Geochemistry and Environmental Overview of Water Quality, Exposure, and Linkages to Livelihoods (GEO-WELL)

Water is fundamental to life, agriculture, industry, and ecosystems. Yet, its quality is increasingly compromised by a complex interplay of natural geochemical processes and human activities. Across many regions, particularly in developing and semi-arid areas, groundwater and surface water systems are undergoing significant chemical transformations. These shifts are often driven by interactions between geological formations and anthropogenic pressures such as intensive agriculture, mining, industrial discharge, and urbanization. As a result, communities dependent on these water sources for drinking, irrigation, and daily use face escalating risks to their health, livelihoods, and environmental security.

The GEO-WELL Research Topic aims to address these urgent challenges by bringing together interdisciplinary research that investigates the geochemical and environmental dimensions of water quality. It seeks to deepen our understanding of key processes, such as ion exchange, water-rock interactions, and contaminant transport, and explore how they influence exposure risks and socio-economic outcomes. This Research Topic underscores the critical link between water chemistry and livelihoods, aiming to foster both scientific innovation and actionable solutions for sustainable water resource management.

We welcome contributions that examine the geochemical characterization of water systems, including major ions, minor ions, potentially toxic elements, and emerging contaminants. Studies on the impacts of land use change, agricultural runoff, and industrial pollution are particularly encouraged. Research assessing human exposure, health risks, and mitigation strategies, as well as socio-environmental analyses of water governance and equity, especially in underserved communities are also within scope.

Key themes include:

• Geogenic Contaminants and Health Risks: Natural mobilization of contaminants (e.g., arsenic, fluoride, uranium), regional disease linkages, and risk mitigation.

• Anthropogenic Influences: Agricultural runoff, industrial effluents, emerging pollutants (e.g., PFAS, microplastics), and urbanization impacts.

• Hydrogeochemical Monitoring and Modeling: Isotope tracing, reactive transport modeling, and advanced monitoring technologies.

• Geospatial Mapping and Predictive Modeling of Contaminants: Spatial distribution analysis, GIS-based risk mapping, machine learning for contamination forecasting.

• Medical Geology and Public Health: Water-related disease epidemiology, community-based monitoring, and policy integration.

• Climate Change and Water Quality Dynamics: Hydrological shifts, salinization, redox changes, and adaptive strategies.

We invite a range of manuscript types: original research, reviews, case studies, methodological innovations, and policy or perspective articles. GEO-WELL offers a platform for scientists, practitioners, and policymakers to collaborate on one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. By integrating geochemistry, environmental science, and socio-economic analysis, this Research Topic will contribute to a more holistic understanding of water systems and support the development of strategies that ensure safe, equitable, and sustainable access to water for all.

Keywords: Hydrogeochemistry, Water Quality Assessment, Contaminant Exposure, Medical Geology, Environmental Risk Assessment

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.