Drinking Water Quality and Human Health

Dear Colleagues,

Drinking water is a vital need and it is critical to manage the quality of drinking water for safe human consumption. The presence of a wide range of organic, inorganic and biological substances in drinking water (contaminants of emerging concern; CECs) can adversely affect its quality and may impact human health and the environment depending on exposure levels and routes.

Due to the increased use of chemicals and increasing precision of analytical methods, the number of substances detected in water is increasing. Although the measured concentrations of individual substances are, in many cases, so low that no significant health impact is expected, new insights into health effects and combination toxicity can give rise to concerns. The focus lies on the reduction in emissions, including the EU Green Deal, and the management of exposure to trace elements of natural origin (such as arsenic, chromium, nickel and manganese).

Water polluted with human pathogens is the major cause of waterborne infections, leading to many cases of diarrhea, yearly killing nearly a million people globally. Pathogens, including pathogenic viruses, largely enter the water cycle as a result of inappropriate sanitation. The rise of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria worldwide is already having a major impact on health care, and the water cycle plays an important role in transmission. High levels of antibiotics in the environment are resulting in multiresistance in many species.

Health can thus be impacted by different types of CEC, with different health effects, sources and mitigation options. The prioritization of health risk mitigation measures poses a challenge for water quality managers and policy makers worldwide. This Special Issue invites research articles and critical comprehensive reviews that explore new methods or surveys for drinking water quality with respect to (the management of) exposure and health risk assessment in drinking water sources, with a focus on prioritization for decision-making and health risk management.

Dr. Milou M.L. Dingemans
Dr. Luc Hornstra
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.