Advances in the Determination of Trace Metals, Metalloids and Organic Pollutants in Water Samples

Dear Colleagues,

Heavy metals, metalloids and organic pollutions in water may originate from both natural (mineral weathering) and anthropogenic sources (industrial activities, household and hospitals effluents, atmospheric deposition, and traffic related emissions). In recent years, in connection with the development of our society and technological progress, new inorganic and organic contaminants, such as platinum group metals (PGM), rare earth elements (REE), metal nanoparticles, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, personal care products are introduced into water. In water environment these pollutants may be present in dissolved forms  as well as accumulated in the bottom sediments. Despite their low concentrations in the aquatic environment, frequent exposure to them may create a risk to aquatic organisms and human health. Determination of trace metals, metalloids and organic pollutants in water is essential for the evaluation of water quality. Studies on the behaviour and transformations of inorganic and organic pollutants in aquatic environment are crucial to understand their eco-toxicity. For this purpose, the development of interference free analytical methods with good sensitivity and accuracy is still necessary.

In light of the above, we would like to call for papers presenting recent innovative developments within the field of determination of trace metals, metalloids and organic pollutants in water. This special issue of Water is addressed, but not limited to, the following research areas:

• heavy and toxic metals and metalloids in natural and drinking waters, new contaminants as e.g., metal nanoparticles, PGM, REE;
• organic pollutants as e.g., pharmaceuticals, pesticides, personal care products in natural and drinking water;

• development in sample preparation methods, separation and pre-concentration of analytes from interfering matrix;

• advances in determination of these pollutants by spectrometric, voltammetric, chromatographic and other determination methods (including coupled techniques);
• speciation of metals and metalloids in waters;
• quality assurance and quality control in water analysis.

Dr. Barbara Leśniewska
Dr. Julita Malejko
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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.