach water sources have also decreased at the same time. Households in Far Western and Mountains had the lowest odds of having access to improved toilet and water facilities. Noticeable progress has been achieved in improving WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) coverage at national level, however, it is uneven across developmental and ecological zones. Households in the Far Western and Mountain regions appeared to be the most geographically disadvantaged in terms of having access to improved water and sanitation facilities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surface Water Quality for Environment and Health)
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16 pages, 8053 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Physicochemical Characteristics in Drinking Water Sources Emphasized on Fluoride: A Case Study of Yancheng, China
by Yumin Wang, Ran Yu and Guangcan Zhu
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(6), 1030; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16061030 - 21 Mar 2019
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3642
Abstract
In this study, the concentration of fluoride and the associated health risks for infants, children, and adults were analyzed and compared for three drinking water sources in Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, China. To analyze the relationship between the water quality parameters of pH, [...] Read more.
In this study, the concentration of fluoride and the associated health risks for infants, children, and adults were analyzed and compared for three drinking water sources in Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, China. To analyze the relationship between the water quality parameters of pH, fluoride (F−), sulfate (SO42−), chloride (Cl−), total dissolved solids (TDS), total alkalinity (TAlk), sodium (Na+), and potassium (K+), statistical analyses including correlation analysis, R-mode cluster analysis and factor analysis were performed based on monthly data from the year 2010 to 2015. The results indicated: (1) Fluoride concentrations in the drinking water sources ranged from 0.38 to 1.00 mg L−1 (mean = 0.57 mg L−1) following the order of Tongyu River > Yanlong Lake > Mangshe River; (2) fluoride concentrations in 22.93% of the collected samples were lower than 0.5 mg L−1, which has the risk of tooth cavities, especially for the Mangshe River; (3) the fluoride exposure levels of infants were higher than children and adults, and 3.2% of the fluoride exposure levels of infants were higher than the recommended toxicity reference value of 122 μg kg−1 d−1 as referenced by Health Canada, which might cause dental fluorosis issues; (4) the physico-chemical characteristics are classified the into four groups reflecting F−- TAlk, Na+-K+, SO42−-Cl−, and pH-TDS, respectively, indicating that fluoride solubility in drinking water is TAlk dependent, which is also verified by R-mode cluster analysis and factor analysis. The results obtained supply useful information for the health department in Yancheng City, encouraging them to pay more attention to fluoride concentration and TAlk in drinking water sources. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surface Water Quality for Environment and Health)
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