Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Soil and Water Environment

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil and Water".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 February 2025 | Viewed by 3067

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
LEAF, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, 1649-004 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: soil pollution; trace elements; soil quality assessment; organic wastes valorization; soil amendments; phytoremediation
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ordinarily, concerns about the impacts of chemicals on soil and water have focused on traditional chemicals such as nutrients, heavy metals, pesticides, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs). More recently, however, there has been an increasing concern about other chemicals, so-called contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), for which much additional research needs to be conducted regarding relevant analytics, environmental concentrations, legislation, and (eco)toxicological effects. Even the definition of CECs has yet reach a consensus, but the term is usually used to refer to human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, nanomaterials, personal care products, hormones, and a wide range of industrial xenobiotics such as flame retardants and plasticizers. Ever greater amounts of CECs will be released into the environment in the future, and industrial R&D is far ahead of regulators and academia in this matter. It is very important that the science remain up-to-date, investigating this topic, helping regulators to protect the environment from potential problems associated with the presence of CECs.

This Special Issue welcomes studies on the presence of CECs in the different environments (e.g., soil, surface waters, sediments, groundwaters, drinking waters), from monitoring, degradation, and persistence studies to (eco)toxicological research. The routes of these contaminants into the environment (e.g., wastewater discharge, sludge/biosolid, compost, or manure application to soil, wastewater irrigation, plant protection products), are a very important issue, as are the strategies required to cope with the risk of their entry into or persistence in the environment.

Dr. Paula Alvarenga
Prof. Dr. Patrícia Palma
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • pharmaceuticals
  • nanomaterials
  • personal care products
  • hormones
  • flame retardants
  • plasticizers
  • per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs)
  • microplastics
  • abiotic compartments

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 2381 KiB  
Article
Water Quality Changes in the Xingkai (Khanka) Lake, Northeast China, Driven by Climate Change and Human Activities: Insights from Published Data (1990–2020)
by Yaping Wu, Dan Chen, Yu Liu, Fujia Li, Ping Wang, Rui Wang, Vladimir V. Shamov, A-Xing Zhu and Chunnuan Deng
Water 2024, 16(21), 3080; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16213080 - 28 Oct 2024
Viewed by 677
Abstract
Water quality degradation and eutrophication of lakes are global ecological and environmental concerns, especially shallow lakes. This study collected hydrochemical data from 2935 samples of the Chinese part of Xingkai (Khanka) Lake, based on 40 published papers spanning the period from 2001 to [...] Read more.
Water quality degradation and eutrophication of lakes are global ecological and environmental concerns, especially shallow lakes. This study collected hydrochemical data from 2935 samples of the Chinese part of Xingkai (Khanka) Lake, based on 40 published papers spanning the period from 2001 to 2023. Using the water quality index (WQI), improved geo-accumulation index (Igeo), and redundancy analysis (RDA), we analyzed the overall contamination characteristics of the water environment in Xingkai Lake. Additionally, we explored the impact of climate change and human activities on the lake’s water quality. The results showed that the annual WQI for Xingkai Lake ranged from 47.3 to 72, with a general downward trend, indicating improving water quality. Notably, the average WQI in May and total nitrogen (TN) content decreased significantly, signaling further improvement in water quality. The average concentration of TN in sediments was 1401.3 mg/kg, reflecting mild contamination. The Igeo values for the heavy metals Hg and Cr were greater than 1, indicating moderate contamination, while the Igeo values for Cd and Pb were between 0 and 1, which is in the range of uncontaminated to moderately contaminated. Land use and climate change (average annual temperature and annual precipitation) were key factors influencing water quality, with cumulative explanatory ratios of 67.3% and 50.1%. This study utilized land-use change as a metric for human activities, highlighting the potential impacts of climate change and human activities on the water quality of Xingkai Lake. It offers vital insights for the sustainable management of Xingkai Lake and provides valuable references into the management of similar transboundary lakes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Soil and Water Environment)
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25 pages, 1668 KiB  
Article
Contaminant of Emerging Concerns in Modder River Catchment of Free State: Implication for Environmental Risk and Water Sources Protection
by Saheed Adeyinka Oke
Water 2024, 16(17), 2494; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16172494 - 2 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1041
Abstract
This study was aimed at monitoring the occurrence and potential sources of emerging contaminants in water sources within the Modder River catchment. Selected water quality indicators were analysed by Hanna multi-parameter meters. Emerging contaminants such as acetaminophen, carbamazepine, ibuprofen, atrazine, simazine, metolachlor, terbuthylazine, [...] Read more.
This study was aimed at monitoring the occurrence and potential sources of emerging contaminants in water sources within the Modder River catchment. Selected water quality indicators were analysed by Hanna multi-parameter meters. Emerging contaminants such as acetaminophen, carbamazepine, ibuprofen, atrazine, simazine, metolachlor, terbuthylazine, 17-alpha-ethinyl-estradiol, estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone were analysed by high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. The sources of emerging contaminants were determined by statistical methods such as Pearson correlation and hierarchical cluster analysis. Results showed that all the sampled water sources have some level of questionable drinking water quality and necessitate some amount of treatment to reduce the contamination before consumption, especially DO, EC, and pH. The 17-alpha-ethinyl-estradiol mean values in rivers (7.79 and 31.55 µg/L), dams (1.83 and 6.90 µg/L), and treated drinking water (0.2 and 0.73 µg/L) were the highest in summer and autumn seasons, respectively. Wastewater effluents, domestic sewage, urban surface runoff, agricultural runoff, and illegal dumping were identified as the possible sources of emerging contaminants pollution. Waste management education, proper application of herbicides, and advance wastewater treatment methods were some of the suggested mitigation strategies. The outcomes may be relevant for environmental protection and water sustainability in the catchment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Soil and Water Environment)
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14 pages, 3928 KiB  
Article
Study of Steroid Estrogen Loss in Soil after the Application of Composted Manure as a Fertilizer
by Jimeng Feng, Jian Shen, Yani Li, Lina Chi, Xinze Wang and Jiangping Qiu
Water 2024, 16(10), 1374; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16101374 - 11 May 2024
Viewed by 895
Abstract
Steroid estrogens (SEs) play a significant role as endocrine-disrupting substances, and one of their major sources is animal manure. However, there is limited information available regarding the loss of SEs in farmland soil after the application of commercial composted animal manure or fertilizers. [...] Read more.
Steroid estrogens (SEs) play a significant role as endocrine-disrupting substances, and one of their major sources is animal manure. However, there is limited information available regarding the loss of SEs in farmland soil after the application of commercial composted animal manure or fertilizers. To address this gap, our study aimed to simulate rainfall and flood irrigation scenarios and investigate the loss characteristics of SEs, as well as Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Nitrogen (TN), and Total Phosphorus (TP) in runoff from soil–manure mixtures. The results demonstrated that the loss concentrations of SEs (73.1 ng/L of the mean E2β active equivalent factor) presented a potential environmental risk. Additionally, substituting composted manure with commercial organic fertilizers lead to a significant reduction in TP (maximum 56%) and TN (maximum 24%) loss. Consequently, the application of commercial organic fertilizers offers considerable advantages in maintaining nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization efficiency while controlling SEs loss. Furthermore, our study explored the synergistic pollution mechanism among these pollutants and observed significant correlations between SEs and TN, TP, and COD loss concentrations, indicating the simultaneous occurrence and migration of these pollutants in agricultural non-point source pollution. These results provide valuable insights into the environmental risk associated with SEs from agricultural non-point sources. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Soil and Water Environment)
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