Arsenic (As) is a highly toxic element which naturally occurs in drinking water. In spite of substantial evidence on the association between many illnesses and chronic consumption of As, there is still a considerable uncertainty about the health risks due to low As concentrations in drinking water. In the Netherlands, drinking water companies aim to supply water with As concentration of < 1 mu g/L - a water quality goal which is tenfold more stringent than the current WHO guideline. This paper provides (i) an account on the assessed lung cancer risk for the Dutch population due to pertinent low-level As in drinking water and cost-comparison between health care provision and As removal from water, (ii) an overview of As occurrence and mobility in drinking water sources and water treatment systems in the Netherlands and (iii) insights into As removal methods that have been employed or under investigation to achieve As reduction to < 1 mu g/L at Dutch water treatment plants. Lowering of the average As concentration to < 1 mu g/L in the Netherlands is shown to result in an annual benefit of 7.2-14 M(sic). This study has a global significance for setting drinking water As limits and provision of safe drinking water.

Studies conducted over the past eight years in Latin America (IA) have continued to produce new knowledge regarding health impacts of arsenic (As) in drinking water. We conducted a systematic review of 92 peer-reviewed English articles published between 2011 and 2018 to expand our understanding on these health effects. Majority of the LA studies on As have been conducted in Chile and Mexico. Additional data have emerged from As-exposed populations in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Uruguay. The present review has documented recent data on the biomarkers of As exposure, genetic susceptibility and genotoxicity, and risk assessment to further characterize the health effects and exposed populations. Some recent findings on the associations of As with bladder and lung cancers, reproductive outcomes, and declined cognitive performance have been consistent with what we reported in our previous systematic review article. We have found highly convincing evidence of in utero As exposure as a significant risk factor for several health outcomes, particularly for bladder cancer, even at moderate level. New data have emerged regarding the associations of As with breast and laryngeal cancers as well as type 2 diabetes. We observed early life As exposure to be associated with kidney injury, carotid intima-media thickness, and various pulmonary outcomes in children. Other childhood effects such as low birth weight, low gestational age, anemia, increased apoptosis, and decreased cognitive functions were also reported. Studies identified genetic variants of As methyltransferase that could determine susceptibility to As related health outcomes. Arsenic-induced DNA damage and alteration of gene and protein expression have been reported. While the scope of research is still vast, the substantial work done on As exposure and its health effects in LA will help direct further large-scale studies for more comprehensive knowledge and plan appropriate mitigation strategies.

Removal of arsenic (As) from water by co-precipitation with Fe(III) (oxyhydr)oxides is a widely used technique in water treatment. Nevertheless, As removal efficiency appears to be sensitive to the composition of the water matrix. The aim of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the independent and combined effects of silicate (Si), phosphate (P), natural organic matter (NOM) and calcium (Ca) on arsenate [As(V)] co-precipitation efficiency and the size of Fe(III) precipitates. We found that, in complex solutions, containing multiple solutes and high levels of Ca, (variations in) Si and P concentrations reduce As(V) removal to some extent, mainly due to a decreased adsorption of As(V) onto Fe(III) precipitates. On the other hand, NOM concentrations reduced As(V) removal to a much greater extent, due to possible formation of mobile Fe(III)-NOM complexes that were difficult to remove by filtration. These findings have a great significance for predicting As(V) removal as a function of seasonal and process-related water quality changes at water treatment plants.

South Africa does not have significant surface water resources, which is often easily affected by unpredictable and rapidly changing climatic variables, due to its location in the arid and semi-arid climatic setting. In large part of the country, groundwater from weathered and fractured crystalline rocks plays pivotal role in sustaining the livelihood, often it contains toxic metals released from the host rocks. The host rocks that are responsible for arsenic release in groundwater are primarily enriched due to metamorphism and igneous processes that resulted in the enrichment of economic minerals. Preliminary assessment indicates that the main arsenic containing minerals are arsenopyrite (FeAsS), arsenical oxide, sulpharsenide, arsenopyritical reefs, leucopyrite, löllingite (FeAs2) and scorodite (FeAsO4·2H2O). Owing to the release of arsenic from highly mineralized rocks that constitute the aquifers, arsenic concentration in the groundwater reaches up to 253 μg/L (Namaqualand), 6150 μg/L (west of Johannesburg), about 500 μg/L in the Karoo aquifers, considerably higher than the WHO guideline value of 10 μg/L. Acid mine drainage from coal and gold mining is also found to be an important source of arsenic and other toxic metals in groundwater.

An overview about the presence of arsenic (As) in groundwaters of Argentina, made by a transdisciplinary group of experts is presented. Aspects on As occurrence, effects of As on human health, regulations regarding the maximum allowable amount of As in drinking water as well as bottled water, and analytical techniques for As determination are presented. The most affected region in Argentina is the Chaco-Pampean plain, covering around 10 million km 2 , where approximately 88% of 86 groundwater samples collected in 2007 exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline value. In the Salí river basin, As concentrations ranged from 11.4 to 1660 μg/L, with 100% of the samples above the WHO guideline value. In the Argentine Altiplano (Puna) and Subandean valleys, 61% of 62 samples collected from surface and groundwaters exceeded the WHO limit. Thus, it can be estimated that, at present, the population at risk in Argentina reaches around four million people. Pathologies derived from the chronic consumption of As, the metabolism of As in the human body and the effects of the different As chemical forms, gathered under the name HACRE (hidroarsenicismo crónico regional endémico in Spanish, for chronic regional endemic hydroarsenicism) are described. Regarding the regulations, the 10 μg/L limit recommended by the WHO and the United States Environmental Protection Agency has been incorporated in the Argentine Food Code, but the application is still on hold. In addition, there is disparity regarding the maximal admitted values in several provinces. Considerations about the As concentrations in bottled water are also presented. A survey indicates that there are several Argentine laboratories with the suitable equipment for As determination at 10 μg/L, although 66% of them are concentrated in Buenos Aires City, and in the Santa Fe, Córdoba and Buenos Aires provinces. Conclusions and recommendations of this first part are provided.

An overview about the presence of arsenic (As) in groundwaters of Argentina, made by a transdisciplinary group of experts is presented. In this second part, the conventional and emerging technologies for As removal, management of wastes, and the initial investment costs of the proposed technologies, with emphasis on developments of local groups are described. Successful examples of real application of conventional and emerging technologies for As removal in waters for human consumption, for medium, small and rural and periurban communities are reported. In the country, the two most applied technologies for arsenic removal at a real scale are reverse osmosis and coagulation-adsorption-filtration processes using iron or aluminum salts or polyelectrolytes as coagulants. A decision tree to evaluate the possible technologies to be applied, based on the population size, the quality of the water and its intended use, is presented, including preliminary and indicative investment costs. Finally, a section discussing the treatment and final disposal of the liquid, semiliquid and solid wastes, generated by the application of the most used technologies, is included. Conclusions and recommendations, especially for isolated rural and periurban regions, have been added.

Nowadays, a spotlight on the direct manipulation of water from the geothermal fields is laid for manifold applications. This manuscript discusses the utilization of water produced from geothermal wells for irrigation and industrial purposes. In order to identify the suitability of the water for the above mentioned uses, various hydrochemical parameters were evaluated. Samples were collected from three geothermal well sites from Unai village, a prominent geothermal field situated in Navsari district, Gujarat, India. The hydrochemistry of the samples collected from hot spring (depth 30–45 m) was studied and samples were examined by calculating different parameters. The complete study was done individually for both industrial and irrigational uses of geothermal water. The mean surface temperature of the water is 55 °C and average pH of the sample studied is 8.12. The key Water Quality Indices (WQI) such as Langelier Saturation Index (LSI), Ryznar Stability Index (RSI), Puckorius Scaling Index (PSI) and Larson-Skold Index (LS) were examined for industrial utilization and the key indices like Sodium Absorption Ratio (SAR), Sodium Percentage (SP), Kelly Ratio (KR) Residual Sodium Carbonate (RSC) and Permeability Index (PI) were examined for irrigational utilization of geothermal water. LSI and RSI values show that carbonate and bicarbonate concentration is in the desirable range, however, LS (15.09, 13.54) is very high which indicates higher Cl- content. High value of indices such as SAR, KR, and SP points out the increased concentration of Na+ in the water sample. The results of this study would help the end users to identify the necessary water-treatments before utilizing the water for industrial and irrigation purposes in the study area.

In this work, we combined macroscopic measurements of precipitate aggregation and chemical composition (Mn/Fe solids ratio) with Fe and Mn K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy to investigate the solids formed by co-oxidation of Fe(II) and Mn(II) with O-2, MnO4, and HOCl in the presence of groundwater ions. In the absence of the strongly sorbing oxyanions, phosphate (P) and silicate (Si), and calcium (Ca), O-2 and HOCl produced suspensions that aggregated rapidly, whereas co-oxidation of Fe(II) and Mn(II) by MnO4 generated colloidally stable suspensions. The aggregation of all suspensions decreased in P and Si solutions, but Ca counteracted these oxyanion effects. The speciation of oxidized Fe and Mn in the absence of P and Si also depended on the oxidant, with O-2 producing Mn(III)-incorporated lepidocrocite (Mn/Fe = 0.01-0.02 mol/mol), HOCl producing Mn(III)-incorporated hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) (Mn/Fe = 0.08 mol/mol), and MnO4 producing poorly-ordered MnO2 and HFO (Mn/Fe > 0.5 mol/mol). In general, the presence of P and Si decreased the crystallinity of the Fe(III) phase and increased the Mn/Fe solids ratio, which was found by Mn K-edge XAS analysis to be due to an increase in surface-bound Mn(II). By contrast, Ca decreased the Mn/Fe solids ratio and decreased the fraction of Mn(II) associated with the solids, suggesting that Ca and Mn(II) compete for sorption sites. Based on these results, we discuss strategies to optimize the design (i.e. filter bed operation and chemical dosing) of water treatment plants that aim to remove Fe(II) and Mn(II) by co-oxidation.

High groundwater arsenic (As) across the globe has been one of the most well researched environmental concerns during the last two decades. Consequently, a large scientific knowledge-base has been developed on As distributions from local to global scales. However, differences in bulk sediment As concentrations cannot account for the As concentration variability in groundwater. Instead, in general, only aquifers in sedimentary basins adjacent to mountain chains (orogenic foreland basins) along continental convergent tectonic margins are found to be As enriched. We illustrate this association by integrating observations from long-term studies of two of the largest orogenic systems (i.e., As sources) and the aquifers in their associated foreland basins (As sinks), which are located in opposite hemispheres and experience distinct differences in climate and land-use patterns. The Andean orogenic system of South America (AB), an active continental margin, is in principle a modern analogue of the Himalayan orogenic system associated with the Indus-Ganges-Brahmaputra river systems in South Asia (HB). In general, the differences in hydrogeochemistry between AB and HB groundwaters are conspicuous. Major-solute composition of the arid, oxic AB groundwater exhibits a mixed-ion hydrochemical facies dominated by Na-Ca-Cl-SO4-HCO3. Molar calculations and thermodynamic modeling show that although groundwater of AB is influenced by cation exchange, its hydrochemical evolution is predominated by feldspar dissolution and relationships with secondary clays. In contrast, humid, strongly reducing groundwater of HB is dominated by Ca-HCO3 facies, suggestive of calcite dissolution, along with some weathering of silicates (monosiallitization). This work demonstrates that although hydrogeochemical evolutionary trends may vary with local climate and lithology, the fundamental similarities in global tectonic settings can still lead to the elevated concentrations of groundwater As.