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Health-Related Risk Analysis of Groundwater Contamination

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2022) | Viewed by 14516

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jean O’Dwyer

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Guest Editor

Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, T12 K8AF Cork, Ireland
Interests: environment and health; groundwater contamination; climate change and health; waterborne diseasse
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Paul Dylan Hynds

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Guest Editor

Environmental Sustainability & Health Institute, Technological University Dublin, D07 H6K8 Dublin, Ireland
Interests: environmental epidemiology; statistical modelling; environmental microbiology; waterborne disease
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are assembling a Special Issue focusing on the risk analysis of health-related contaminants of groundwater in Water, a peer-reviewed, scientific journal that publishes articles and communications relating to water science and technology, including the ecology and management of water resources. Globally, groundwater is an invaluable resource, providing drinking water to an estimated 2.2 billion people, and thus, its quality, as it pertains to human health, is an important area of research. Both chemical and microbiological contamination of groundwater has been reported in almost every region of the world, with significant impacts on human health. For example, recent research presents clear epidemiological evidence of disease transmission due to groundwater contamination at a global scale, with an estimated 35.2 to 59.4 million cases of acute gastrointestinal infection potentially attributable to groundwater consumption per year. Similarly, both geogenic (e.g., arsenic) and anthropogenic (e.g., nitrate) contaminants pose persistent issues for groundwater users, with the WHO reporting that at least 140 million people across 50 countries are exposed to arsenic-contaminated groundwater at levels above 10 µg/L. Despite the global importance of groundwater as a drinking water supply, there is still a lack of understanding of the myriad impacts of deteriorated groundwater quality on human health as well as the source and transport of both persistent and emerging contaminants through and within the subsurface. This proposed Special Issue aims to highlight new and ongoing research into the “health side” of hydrogeology, showcasing the multidisciplinary approaches needed to understand and prevent groundwater contamination and, vitally, protect people. The Special Issue is open to recent research papers, reviews, short communications, as well as perspectives on any subject area related to groundwater contaminants of human health concern.

Dr. Jean O’Dwyer
Dr. Paul Hynds
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. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2600 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

groundwater
human health
chemical contaminants
microbiological contaminants
geogenic contaminants
emerging contaminants
drinking water

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 4101 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hydrogeochemical Processes and Potential Exposure Risk of Arsenic-Rich Groundwater from Huaihe River Plain, China

by Naizheng Xu, Jianshi Gong, Xiaohu Tao and Lin Liu

Water 2022, 14(5), 693; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14050693 - 22 Feb 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2164

Abstract

Arsenic poses a danger to environmental health, and arsenic-rich groundwater is a key exposure risk for humans. The distribution, migration, and enrichment of arsenic in groundwater is an important environmental and public health problem. Currently, the Huaihe River Basin is identified as a region of arsenic-rich groundwater in China. This study aims to assess arsenic-rich groundwater potential pollution risk, analyze the hydrogeochemical processes, and trace the ion source based on an analysis of groundwater hydrogeochemical data. The results show that arsenic is the main inorganic chemical substances affecting the water quality in the study area, which presents a high exposure risk for public health. The arsenic concentration of groundwater was f 5.75 ± 5.42 μg/L, and 23% of the considered samples exceeded the drinking water standards of the World Health Organization. The groundwater in the study area underwent evaporation, halite dissolution, and ion exchange processes. The total alkalinity (HCO₃⁻) of the arsenic-rich groundwater mainly ranged between 400–700 mg/L, and the chemical type was mainly of HCO₃-Na. In an alkaline environment, the oxidative dissolution and reductive dissolution of arsenic bearing minerals might be the formation mechanism of arsenic-rich groundwater. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health-Related Risk Analysis of Groundwater Contamination)

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19 pages, 6936 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Arsenic Contamination in Groundwater and Potential Health Risk in Western Lampang Basin, Northern Thailand

by Nipada Santha, Saowani Sangkajan and Schradh Saenton

Water 2022, 14(3), 465; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14030465 - 4 Feb 2022

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3619

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate the spatial distribution of arsenic concentrations in shallow and deep groundwaters which were used as sources for drinking and domestic and agricultural uses. A geochemical modeling software PHREEQC was used to simulate equilibrium geochemical reactions of complex water–rock interactions to identify arsenic speciation and mineral saturation indices based on groundwater quality and hydrogeochemical conditions. In addition, the potential health risk from arsenic-contaminated groundwater consumption was assessed based on the method developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The study area is located at the western part of the Lampang Basin, an intermontane aquifer, Northern Thailand. The area is flat and situated in a floodplain in the Cenozoic basin. Most shallow groundwater (≤10 m depth) samples from dug wells were of Ca-Na-HCO₃ and Ca-HCO₃ types, whereas deep groundwater from Quaternary terrace deposits (30–150 m depth) samples were of Na-HCO₃ and Ca-Na-HCO₃ types. High arsenic concentrations were found in the central part of the study area (Shallow groundwater: <2.8–35 mg/L with a mean of 10.7 mg/L; Deep groundwater: <2.8–480 mg/L with a mean of 51.0 mg/L). According to geochemical modeling study, deep groundwater contained toxic As(III), as the dominant species more than shallow groundwater. Arsenic in groundwater of the Lampang Basin may have been derived from leaching of rocks and could have been the primary source of the subsurface arsenic in the study area. Secondary source of arsenic, which is more significant, could be derived from the leaching of sorbed arsenic in aquifer from co-precipitated Fe-oxyhydroxides in sediments. Quantitative risk assessment showed that the average carcinogenic risk values were as high as 2.78 × 10⁻³ and 7.65 × 10⁻³ for adult and child, respectively, which were higher than the acceptable level (1 × 10⁻⁴). The adverse health impact should be notified or warned with the use of this arsenic-contaminated groundwater without pre-treatment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health-Related Risk Analysis of Groundwater Contamination)

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17 pages, 3094 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identify Priority Control Pollutants and Areas of Groundwater in an Old Metropolitan Industrial Area—A Case Study of Putuo, Shanghai, China

by Chuan-Zheng Yuan and Xiang-Rong Wang

Water 2022, 14(3), 459; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14030459 - 3 Feb 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2446

Abstract

Industrial activities have raised widespread concerns about groundwater pollution and human health. Shanghai’s industrial land has been polluting the groundwater for more than 30 years; however, it is not clear whether it poses a risk to human health. This study explores the health risk degree in different groups of groundwater in old industrial areas in Shanghai, China. We selected eight heavy metal elements (As, Cd, Cr, Ni, Hg, Pb, Cu, and Zn) as the research objects and analyzed the characteristics of concentrations and spatial distribution using single factor index and geostatistical analytical methods. Results indicated that the average concentrations of As and Hg were higher than the environmental standards. Meanwhile, As, Ni, Hg and Pb in groundwater were notable anthropogenic inputs. Compared with irrigation cropland, the pollution of Ni, Pb and As in industrial land was obviously more serious. In addition, the health risk assessment results indicated the priority control pollutants of non-carcinogenic risk and carcinogenic risk are As and Cr, respectively. Our results showed that human activities have deeply increased heavy metal concentrations in groundwater, which in turn poses risks to human health. These findings provide scientific support for urban managers to reduce residents’ drinking water risks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health-Related Risk Analysis of Groundwater Contamination)

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20 pages, 3317 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impacts of Land Use Change on Water Quality Index in the Upper Ganges River near Haridwar, Uttarakhand: A GIS-Based Analysis

by Pradip Kumar Maurya, Sk Ajim Ali, Raied Saad Alharbi, Krishna Kumar Yadav, Faisal M. Alfaisal, Ateeque Ahmad, Pakorn Ditthakit, Shiv Prasad, You-Kyung Jung and Byong-Hun Jeon

Water 2021, 13(24), 3572; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13243572 - 13 Dec 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5243

Abstract

The water quality of rivers is deteriorating due to human interference. It is essential to understand the relationship between human activities and land use types to assess the water quality of a region. GIS is the latest tool for analyzing this spatial correlation. Land use land cover, and change detection are the best illustration for showing the human interactions with land features. This study assessed water quality index of the upper Ganges River near Haridwar, Uttarakhand, and spatially correlated it with changing land use to reach a logical conclusion. In the upper course of Ganges, along a 78-km stretch from Kaudiyala to Bhogpur, water samples were collected from five stations. For water quality index, physicochemical parameters like pH, EC, DO, TDS, CaCO₃⁻, CaCO₃, Cl⁻, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, F⁻, Fe²⁺ were considered. The results of the spatial analysis were evaluated through error estimation and spatial correlation. The root mean square error between spatial land use and water quality index at the selected sampling sites was estimated to be 0.1443. The spatial correlation between land use change and site-wise differences in water quality index also showed a high positive correlation, with R² = 0.8455. The degree of positive correlation and root mean square error strongly indicated that the water quality of the river in the upper course of the Ganges is highly impacted by human activities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health-Related Risk Analysis of Groundwater Contamination)

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