Special Issue "Drinking Water and Health"

Guest Editor
Dr. Nicholas Frederick Gray
Botany, School of Natural Science, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland
Website: http://tcdlocalportal.tcd.ie/pls/public/staff.detail?p_unit=naturalsciences&p_name=nfgray
E-Mail:
Interests: wastewater treatment; river pollution control and assessment; water treatment; carbon footprint analysis

Dear Colleagues,

The way in which drinking water is perceived and regulated is constantly changing, and this has been reflected in the past decade by a far more rigorous health-based approach in setting water quality guidelines. Changes in climate associated with global warming is seriously affecting sustainability of supplies as well as impacting on water quality. Advances in chemical and microbial analysis are revealing many new contaminants that were previously either undetectable or unknown; while toxicological and epidemiological evidence is continually altering our perception of risk from contaminants.

Water can become contaminated anywhere within the supply chain, at the resource (e.g., arsenic, fluoride, nitrate, organic micro-pollutants, endocrine-disrupting compounds, metals, algal toxins, radon and radionuclides), during treatment (e.g., aluminium, acrylamide, fluoride, disinfection by-products) or distribution (e.g., asbestos, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and even within the home itself (e.g., metals). With pathogens found at all stages of the supply chain. Our understanding of these risks and how to manage them is continuously evolving with new innovative technological and management solutions being introduced in the constant battle to ensure water is safe to drink.

This special edition focuses on the current state of drinking water quality research and how this affects the health and welfare of those who drink it.

Dr. Nicholas Frederick Gray
Guest Editor

Submission

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. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as 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 refereed through a 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 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs).

• drinking water
• microbial pathogens
• drinking water contaminants
• water quality
• risk assessment
• water security
• water safety
• emergency response

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Toxic Constituents of Bottled Drinking Water
Author: Mahmoud A. Saleh
Affiliation: Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas 77004, USA; E-Mail: Saleh_MA@tsu.edu
Abstract: Worldwide consumption of bottled drinking water increased tremendously in the recent years under the public assumption that it is safer than tap water. Now there are concerns about the safety of bottled water. Several harmful chemical, biological, and physical agents ranging from toxic elements, endocrine disruptors (EDs), genotoxic agents, volatile organics, and radioactive elements have been detected in bottled water. In this review, peer reviewed scientific knowledge on harmful agents of bottled water will be thoroughly discussed with emphasis on their sources, mechanisms of formation and toxicological evaluation.

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Risk Assessment of the Unplanned Reuse of an Aquifer Recharged with Wastewater as a Source of Drinking Water
Author: Blanca Elena Jiménez Cisneros
Affiliation: Instituto de Ingeniería UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510 Coyoacan DF, Mexico; E-Mail: BJimenezC@iingen.unam.mx
Abstract: The unplanned reuse of wastewater to supply drinking water to the 500,000 population of the Tula Valley has been occurring for 100 years. The use of raw wastewater (52 m³/s) for agricultural irrigation has allowed the incidental recharge of underground water resources and this infiltrated water meets the Mexican standards for drinking water, although it is only supplied after chlorination. Risk assessments have been carried out on relevant pathogens and organic micropollutants found in the water resources with the specific aim to determine the human risk estimation of water consumption by children less than 15 years of age. Results indicate a potential risk of 10^-4 child/year for development of helmintiasis as one example of the pathogens analyzed, while an expected risk of 1.15x10^-5 child/year may be attributed to disinfection by-products. Any potential risks would be increased due to the presence of emergent contaminants such as endocrine disruptors and pharmaceutical compounds. A new public health policy is needed instead of the traditional drinking water rules, and an appropriate regulation for unplanned wastewater reuse should consider the initial quality of the wastewater.

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Water Quality and Population Health in Arctic Industrial Regions: Case Study Kola Peninsula, Russia
Authors: T.I. Moiseenko, V.V. Megorskii, N.A. Gashkina and L.P. Kudryavtseva
Affiliation: Institute of Geochemistry and Analitical Chemistry of RAS, Moscow, Russia; E-Mail: moiseenko@geokhi.ru (T.I.M.)
Abstract: The pollution of water sources and drinking water in some towns and settlements of the Kola Arctic regions by metals, wastewaters, and airborne emission of mining and metallurgical industry is characterized. The characteristic of vulnerability of natural waters in Arctic regions to anthropogenic pollution is given. Possibility uses of fishes for bioindication toxic properties of waters is shown. Statistical data on population morbidity are given. Relationships were found to exist between water quality indices and heavy metal accumulation in kidney and liver of postmortem examined patients, and the results of their histological, clinical, and postmortem examination are given. The results of comprehensive studies are used to assess the effect of drinking water pollution on the population health in the region.