About this Research Topic
Biological contaminants in water and wastewater are one of the chief health hazards linked with global environmental health. A slew of health and environmental hazards associated with these contaminants are chronic, recalcitrant, and bioaccumulative. Increasing biological contaminants in the water and wastewater calls for a need to assess the risks associated with the contaminants, identify the source, monitor, analyze the toxicity, treat, and incorporate safety standards for improved environmental health. Hence, developing robust analytical and effective treatment technologies is vital to managing these contaminants in water and wastewater. This Research Topic covers a broad range of biological contaminants, including but not limited to viruses, algae, bacteria, antibiotic-resistant genes, parasites, and algal toxins that are known to affect public health and the environment adversely. The focus will be on the source, occurrence, analysis, toxicity, fate, treatment, environmental health impacts, and safety standards of these biological contaminants.
Water is essential for the sustenance of life. Hence it is of utmost importance for people to have access to safe and clean drinking water. At the same time, it is equally important to keep our aquatic environment uncontaminated from the wastewater we generate. Many contaminants are toxic and can adversely affect humans and the environment. To tackle this challenge, it is crucial to monitor these contaminants, understand their toxicity, know their fate in aquatic environments and treatment plants, and develop novel analytical and treatment techniques. Thus, leading to an effective reduction in the public and environmental health concerns caused by the presence of these biological contaminants in water and wastewater matrices.
We welcome original research articles, review papers, and short communications on this Research Topic. We welcome all scientists/researchers working in this field to provide contributions discussing their findings from conducting wet laboratory experiments, field studies, theoretical analyses, and models. The sub-topics to be covered in this Research Topic include but are not limited to the following;
● Occurrence, fate, detection, and monitoring of biological contaminants
● Toxicity of biological contaminants
● Analysis, treatment, and remediation of biological contaminants
● Sources, pathway, stability, and risk assessment of biological contaminants
● Microbial water quality
● Microbial source tracking
● Environmental and health impacts of biological contaminants
● Safety standards and regulatory activities of biological contaminants in water and wastewater
● Fecal pollution and wastewater-based epidemiology
● Transformation pathway of biological contaminants
● Transformation or by-products of biological contaminants during treatment
Topic editor Dr Vivek Pulikkal is employed by Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc., Charlotte, USA. All other topic editors declare no competing interests concerning the Research Topic subject.
Water is essential for the sustenance of life. Hence it is of utmost importance for people to have access to safe and clean drinking water. At the same time, it is equally important to keep our aquatic environment uncontaminated from the wastewater we generate. Many contaminants are toxic and can adversely affect humans and the environment. To tackle this challenge, it is crucial to monitor these contaminants, understand their toxicity, know their fate in aquatic environments and treatment plants, and develop novel analytical and treatment techniques. Thus, leading to an effective reduction in the public and environmental health concerns caused by the presence of these biological contaminants in water and wastewater matrices.
We welcome original research articles, review papers, and short communications on this Research Topic. We welcome all scientists/researchers working in this field to provide contributions discussing their findings from conducting wet laboratory experiments, field studies, theoretical analyses, and models. The sub-topics to be covered in this Research Topic include but are not limited to the following;
● Occurrence, fate, detection, and monitoring of biological contaminants
● Toxicity of biological contaminants
● Analysis, treatment, and remediation of biological contaminants
● Sources, pathway, stability, and risk assessment of biological contaminants
● Microbial water quality
● Microbial source tracking
● Environmental and health impacts of biological contaminants
● Safety standards and regulatory activities of biological contaminants in water and wastewater
● Fecal pollution and wastewater-based epidemiology
● Transformation pathway of biological contaminants
● Transformation or by-products of biological contaminants during treatment
Topic editor Dr Vivek Pulikkal is employed by Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc., Charlotte, USA. All other topic editors declare no competing interests concerning the Research Topic subject.
Keywords: microbial contaminants, biological contaminants, water, wastewater, public health, environmental health, toxicity, monitoring, transformation pathway, environmental fate, environment
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
