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Environmental and Health Effects Associated with Wastewater Pollution, Treatment and Reuse

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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 "Water Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 16271

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Alessandra Cincinelli

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemistry, Università degli Studi di Firenze, 50121 Florence, Italy
Interests: waste water treatment plants; persistent organic pollutants; emerging compounds; microplastics; heavy metals; human health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water has become a scarce resource in the world, so municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are crucial for achieving water quality objectives and removing and/or reducing pollutants from wastewater before effluents are discharged into the environment. Moreover, recent technological developments and changes in attitudes toward wastewater reuse have become key aspects in water demand management in order to promote fresh water protection and reduce pollution and supply costs.

This Special Issue will include studies on the modernization of traditional technologies and/or the development of new different (bio)-remediation technologies for a more efficient removal of traditional contaminants (i.e., COD, BOD, nitrogen, phosphorous, heavy metals, nutrients, and pathogens) in water and wastewater in order to meet the regulatory requirements for water quality.

In addition, the widespread use of endocrine disrupting compounds and the release of new emerging contaminants, such as microplastics, antibiotics, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products, into the water environment requires further monitoring investigations and scientific analyses to determine their occurrence in wastewater, as well as to determine WWTPs’ removal efficiencies to protect water ecosystems and public health. In fact, the quality of wastewater effluents can be responsible for the degradation of the receiving water bodies and for bioaccumulation in aquatic life.

Moreover, the common practice in developing countries of reusing wastewater for irrigation purposes requires further investigations into the potential health and ecological risks associated with this practice. Studies on the application of models will be also fundamental as important decision support tools for water management. Manuscripts, position papers, and reviews addressing these topics are all welcome in this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Alessandra Cincinelli
Guest Editor

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.

Keywords

waste water treatment plant
emerging compounds
models
water management
water treatment technologies

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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32 pages, 87477 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Designing Ecological Security Patterns Based on the Framework of Ecological Quality and Ecological Sensitivity: A Case Study of Jianghan Plain, China

by Xueping Su, Yong Zhou and Qing Li

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(16), 8383; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168383 - 08 Aug 2021

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 3486

Abstract

Researchers and managers of natural resource conservation have increasingly emphasized the importance of maintaining a connected network of important ecological patches to mitigate landscape fragmentation, reduce the decline of biodiversity, and sustain ecological services. This research aimed to guide landscape management and decision-making by developing an evaluation framework to construct ecological security patterns. Taking the Jianghan Plain as the study area, we identified key ecological sources by overlaying the spatial patterns of ecological quality (biodiversity, carbon storage, and water yield) and ecological sensitivity (habitat sensitivity, soil erosion sensitivity, and water sensitivity) using the Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model and the Chinese Soil Loss Equation Function. Ecological corridors were obtained by the least-cost path analysis method and circuit theory. A total of 48 ecological sources (3812.95 km²), primarily consisting of water area, forestland, and cropland, were identified. Ninety-one ecological corridors were derived, with a total length of 2036.28 km. Forty barriers and 40 pinch points with the highest improvement coefficient scores or priority scores were selected. There were 11 priority corridors with very high levels of connectivity improvement potential and conservation priority, occupying 16.15% of the total length of corridors. The overall potential for ecological connectivity is high on the Jianghan Plain. Our framework offers a valuable reference for constructing ecological security patterns and identifying sites for ecological restoration at the regional scale. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental and Health Effects Associated with Wastewater Pollution, Treatment and Reuse)

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Review

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22 pages, 1449 KiB

Open AccessReview

Disparities in Methods Used to Determine Microplastics in the Aquatic Environment: A Review of Legislation, Sampling Process and Instrumental Analysis

by Jan Halfar, Kateřina Brožová, Kristina Čabanová, Silvie Heviánková, Alena Kašpárková and Eva Olšovská

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(14), 7608; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147608 - 17 Jul 2021

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3984

Abstract

Plastic particles smaller than 5 mm, i.e., microplastics, have been detected in a number of environments. The number of studies on microplastics in marine environments, fresh water, wastewater, the atmosphere, and the human body are increasing along with a rise in the amounts of plastic materials introduced into the environment every year, all contributing to a range of health and environmental issues. Although the use of primary microplastics has been gradually reduced by recent legislation in many countries, new knowledge and data on these problems are needed to understand the overall lifecycle of secondary microplastics in particular. The aim of this review is to provide unified information on the pathways of microplastics into the environment, their degradation, and related legislation, with a special focus on the methods of their sampling, determination, and instrumental analysis. To deal with the health and environmental issues associated with the abundance of microplastics in the environment, researchers should focus on agreeing on a uniform methodology to determine the gravity of the problem through obtaining comparable data, thus leading to new and stricter legislation enforcing more sustainable plastic production and recycling, and hopefully contributing to reversing the trend of high amounts of microplastics worldwide. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental and Health Effects Associated with Wastewater Pollution, Treatment and Reuse)

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16 pages, 1631 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Urban River Syndrome: Achieving Sustainability Against a Backdrop of Accelerating Change

by Martin Richardson and Mikhail Soloviev

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(12), 6406; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126406 - 13 Jun 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3404

Abstract

Human activities have been affecting rivers and other natural systems for millennia. Anthropogenic changes to rivers over the last few centuries led to the accelerating state of decline of coastal and estuarine regions globally. Urban rivers are parts of larger catchment ecosystems, which in turn form parts of wider nested, interconnected systems. Accurate modelling of urban rivers may not be possible because of the complex multisystem interactions operating concurrently and over different spatial and temporal scales. This paper overviews urban river syndrome, the accelerating deterioration of urban river ecology, and outlines growing conservation challenges of river restoration projects. This paper also reviews the river Thames, which is a typical urban river that suffers from growing anthropogenic effects and thus represents all urban rivers of similar type. A particular emphasis is made on ecosystem adaptation, widespread extinctions and the proliferation of non-native species in the urban Thames. This research emphasizes the need for a holistic systems approach to urban river restoration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental and Health Effects Associated with Wastewater Pollution, Treatment and Reuse)

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21 pages, 943 KiB

Open AccessReview

Wastewater-Based Epidemiology as an Early Warning System for the Spreading of SARS-CoV-2 and Its Mutations in the Population

by Tomáš Mackuľak, Miroslav Gál, Viera Špalková, Miroslav Fehér, Katarína Briestenská, Miriam Mikušová, Karolína Tomčíková, Michal Tamáš and Andrea Butor Škulcová

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(11), 5629; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115629 - 25 May 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4257

Abstract

New methodologies based on the principle of “sewage epidemiology” have been successfully applied before in the detection of illegal drugs. The study describes the idea of early detection of a virus, e.g., SARS-CoV-2, in wastewater in order to focus on the area of virus occurrence and supplement the results obtained from clinical examination. By monitoring temporal variation in viral loads in wastewater in combination with other analysis, a virus outbreak can be detected and its spread can be suppressed early. The use of biosensors for virus detection also seems to be an interesting application. Biosensors are highly sensitive, selective, and portable and offer a way for fast analysis. This manuscript provides an overview of the current situation in the area of wastewater analysis, including genetic sequencing regarding viral detection and the technological solution of an early warning system for wastewater monitoring based on biosensors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental and Health Effects Associated with Wastewater Pollution, Treatment and Reuse)

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