New Insights on Pollution and Remediation of Trace Elements in Coastal and Estuarine Sediments

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Quality and Contamination".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2022) | Viewed by 13756

Special Issue Editors

Department of Earth Sciences, Environment and Resources, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cintia 21, 80126 Naples, Italy
Interests: organic and inorganic pollutants; adsorption/desorption; transport; chemical process; marine pollution; recovery; coastal marine environments
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Vicinale Cupa Cintia 21, 80126 Naples, Italy
Interests: ecotoxicology; bioaccumulation; water contamination; biomagnification; wastewater and sewage sludge; mitigation/remediation; modelling; atmospheric pollution; pesticide residues
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Trace elements, TEs, are the most significant concentrating pollutants in sediments of coastal and Estuarine sediments. These environments are identified as the world's most heavily polluted aquatic environments by TEs. Enormous quantities of TEs were disposed in the estuarine and coastal areas because of rapid urbanization and discharges of domestic effluents, industry, fossil fuel burning, mining, groundwater use, physical and chemical weathering, and mobilization of historic contaminated sediment. In the aquatic environment, sediments have been widely used as environmental indicators for the assessment of TEs pollution and during transportation TEs undergo frequent changes due to dissolution, precipitation, and sorption phenomena that affect their performance and bioavailability. A further problem is given by their high persistence and to the potential bioavailability to aquatic organisms. With the word TEs we can identify a large set of elements including typical metals, such as lead and iron; metalloids, such as arsenic and radionuclides as radium and radon as well as metal engineered nanoparticles (MENPs) and metal earth elements (MEEs). These latter two groups of elements are central in several critical technologies; their use is constantly increasing as is their release into the environment. Open issues regard the determination of the sources, the quantification of the interactions of TEs with marine sediments, the ecotoxicology on marine fauna, and the identification of the principal biotic and abiotic factors that may alter toxicity. Little is known about their transfer potential into the food web. The exact pathways of toxicity and the co-stressors to best mimic conditions observed in nature need also to be investigated in other phyla besides the traditional Mollusca. Gaps also exist on their fate under conventional and innovative reclamation techniques of polluted marine sediments. The purpose of the Special issue is to publish the most exciting research with respect to the above subject and to give a rapid tool to the freely publication and dissemination of the articles for research, teaching, and reference purposes.

We wish to invite you to submit a manuscript on new insights on pollution and remediation of TEs in coastal and estuarine sediments. As a top expert in this field, we think you are the perfect candidate to submit an article to be possibly published in a Special Issue of the journal Water.

Prof. Dr. Michele Arienzo
Prof. Dr. Luciano Ferrara
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • trace elements
  • metal engineered nanoparticles (ENPs)
  • metal earth elements (MEEs)
  • marine environment
  • sources identification
  • fate and effects
  • ecotoxicology
  • analytical techniques
  • sediment reclamation
  • innovative techniques
  • behaviour and modelling

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 2373 KiB  
Article
Environmental Background Values and Ecological Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Watershed Sediments: A Comparison of Assessment Methods
by Jianbo Liao, Xinyue Cui, Hai Feng and Shangkun Yan
Water 2022, 14(1), 51; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14010051 - 27 Dec 2021
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 5114
Abstract
The distribution and assessment of heavy metal pollution in sediments have been extensively studied worldwide. Risk assessment methods based on total content, background values, and sediment quality guidelines are widely applied but have never been compared. We systematically sorted out these evaluation methods, [...] Read more.
The distribution and assessment of heavy metal pollution in sediments have been extensively studied worldwide. Risk assessment methods based on total content, background values, and sediment quality guidelines are widely applied but have never been compared. We systematically sorted out these evaluation methods, obtained evaluation results using actual monitoring data, and compared their applicability. The results showed that the background values of different metals are significantly different, which may depend on their mobility. Geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and enrichment factor (EF) values invariably decreased with the increase of background values for individual heavy metal enrichment risk assessment. Compared with EF, Igeo also showed a significant positive linear correlation with heavy metal content. Pollution load index (PLI), modified contamination degree (mCd), and potential ecological risk index (RI) showed significant differences in response to background values and evaluation levels for the comprehensive risk of heavy metal enrichment, but their distribution trends along with the sampling points were basically identical. Toxic risk index (TRI), mean ERM quotient (mERMQ), and contamination severity index (CSI) were used to evaluate the damage degree of complex heavy metals to aquatic organisms and shared a similar whole-process distribution trend. The modified hazard quotient (mHQ), which is used to evaluate the toxicity of a single heavy metal to aquatic organisms, showed a significant positive linear correlation with the total content of each heavy metal, indicating that the toxic effect on organisms can be predicted through the direct monitoring. The results of this study have important guiding significance for the selection of evaluation methods for heavy metal pollution in sediments. Full article
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Review

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22 pages, 1798 KiB  
Review
Environmental Fate of Metal Nanoparticles in Estuarine Environments
by Michele Arienzo and Luciano Ferrara
Water 2022, 14(8), 1297; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14081297 - 15 Apr 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2186
Abstract
In the last decade, metal engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) have seen an exponential use in many critical technologies and products, as well an increasing release into the environment. Coastal ecosystems worldwide may receive ENM-polluted waters and wastes, with a consequent alteration of habitats and [...] Read more.
In the last decade, metal engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) have seen an exponential use in many critical technologies and products, as well an increasing release into the environment. Coastal ecosystems worldwide may receive ENM-polluted waters and wastes, with a consequent alteration of habitats and contamination of aquatic biota. There is a scarcity of data regarding the fate of these emerging contaminants in such environments. Open issues include the determination of the sources, the quantification of the interactions with marine sediments, the bioaccumulation pathways, the ecotoxicology on marine fauna and the identification of the principal biotic and abiotic factors that may alter metal ENMs toxicity. Little is known about their potential transference into the food web, as well toxicity features and co-stressors of single or multiple ENMs under laboratory and real environmental conditions for various taxonomic phyla. This review reports current knowledge on the ecological impact of ENMs under the complex environmental conditions of estuary systems, identifies gaps in current knowledge and provides directions for future research. Full article
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23 pages, 10440 KiB  
Review
Advances in the Fate of Rare Earth Elements, REE, in Transitional Environments: Coasts and Estuaries
by Michele Arienzo, Luciano Ferrara, Marco Trifuoggi and Maria Toscanesi
Water 2022, 14(3), 401; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14030401 - 28 Jan 2022
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 5613
Abstract
The production of rare earth elements, REE, has significantly increased over the past years, in parallel with the latest advances in nanotechnologies and representing a new group of emerging contaminants. They find application in construction, transport, agriculture, electronics, catalysis, and biomedicine. Their extraordinary [...] Read more.
The production of rare earth elements, REE, has significantly increased over the past years, in parallel with the latest advances in nanotechnologies and representing a new group of emerging contaminants. They find application in construction, transport, agriculture, electronics, catalysis, and biomedicine. Their extraordinary intrinsic characteristics are fundamental for overcoming current technological challenges. The accumulation of REE is consistent in near-shore waters being affected by runoff, wastewater discharge, and proximity to built-up areas. Bioavailability in water, sediments, and accumulation in marine biota as well their endocrine disruptor effect is mostly unknown. There is a significant gap of knowledge on the ecotoxicological behaviour of REE in marine areas. The existing investigations have been performed inside well-mixed estuarine systems, due to complex hydrodynamics and multiple sediment transport situations. This hampers the definition of regulatory thresholds for REE concentrations and emissions. The review summarizes the existing information on REE geochemistry and physicochemical conditions influencing dissolution, surface complexation reactions, and distribution at the continent–ocean interface, as well as their speciation, bioavailability, and detrimental effects on living organisms. Strategies for reducing REE usage and inputs are also discussed. Full article
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