Health risk assessment of heavy metal pollution in groundwater of a karst basin,SW China

To investigate the presence of metal elements and assess their health risk for the populace in the Nandong Underground River Basin(NURB),we conducted an analysis of eleven common heavy metals in the water body.A Health risk assessment(HRA)model was employed to analyze 84 water samples from the NURB.The detection results revealed the following order of heavy metals concentrations:Fe>Al>Mn>Zn>As>Cd>Pb>Cr>Ni>Cu>Hg.Correlation analysis indicated a certain similarity in material source and migration transformation among these eleven metal elements.Our study identified that the health risks for local residents exposed to metal elements in the water of NURB primarily stem from carcinogenic risk(10^(−6)–10^(−4)a^(−1))through the drinking water pathway.Moreover,the health risk of heavy metal exposure for children through drinking water was notably higher than for adults.The maximum health risks of Cr in both underground and surface water exceeded the recommendation standard(5.0×10^(−5)a^(−1))from ICRP,surpassing the values recommended by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency,the Dutch Ministry of Construction and Environment and the British Royal Society(5.0×10^(−6)a^(−1)).The results of the health risk assessment indicate that Cr in the water of NURB is the primary source of carcinogenic risk for local residents,followed by Cd and As.Consequently,it is imperative to control these three carcinogenic metals when the water was used as drinking water resource.

Quantitative Evaluation of Heavy Metal Pollution and Its Influencing Factors in Water Bodies of Karst Areas

At present, there is relatively little research on the synergistic effects of heavy metals in soil, sediment, and bedrock on heavy metal pollution in water bodies. In this paper, heavy metals in soil, sediment, bedrock, and water of a typical karst watershed in southwest China were investigated. The results indicated that the average values of heavy metals in soil and sediment were relatively higher than those in bedrock except for Ni and As. During the research period, As and Cd were the main heavy metal elements polluting the soil and sediment in the study area, while water bodies were mainly polluted by Ni, As, and Cd. The pollution assessment indicated that there were instances of poor or very poor water quality in the study area during the study period;the soil as a whole was slightly polluted by Cd and As;sediment was subject to moderate Cd pollution and mild As pollution. Analysis of geochemical form for heavy metals showed that heavy metals in soil and sediment were mainly in residual form, and the proportions of exchangeable As and Cd were relatively high. Multiple statistical analysis showed that heavy metals in sediment, soil, and bedrock explained 23.8%, 16.8%, and 16.2% of the changes in heavy metals of water, respectively. The research results can provide scientific basis for the prevention and control of heavy metal pollution in water bodies.

Pollution and health risk assessment of heavy metals in waters around mine sites of Elazig(Eastern Turkey)

Turkey’s Eastern Anatolia Region is the oldest known mineral mining area of Maden and Alacakaya.Chromite production in the Alacakaya field constitutes 50% of the country’s exports,and copper mines in the Maden region account for approximately 12% of the country’s copper production.There is a risk of water pollution due to significant mine waste which affects the Inci and Maden rivers.The water needs of many settlements are met from these streams,which run through these two mine sites.This study investigated the water pollution in the rivers.25 water samples were collected during the dry and rainy periods,and the Al,Cr,Cu,Fe,Li,Mn,Ni,Pb,Sr and Zn contents of these samples were examined in terms of health.Evaluation of element concentrations and creation of spatial distribution maps were performed using ArcGIS software.Spatial distribution maps,correlation and cluster analysis indicate that the source of heavy metals observed in waters is mine fields.The heavy metal content of the samples is higher in the dry period,the high concentration values are obtained from the mine sites,the decrease in the concentrations throughout the flow during the rainy period,are indicators of the effect of the mines on the water pollution.As a result of the comparison from the analysis results of water samples with World Health Organization(WHO),Environmental Protection Agency(EPA)and European Commission(EC)standards,the element values of Al,Cr,Fe,Mn,Ni and Pb exceeded the permissible values for health.The concentrations of these elements for dry period samples are:0-6.411 mg L^(-1),0.006-0.235 mg L^(-1),0-13.433 mg L^(-1),0-0.316 mg L^(-1),0-0.495 mg L^(-1),0-0.065mg L^(-1),and for rainy period samples are 0-1.698mg/L,0-0.2 mg L^(-1),0-9.033 mg L^(-1),0-0.173 mg L^(-1),0-0.373 mg L^(-1),0-0.034 mg L^(-1),respectively.Although the waters in the region are polluted by heavy metals,it has been determined that there is no noncarcinogenic hazard as a result of the calculation of the hazard index(HI<1)by ingestion and dermal contact within the scope of human health risk assessment.This study will be beneficial as it draws attention to the prevention of the negative effects of water pollution,which may cause serious health problems in the future as a result of mining activities in the region.

Level of Bacteriological and Physicochemical Pollution of Surface Waters in Rural Area: The Case of Mbankomo Municipality (Center Region, Cameroon)

A study aimed at evaluating the physicochemical and bacteriological quality of surface water was therefore carried out in a few watercourses in the municipality of Mbankomo, located in the Center Region (Cameroon). The physico-chemical parameters were measured according to the standard method. The organic pollution index (OPI) was determined from the contents of nitrates, phosphates, and ammoniacal nitrogen to characterize the level of organic pollution of the water. The microorganisms sought were total flora, indicators of faecal contamination like total coliforms, faecal coliforms, feacal streptococci and Escherichia coli, as well as the species Clostridium perfringens. The organic pollution index indicates a high-level organic pollution level during the small rainy season and high to moderate during the small dry season. High concentrations of the total and fecal coliforms, streptococci fecal, Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens respectively of 1712 × 105 CFU/100mL;82 × 105 CFU/100mL;10 × 105 CFU/100mL;27 × 105 and 40 × 103 CFU/100mL, all higher than WHO standards, indicate that the waterways of Mbankomo are subject to feacal pollution and harbor pathogenic microflora. The cell densities of main bacteria were significantly correlated with main abiotic parameters, such as Escherichia coli, which was significantly correlated with the pH of the water (r = 0.35;p < 0.05). The variation of organic pollution index category means correspond to a high level of organic pollution during the small rainy season and a high to moderate level during the small dry season. The deterioration of the quality of these waters is favored by their proximity to sources of pollution (toilets, plantation), the runoff of the waters contaminated, the use of detergents and wrong maintenance. These waters without any treatment are not recommendable for human consumption according to standards of the World Health Organization.

The Fulfillment of Government Responsibilities in the Collaborative Governance of Rural Water Pollution

Rural environmental pollution is becoming more and more serious, which has become an important problem to be solved urgently in our country under the background of the new era. Protecting the ecological environment is one of the important functions of the government, and protecting the rural water environment is the unshirkable responsibility of the local governments. As the main body of rural water pollution control, how to define and fulfill the local governments’ responsibilities is of great significance to the advancement of the overall governance work. This paper starts from the local governments, which are the important main body of rural environmental governance. By comparing the similarities and differences between the performance of government responsibilities under the traditional governance model and the collaborative governance model, clarifies the governance responsibilities of the local governments. And further explores the effective measures for the government to play the main role, fulfill the main responsibilities, and participate in the collaborative governance of rural water pollution.

Heavy metals pollution in water,suspended matter and surface sediment in typical mountainous urban river:A case study in Qingshui Stream in Chongqing,China

Based on a detailed environmental investigation of the whole Qingshui Stream catchments,samples of water and surface sediments were collected at 15 different places from the upper to the lower reaches of Qingshui Stream,and samples of suspended matter were obtained by filtrating the water samples. The concentrations of heavy metals (Cd,Cu and Zn) were measured in filtered water,suspended matter,and surface sediment by ICP-AES. The results show that the concentrations of the three heavy metals in filtered water are 0.18,6.6 and 17.67 μg/L,lower than that of the Fresh Water Quality Criteria (US EPA) and those of the plain urban rivers,but the contents of Cd,Cu and Zn are much higher than the mean values of rivers in the world and the background value in Jialing River basin. The heavy metals concentrations in the suspended matter from Qingshui Stream are 2.08,438.14 and 1 348.05 mg/kg,much higher than the corresponding background values of soils in Chongqing city. The heavy metals concentrations in the surface sediment from Qingshui Stream are 0.84,189.75 and 838.23 mg/kg,and the values of index of geoaccumulation Igeo of Cd,Cu and Zn show that their pollution degrees are moderate. The heavy metals exist in three transferable forms such as water,suspended matter and surface sediment in Qingshui Stream. The heavy metals concentrations in water are the lowest,and those in the suspended matter are the highest,so the ecological risk in suspended matter is the highest. The distribution tendencies of three metals in water,suspended matter and surface sediment in main riverbed are different.

Model for water pollution remote sensing based on double scattering and its application in the Zhujiang River outfall

It is a valid route for quantitatively remote sensing on water pollution to build a model according to the physical mechanisms of scattering and absorbing of suspended substance, pollutant, and molecules of water. Remote sensing model for water pollution based on single scattering is simple and easy to be used, but the precision is affected by turbidity of water. The characteristics of the energy composition of multiple scattering, are analyzed and it is proposed that, based on the model of single scattering, if the flux of the second scattering is considered additionally, the precision of the model will be remarkably improved and the calculation is still very simple. The factor of the second scattering is deduced to build a double scattering model, and the practical arithmetic for the calculation of the model is put forward. The result of applying this model in the water area around the Zhujiang(Pearl) River outfall shows that the precision is obviously improved. The result also shows that the seriously polluted water area is distributed in the northeast of Lingding Sea, the Victoria Bay of Hong Kong, and the Shengzhen Bay.

Integrated Control of Agricultural Non-point Source Pollution to Provide Safe and Healthy Drinking Water for Rural Areas

Agricultural non-point source pollution has become the main part of water pollution prevention and control in China. This paper made a brief introduction to the causes and hazards of agricultural non-point source pollution and the current situation of agricultural non-point source pollution prevention and control in China. In view of the serious agricultural non-point source pollution in water environment of Guangxi and the difference in quality of drinking water between urban and rural areas,it came up with recommendations for strengthening agricultural non-point source pollution prevention and control from scientific distribution,linked operation and maintenance,popular science education,and legal system construction,to guarantee safe and healthy drinking water in rural areas.

Microplastic pollution in surface water and sediments of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: Current status and causes

To study the current status and causes of the microplastic pollution in surface water of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,this paper compared the average microplastic abundance in sediments and surface water of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the results are as follows.First,the average microplastic abundance in surface water of the independent rivers and the whole area is 247−2686 items/m^(3) and 856 items/m^(3),respectively.The average microplastic abundance in sediments of independent rivers or lakes and the whole area is 0−933 items/m^(2) and 362 items/m^(2),respectively.Meanwhile,the degree of microplastic pollution in river sediments is higher than that in lake sediments,and the rivers suffering from microplastic pollution mainly include the Brahmaputra River,Tongtian River,and Nujiang River.Second,compared with the microplastic pollution in other areas of the world,the levelof microplastic pollution in the lakes and rivers of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau is not lower than that of well-developed areas with more intensive human activities.Finally,this study suggests that relevant government departments of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau should strengthen waste management strategies while developing tourism and that much attention should be paid to the impacts of microplastics in the water environment.

Sources and health risks of nitrate pollution in surface water in the Weihe River watershed,China

Owing to the significant reductions in streamflow and an increase in human activities in recent years,the quality of surface water in Weihe River continues to pose environmental health concerns.We utilized hydrochemistry and nitrogen and oxygen isotopes to elucidate the status and identify sources of nitrate pollution in the south and north banks for three seasons(flood,dry,and mean-flow periods)in the Weihe River watershed.A Bayesian isotope mixing model was applied to estimate the contributions of four potential NO_(3)-sources to river pollution(manure and sewage,soil nitrogen,inorganic fertilizer,and nitrate in precipitation).The U.S.Environmental Protection Agency(USEPA)evaluation model was implemented to evaluate the health risks associated with nitrate pollution in the surface water.Nitrate pollution was most severe during the dry period because the river flow was small.Due to the influence of the topography and land use type of the Weihe River,the pollution in the main stream was greater than that of the tributaries,and the pollution of the south bank was greater than that of the north bank.During the flood and mean-flow periods,δ^(15)N and δ^(18)O were mainly distributed in the NH_(4)^(+) of the fertilizer and soil nitrogen.During the dry period,δ^(15)N and δ^(18)O were mainly distributed in domestic sewage and manure regions.According to the Stable Isotope Analysis in R(SIAR)model,manure and sewage were the major nitrate sources during the dry period(73%).However,a decrease in the contribution from domestic sewage and manure was observed during the flood period(45%)compared to the dry period,but with a significantly increased contribution from soil nitrogen(23%)and inorganic fertilizer(21%).The health risk value in the dry period was higher than that in the wet and mean flow periods,and children are more susceptible to nitrate pollution than adults.Therefore,reducing the discharge of domestic sewage and manure and improving the utilization rate of nitrogen fertilizers may be effective measures to improve water quality in the watershed.

Water Pollution and Environmental Governance of the Tai and Chao Lake Basins in China in an International Perspective

The Tai and Chao Lake basins are currently facing a serious water pollution crisis associated with the absence of an effective environmental governance system. The water pollution and the water governance system of the two basins will be compared. The reasons for water pollution in both basins are similar, namely the weak current water environmental governance system cannot deal with the consequences of the rapidly growing economy. China’s water governance system is a complicated combination of basin management with both departmental management and regional management. There is an absence of legal support and sound coordination mechanisms, resulting in fragmented management practices in the existing water environmental governance system. A comparison is made for the Tai and Chao Lake basins and Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. Based on China’s present central-local governance structure and departmental system, an integrated reform of basin level and water environmental governance in China should learn from international experiences. The reforms could consist of improved governance structures, rebuilding authoritative and powerful agencies for basin management, strengthening the organizational structure of the basin administrations, improving legislation and regulatory systems for basin management and enhancing public participation mechanisms.

The Challenges of Water Pollution, Threat to Public Health, Flaws of Water Laws and Policies in Pakistan

In an era of unprecedented urbanization, population and industrial growth pressure is serious threat for the water management in Pakistan in present days. Water pollution from raw sewage, industrial wastes, and agricultural runoff limited natural fresh water resources in the country. Human health is facing serious problems due to deteriorating drinking water quality. Current review paper provides an insight to the water quality problems in Pakistan with an attempt to emphasize the challenges of water laws enforcement. Although Pakistan has developed many water laws the state of implementation is dominant, intermediate pollution crises are still remaining. We could come to the conclusion that strictly enforcement is compulsory for water environment regulations in Pakistan. Moreover, it is necessary to establish a reliable risk assessment system for water quality, human health and ecological safety.

The river chief system and agricultural non-point source water pollution control in China

As part of their efforts to control water pollution,local governments in China introduced the river chief system,whereby a named individual undertakes responsibility for protecting a specified waterway.As one of the most prominent sources of water pollution,agricultural non-point-source(NPS)pollution is becoming increasingly serious.Determining whether the river chief system,an institutional reform in China's decentralized environmental regulation regime,is effective in alleviating NPS pollution is important for the realization of green development.The effect of the river chief system on reducing agricultural NPS pollution is explored in this study using panel data from 308 Chinese counties during the period from 2004 to 2015.The results reveal that the negative impact of manure output from animal breeding operations on surface water quality is reduced with the implementation of the river chief system.However,the river chief system is ineffective in dealing with the water pollution caused by fertilizer use.Furthermore,in the current system,cooperation among river chiefs only occurs within a province.Local governments should increase their efforts in reducing fertilizer source loads and preventing fertilizer loads from entering surface waters.In addition,the central government should improve cooperation among the river chiefs in upstream and downstream provinces.

WATER POLLUTION IN CHINA:CURRENT STATUS, FUTURE TRENDS AND COUNTERMEASURES

Based on the statistical data related to water pollution in recent years, this paper firstly describes in detail the current status of water pollution and water quality in rivers, lakes, reservoirs, groundwater and coastal waters in China, then makes a comprehensive analysis on future trends of water pollution in China. The authors hold that the economic power, technology level and management level have determinative influences on the current status and future trends of water pollution. At last, this paper discusses briefly the policies and measures for preventing and controlling water pollution in the light of the national conditions.

Prediction of Trend between Water Environment Pollution of D Lake and Death Rate of Malignancy in Population

Grey system analysis method was used to study the correlation between water pollution in D Lake area and death rate of malignancy with death rate of malignancy as effect sequence and a variety of water pollution index as factor sequence. On the basis of grey correlation analysis, grey system predication model was established for death rate of malignancy in population in D Lake area including GM (1, N) model for death rate of malignancy [ MR (t+1) =(9.9987E 1+5.0001E 2 +10.8994E 3+1.1114E 4+165.1029) ·e -0.0070t -9.9987E 1-5.0001E 2-10.8994E 3-1.1114E 4 ] and GM (1, 1) model for related factors [ E 1(t+1) =52.1214-46.9468e -0.0058t , E 2(t+1) =4.6114-4.5664e 0.0015t, E 3(t+1) =1.1389-1.1212e 0.0065t , E 4(t+1) = 554.5867-549.8006e 0.0016t ], and the trend of death rate of malignancy from 2000 to 2010 was predicted.

Advances of studies on biomonitoring of water pollution in China

The progress of biomonitoring on water pollution in recent years in China has been summarized in this paper.

Satellite-observed significant improvement in nearshore transparency of the Bohai Sea during pollution control

The Bohai Sea(BS)is the unique semi-closed inland sea of China,characterized by degraded water quality due to significant terrestrial pollution input.In order to improve its water quality,a dedicated action named“Uphill Battles for Integrated Bohai Sea Management”(UBIBSM,2018–2020)was implemented by the Chinese government.To evaluate the action effectiveness toward water quality improvement,variability of the satelliteobserved water transparency(Secchi disk depth,Z_(SD))was explored,with special emphasis on the nearshore waters(within 20 km from the coastline)prone to terrestrial influence.(1)Compared to the status before the action began(2011–2017),majority(87.3%)of the nearshore waters turned clear during the action implementation period(2018–2020),characterized by the elevated Z_(SD)by 11.6%±12.1%.(2)Nevertheless,the improvement was not spatially uniform,with higher Z_(SD)improvement in provinces of Hebei,Liaoning,and Shandong(13.2%±16.5%,13.2%±11.6%,10.8%±10.2%,respectively)followed by Tianjin(6.2%±4.7%).(3)Bayesian trend analysis found the abrupt Z_(SD)improvement in April 2018,which coincided with the initiation of UBIBSM,implying the water quality response to pollution control.More importantly,the independent statistics of land-based pollutant discharge also indicated that the significant reduction of terrestrial pollutant input during the UBIBSM action was the main driver of observed Z_(SD)improvement.(4)Compared with previous pollution control actions in the BS,UBIBSM was found to be the most successful one during the past 20 years,in terms of transparency improvement over nearshore waters.The presented results proved the UBIBSM-achieved remarkable water quality improvement,taking the advantage of long-term consistent and objective data record from satellite ocean color observation.

Assessment of Heavy Metals Pollution of Some Water Resources (Kafr El-Dawar—Egypt)

Kafr El-Dawar is a major industrial city and a municipality on the Nile Delta in northern Egypt. Kafr El-Dawar area is unfortunately suffering from many factories that let out their waste water into the irrigation canal and agricultural drains. Twenty five water samples were collected from five water resources to assess their heavy pollution. The determination of heavy metals (HV) water resources content conducted to compose the following increasing HV concentration sequences;Drain Abu Qir (DA): Min (Cu)_Max (Zn), Canal Dbora Deufsho (CD): Min (Cu)_Max (Zn), Drain Dbora Abu Qir (DD): Min (Cu)_Max (Fe), Drain Kafr Dawar Deufsho (DK) : Min (Cu)_Max (Mn) and Drain Yarn and Fabric (DY) Min (Cu)_Max (Zn). Distribution patterns of HV concentration of water resources were (a) wide spread-distribution (Cr, Co, Mn), (b) moderately spread distribution pattern (Cu, Ni, Pb),and (c) narrow spread distribution pattern (Fe, Cd, Li and Zn) . The association study conducted to classify the HV concentration into three groups;positively highly correlated HV: (Pb_Cd), (Pb_Co), (Pb_Cr), (Cd_Co), (Zn_Fe), (Cr_Co), (Ni_Co) and (Ni_Fe), negatively highly correlated HV: (Pb_Mn), (Cd_Mn), (Mn_Cu) and (Co_Li) and intermediate cases (non-significant positive and negative intercorrelation) that was represented by the other cases. The low values of contamination factor, of short term use (CfiST), showed that the majority of HV concentration, of the studied water resources was at safe use level. This certainly with exception of the cases of cadmium that classified the water resources DA and CD, and DD into polluted and risky levels, respectively. The high values of contamination factor, of long term use (CfiLT), indicated that the studied water resources were mainly contaminated by Cd, Co and Cr heavy metals. Contrary, the low values of (CfiLT) of Zn, Fe, Li, Ni, Pb and Cu, all studied water resources are safe. Contamination degree index (Cd) indicated the safe use at short term of water resources (DA), (CD) and (DD), and (DY) water resources were highly contaminated. According to (Cd) values, moderate risk is expected if we use the water resource (DK), even in the short term. As for the long term use, all studied water resources were highly contaminated that they cannot be absolutely used in the long run.

Water Pollution with Special Reference to Pesticide Contamination in India

The pesticides belong to a category of chemicals used worldwide as herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, ro-denticides, molluscicides, nematicides, and plant growth regulators in order to control weeds, pests and dis-eases in crops as well as for health care of humans and animals. The positive aspect of application of pesti-cides renders enhanced crop/food productivity and drastic reduction of vector-borne diseases. However, their unregulated and indiscriminate applications have raised serious concerns about the entire environment in general and the health of humans, birds and animals in particular. Despite ban on application of some of the environmentally persistent and least biodegradable pesticides (like organochlorines) in many countries, their use is ever on rise. Pesticides cause serious health hazards to living systems because of their rapid fat solu-bility and bioaccumulation in non-target organisms. Even at low concentration, pesticides may exert several adverse effects, which could be monitored at biochemical, molecular or behavioral levels. The factors af-fecting water pollution with pesticides and their residues include drainage, rainfall, microbial activity, soil temperature, treatment surface, application rate as well as the solubility, mobility and half life of pesticides. In India organochlorine insecticides such as DDT and HCH constitute more than 70% of the pesticides used at present. Reports from Delhi, Bhopal and other cities and some rural areas have indicated presence of sig-nificant level of pesticides in fresh water systems as well as bottled drinking mineral water samples. The ef-fects of pesticides pollution in riverine systems and drinking water in India has been discussed in this review.