Sources and Consequences of Groundwater Contamination

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Abstract

Groundwater contamination is a global problem that has a significant impact on human health and ecological services. Studies reported in this special issue focus on contaminants in groundwater of geogenic and anthropogenic origin distributed over a wide geographic range, with contributions from researchers studying groundwater contamination in India, China, Pakistan, Turkey, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. Thus, this special issue reports on the latest research conducted in the eastern hemisphere on the sources and scale of groundwater contamination and the consequences for human health and the environment, as well as technologies for removing selected contaminants from groundwater. In this article, the state of the science on groundwater contamination is reviewed, and the papers published in this special issue are summarized in terms of their contributions to the literature. Finally, some key issues for advancing research on groundwater contamination are proposed.

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Bacteria and archaea on Earth and their abundance in biofilms

Hans-Curt Flemming, Stefan Wuertz (2019)

Biofilms are a form of collective life with emergent properties that confer many advantages on their inhabitants, and they represent a much higher level of organization than single cells do. However, to date, no global analysis on biofilm abundance exists. We offer a critical discussion of the definition of biofilms and compile current estimates of global cell numbers in major microbial habitats, mindful of the associated uncertainty. Most bacteria and archaea on Earth (1.2 × 1030 cells) exist in the 'big five' habitats: deep oceanic subsurface (4 × 1029), upper oceanic sediment (5 × 1028), deep continental subsurface (3 × 1029), soil (3 × 1029) and oceans (1 × 1029). The remaining habitats, including groundwater, the atmosphere, the ocean surface microlayer, humans, animals and the phyllosphere, account for fewer cells by orders of magnitude. Biofilms dominate in all habitats on the surface of the Earth, except in the oceans, accounting for ~80% of bacterial and archaeal cells. In the deep subsurface, however, they cannot always be distinguished from single sessile cells; we estimate that 20-80% of cells in the subsurface exist as biofilms. Hence, overall, 40-80% of cells on Earth reside in biofilms. We conclude that biofilms drive all biogeochemical processes and represent the main way of active bacterial and archaeal life.

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Emerging organic contaminants in groundwater: A review of sources, fate and occurrence.

D.J. Lapworth, N. Baran, M.E. Stuart … (2012)

Emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) detected in groundwater may have adverse effects on human health and aquatic ecosystems. This paper reviews the existing occurrence data in groundwater for a range of EOCs including pharmaceutical, personal care, 'life-style' and selected industrial compounds. The main sources and pathways for organic EOCs in groundwater are reviewed, with occurrence data for EOCs in groundwater included from both targeted studies and broad reconnaissance surveys. Nanogram-microgram per litre concentrations are present in groundwater for a large range of EOCs as well as metabolites and transformation products and under certain conditions may pose a threat to freshwater bodies for decades due to relatively long groundwater residence times. In the coming decades, more of these EOCs are likely to have drinking water standards, environmental quality standards and/or groundwater threshold values defined, and therefore a better understanding of the spatial and temporal variation remains a priority. Copyright Â© 2012 Natural Environment Research Council. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

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Arsenic Uptake, Toxicity, Detoxification, and Speciation in Plants: Physiological, Biochemical, and Molecular Aspects

Ghulam Abbas, Behzad Murtaza, Irshad Bibi … (2018)

Environmental contamination with arsenic (As) is a global environmental, agricultural and health issue due to the highly toxic and carcinogenic nature of As. Exposure of plants to As, even at very low concentration, can cause many morphological, physiological, and biochemical changes. The recent research on As in the soil-plant system indicates that As toxicity to plants varies with its speciation in plants (e.g., arsenite, As(III); arsenate, As(V)), with the type of plant species, and with other soil factors controlling As accumulation in plants. Various plant species have different mechanisms of As(III) or As(V) uptake, toxicity, and detoxification. This review briefly describes the sources and global extent of As contamination and As speciation in soil. We discuss different mechanisms responsible for As(III) and As(V) uptake, toxicity, and detoxification in plants, at physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels. This review highlights the importance of the As-induced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), as well as their damaging impacts on plants at biochemical, genetic, and molecular levels. The role of different enzymatic (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase, and ascorbate peroxidase) and non-enzymatic (salicylic acid, proline, phytochelatins, glutathione, nitric oxide, and phosphorous) substances under As(III/V) stress have been delineated via conceptual models showing As translocation and toxicity pathways in plant species. Significantly, this review addresses the current, albeit partially understood, emerging aspects on (i) As-induced physiological, biochemical, and genotoxic mechanisms and responses in plants and (ii) the roles of different molecules in modulation of As-induced toxicities in plants. We also provide insight on some important research gaps that need to be filled to advance our scientific understanding in this area of research on As in soil-plant systems.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Peiyue Li:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8771-3369

lipy2@163.com , peiyueli@chd.edu.cn

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Arch Environ Contam Toxicol

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Arch Environ Contam Toxicol

Title: Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology

Publisher: Springer US (New York )

ISSN (Print): 0090-4341

ISSN (Electronic): 1432-0703

Publication date (Electronic): 2 January 2021

Pages: 1-10

Affiliations

[1 ]GRID grid.440661.1, ISNI 0000 0000 9225 5078, School of Water and Environment, , Chang’an University, ; No. 126 Yanta Road, Xi’an, 710054 Shaanxi China

[2 ]GRID grid.440661.1, ISNI 0000 0000 9225 5078, Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effects in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, , Chang’an University, ; No. 126 Yanta Road, Xi’an, 710054 Shaanxi China

[3 ]GRID grid.252262.3, ISNI 0000 0001 0613 6919, Department of Civil Engineering, , Sri Shakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology (Autonomous), ; Coimbatore, India

[4 ]GRID grid.252262.3, ISNI 0000 0001 0613 6919, Department of Geology, CEG, , Anna University, ; Chennai, India

[5 ]GRID grid.412517.4, ISNI 0000 0001 2152 9956, Department of Earth Sciences, , Pondicherry University, ; Kalapet, Pondicherry India

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Peiyue Li http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8771-3369

Article

Publisher ID: 805

DOI: 10.1007/s00244-020-00805-z

PMC ID: 7778406

PubMed ID: 33386943

SO-VID: a731ebc1-fb3b-483c-8fe8-f74bb7363627

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This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.

Sources and Consequences of Groundwater Contamination

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Most cited references 67

Bacteria and archaea on Earth and their abundance in biofilms

Emerging organic contaminants in groundwater: A review of sources, fate and occurrence.

Arsenic Uptake, Toxicity, Detoxification, and Speciation in Plants: Physiological, Biochemical, and Molecular Aspects

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