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Occurrence, Fate, Transport and Reactivity of Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Aquatic Ecosystems

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2020) | Viewed by 18260

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Natalia Ospina-Alvarez

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Guest Editor

Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Spain
Interests: Trace metals, Emerging Contaminants, Biogeochemistry

Dr. Haiyan Liu

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Guest Editor

School of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, East China University of Technology, Nanchang 330013, China
Interests: groundwater; hydrogeology; elemental migration; contamination; human health assessment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colelagues,

This Special Issue focuses on Occurrence, Fate, Transport and Reactivity of Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Aquatic Ecosystems (lake, streams, rivers, wetlands, groundwaters, estuaries...). Contaminants of emerging concern are chemical forms that are mostly not regulated or monitored, can cause strong environmental impacts and often are related to human activities. Despite their concentrations often remaining at trace levels (i.e. up to μg/L), those emerging contaminants are potentially linked to toxic effects. Their fates and behaviours in aquatic ecosystems are still not fully understood and their associated risks are not clearly known.

Therefore, it is necessary to characterize and understand their role in aquatic ecosystems, where many of these contaminants are finally discarded. In this Special Issue, we encourage submissions that consider emerging contaminants such as nanoparticles, pharmaceuticals, micro(nano)plastics, and emerging metallic contaminants. We aim to bring together studies on the occurrence, fate, transformations transport and reactivity of emerging contaminants in aquatic ecosystems, as well as discuss the analytical challenges for their determination and quantification.

Regardless of recent advances, public health and health care institutions need a better understanding of the vulnerability of these contaminants of emerging concern, which are distributed widely in the environment. Evidence related to their identification, fate and transport in different environmental compartments is a high priority.

Due to their low concentrations and difficulties during analysis, methodological experiences for analysis of emerging contaminants are very welcome. New analytical capabilities have allowed scientists to identify these chemicals in the environment in extremely small concentrations.

To sum up, we would like to invite authors to submit original research and review articles focused on contaminants of emerging concern, their occurrence, fate, transport and reactivity in aquatic ecosystems.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

Development in detection methods and devices;
Fate and behaviour in aquatic ecosystems;
Emerging contaminants source control and management;
Monitoring in water;
Contaminants of emerging concern associated toxicity and risk assessment;
Technologies and processes for control and removal of contaminants of emerging concern.

Dr. Natalia Ospina-Alvarez
Dr. Haiyan Liu
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.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 2509 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Systematic Analysis of the Relative Abundance of Polymers Occurring as Microplastics in Freshwaters and Estuaries

by John Iwan Jones, Alena Vdovchenko, Dave Cooling, John F. Murphy, Amanda Arnold, James Lawrence Pretty, Kate L. Spencer, Adriaan Albert Markus, A. Dick Vethaak and Marina Resmini

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(24), 9304; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249304 - 12 Dec 2020

Cited by 35 | Viewed by 3969

Abstract

Despite growing interest in the environmental impact of microplastics, a standardized characterization method is not available. We carried out a systematic analysis of reliable global data detailing the relative abundance of polymers in freshwaters and estuaries. The polymers were identified according to seven main categories: polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyurethane and a final category of miscellaneous plastic. The results show that microplastics comprised of polyvinyl chloride and polyurethane are significantly less abundant than would be expected based on global production, possibly due to their use. This has implications for models of microplastic release into the environment based on production and fate. When analysed by matrix (water, sediment or biota) distinct profiles were obtained for each category. Polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene were more abundant in sediment than in biota, while miscellaneous plastics was more frequent in biota. The data suggest that environmental sorting of microplastic particles, influenced by physical, chemical and biological processes, may play a key role in environmental impact, although partitioning among matrices based on density was not realized. The distinct profile of microplastics in biota raises an important question regarding potential selectivity in uptake by organisms, highlighting the priority for more and better-informed laboratory exposure studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Occurrence, Fate, Transport and Reactivity of Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Aquatic Ecosystems)

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18 pages, 2713 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Water Level Decline in a Reservoir: Implications for Water Quality Variation and Pollution Source Identification

by Zixiong Wang, Tianxiang Wang, Xiaoli Liu, Suduan Hu, Lingxiao Ma and Xinguo Sun

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(7), 2400; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17072400 - 1 Apr 2020

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3037

Abstract

Continuous water-level decline makes the changes of water quality in reservoirs more complicated. This paper uses trend analyses, wavelet analysis and principal component analysis-multiple linear regression to explore the changes and pollution sources affecting water quality during a period of continuous reservoir water level decline (from 65.37 m to 54.15 m), taking the Biliuhe reservoir as an example. The results showed that the change of water level of Biliuhe reservoir has a significant 13-year periodicity. The unusual water quality changes during the low water level period were as follows: total nitrogen continued to decrease. And iron was lower than its historical level. pH, total phosphorus, and ammonia nitrogen were higher than historical levels and fluctuated seasonally. Permanganate index increased as water level decreased after initial fluctuations. Dissolved oxygen was characterized by high content in winter and relatively low content in summer. The pollutant sources of non-point source pollution (PC1), sediment and groundwater pollution (PC2), atmospheric and production & domestic sewage (PC3), other sources of pollution (PC4) were identified. The main source of DO, pH, TP, TN, NH₄-N, Fe and COD_Mn were respectively PC3 (42.13%), PC1 (47.67%), PC3 (47.62%), PC1 (29.75%), PC2 (47.01%), PC1 (56.97%) and PC2 (50%). It is concluded that the continuous decline of water level has a significant impact on the changes and pollution sources affecting water quality. Detailed experiments focusing on sediment pollution release flux, and biological action will be explored next. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Occurrence, Fate, Transport and Reactivity of Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Aquatic Ecosystems)

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15 pages, 1493 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Sulfamethoxazole and 2-Ethylhexyl-4-Methoxycinnamate on the Dissimilatory Nitrate Reduction Processes and N₂O Release in Sediments in the Yarlung Zangbo River

by Huiping Xu, Guanghua Lu and Chenwang Xue

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(6), 1822; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17061822 - 11 Mar 2020

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 2590

Abstract

The nitrogen pollution of rivers as a global environmental problem has received great attentions in recent years. The occurrence of emerging pollutants in high-altitude rivers will inevitably affect the dissimilatory nitrate reduction processes. In this study, sediment slurry experiments combined with ¹⁵N tracer techniques were conducted to investigate the influence of pharmaceutical and personal care products (alone and in combination) on denitrification and the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process and the resulting N₂O release in the sediments of the Yarlung Zangbo River. The results showed that the denitrification rates were inhibited by sulfamethoxazole (SMX) treatments (1–100 μg L⁻¹) and the anammox rates decreased as the SMX concentrations increased, which may be due to the inhibitory effect of this antibiotic on nitrate reducing microbes. 2-Ethylhexyl-4-methoxycinnamate (EHMC) impacted nitrogen transformation mainly though the inhibition of the anammox processes. SMX and EHMC showed a superposition effect on the denitrification processes. The expression levels of the denitrifying functional genes nirS and nosZ were decreased and N₂O release was stimulated due to the presence of SMX and/or EHMC in the sediments. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to report the effects of EHMC and its mixtures on the dissimilatory nitrate reduction processes and N₂O releases in river sediments. Our results indicated that the widespread occurrence of emerging pollutants in high-altitude rivers may disturb the nitrogen transformation processes and increase the pressure of global warming. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Occurrence, Fate, Transport and Reactivity of Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Aquatic Ecosystems)

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11 pages, 2784 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Occurrence and Distribution of Uranium in a Hydrological Cycle around a Uranium Mill Tailings Pond, Southern China

by Wenjie Ma, Bai Gao, Yadan Guo, Zhanxue Sun, Yanhong Zhang, Gongxin Chen, Xiaojie Zhu and Chunyan Zhang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(3), 773; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030773 - 26 Jan 2020

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4839

Abstract

Uranium (U) mining activities, which lead to contamination in soils and waters (i.e., leachate from U mill tailings), cause serious environmental problems. However, limited research works have been conducted on U pollution associated with a whole soil-water system. In this study, a total of 110 samples including 96 solid and 14 water samples were collected to investigate the characteristics of U distribution in a natural soil-water system near a U mining tailings pond. Results showed that U concentrations ranged from 0.09 ± 0.02 mg/kg to 2.56 × 10⁴± 23 mg/kg in solid samples, and varied greatly in different locations. For tailings sand samples, the highest U concentration (2.56× 10⁴ ± 23 mg/kg) occurred at the depth of 80 cm underground, whereas, for paddy soil samples, the highest U concentration (5.22 ± 0.04 mg/kg) was found at surface layers. Geo-accumulation index and potential ecological hazard index were calculated to assess the hazard of U in the soils. The calculation results showed that half of the soil sampling sites were moderately polluted. For groundwater samples, U concentrations ranged from 0.55 ± 0.04 mg/L to 3.36 ± 0.02 mg/L with a mean value of 2.36 ± 0.36 mg/L, which was significantly lower than that of percolating waters (ranging from 4.56 ± 0.02 mg/L to 12.05 ± 0.04 mg/L, mean 7.91 ± 0.98 mg/L). The results of this study suggest that the distribution of U concentrations in a soil-water system was closely associated with hydrological cycles and U concentrations decreased with circulation path. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Occurrence, Fate, Transport and Reactivity of Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Aquatic Ecosystems)

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13 pages, 1081 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characteristics and Assessment of Toxic Metal Contamination in Surface Water and Sediments Near a Uranium Mining Area

by Ling Yi, Bai Gao, Haiyan Liu, Yanhong Zhang, Chaochao Du and Yanmei Li

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(2), 548; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020548 - 15 Jan 2020

Cited by 33 | Viewed by 3230

Abstract

Concentrations of potentially toxic metals including Cd, Cu, Pb, Cr, U, Th in surface water and sediment samples collected from a river were analyzed to assess the contaminations, distribution characteristics, and sources of these metals. The contents of the metals were lower than the standard levels set by World Health Organization (WHO) for drinking water. However, U and Th contents were far beyond the background values of surface water. The concentrations of Cd, Cr, and U in sediments were higher than the background values and the Probable Effect Level (PEL) of sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) which may result in high potential harmful biological effects to aquatic ecosystems. Based on the contamination factor (CF), geo-accumulation index (I_geo), and potential ecological risk index (RI), Cd, Cr, and U were considered to be the metals that mainly contribute to the contamination of sediments. The calculation results also indicated that the sites adjacent to the uranium ore field were highly polluted. Results of cluster analysis, principal component analysis, and correlation analysis revealed that Cr, Pb, U, and Th were highly correlated with each other. These metals mainly originated from both anthropogenic sources and natural processes, especially emissions from uranium mining and quarrying, whereas Cd mostly came from anthropogenic sources (agricultural activities) of the upper reaches of the river. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Occurrence, Fate, Transport and Reactivity of Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Aquatic Ecosystems)

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