Principal Themes
Theme 1
Arsenic in Environmental Media
- Origin and distribution of arsenic in groundwater, mobility and transport in aquifers.
- Microbial, biochemical and geochemical processes including elemental speciation of arsenic.
- Anthropgenic accelerated release of arsenic due to mining – Arsenic as technically enhanced geogenic contaminant.
- Arsenic in contaminated soils and sediments.
- Anthropogenic sources of arsenic.
- Impact of climate change and climate variability on the mobility of arsenic in water, soil and atmospheric environments.
- Arsenic in the atmosphere, the risk of arsenic in particulate matter (PM2.5) from natural and anthropogenic environments.
- Analytical advances in elemental speciation analysis of arsenic in water, solids and biota.
Photo Credits: Taiwan – ©Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, with permission, Bolivia – photo by Roger Thunvik, Argentina – photo by Roger Thunvik, Mexico – photo by Jochen Bundschuh
Theme 2
Arsenic and Food
- Arsenic transfer from water to plants: water/soil – rhizosphere.
- Arsenic uptake from roots to shoots and grains/fruits.
- Arsenic bio-availability, bio-accessibility and molecular mechanisms of bio-transformation.
- Arsenic elemental speciation and toxicity of arsenic in rice ecosystems.
- Arsenic elemental speciation and transformation.
- Arsenic in freshwater and marine biota/food.
- Anthropogenic arsenic sources in agricultural applications.
Photo Credits: P.R. China – Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, Taiwan – ©Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, with permission, As Level – ©Elsevier, with permission
Theme 3
Arsenic and Health
- Epidemiology of arsenic impacts on human and animal health.
- Biomarkers as indicators of arsenic exposure.
- Risk assessment of chronic ingestion and co-exposure to other elemental species.
- Arsenic elemental speciation and toxicity of arsenic in food.
- Arsenic elemental speciation and toxicity of arsenic in processed food and beverages.
- Arsenic threshold values for drinking and irrigation water as well as food – relevance of considering elemental species in regulations.
- Arsenic risk maps.
Photo Credits: Nicaragua – ©Nuevas Esperanzas, with permission, Argentina – photo by Angel de Rosario Storniolo, Nicaragua – photo by Alina Gómez Cuevas, Taiwan – ©Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, with permission, Nicaragua – photo by Jochen Bundschuh
Theme 4
Drinking Water Arsenic and Remediation
- Membrane technologies using renewable energy sources and energy-efficient technologies.
- Technologies based on absorption, co-precipitation and ion exchange.
- Low-cost, low maintenance solutions for rural communities and single households.
- Nanotechnology applications for arsenic treatment-immobilisation.
- Zero waste and reagent-less processes.
- In-situ technologies for mitigation of arsenic in groundwater.
- Microbial technologies (bacteria, fungi, protozoa, biofilms, algae) including targeted genome editing of the respective microbes for arsenic mitigation.
- Innovative technologies and methods of arsenic removal.
Photo Credits: Bangladesh – photo by Jan Hoinkis, Nicaragua – photo by Jochen Bundschuh, USA Arizona – photo by Paul Sylvester, Bangladesh – photo by Md. Jakariya, Bangladesh – photo by Prosun Bhattacharya, Chile – photo by Roger Thunvik, Bangladesh – photo by Md. Jakariya, India – photo by Jan Hoinkis, Chile – photo by Roger Thunvik, Bangladesh – photo by Prosun Bhattacharya, Sansibar – photo by Jan Hoinkis
Theme 5
Restoration and Mitigation of As-contaminated Sites
- Restoration of areas impacted by arsenic from mining activities.
- Mitigation of arsenic-rich paddy fields.
- Restoration of areas impacted by industrial activities.
- Restoration of agricultural areas contaminated by agrochemicals.
- Phytoremediation/Phytoextraction processes.
- Microbial technologies.
Photo Credits: USA – photo by Lena Ma, USA – photo by Lena Ma
Theme 6
Social, Political & Regulatory Issues
- Arsenic, hunger, gender imbalances and poverty.
- Societal implications of long-term exposure to arsenic.
- Behavioural factors and alternatives.
- Societal involvement for mitigation of long-term exposure.
- Policy implications and water safety plans.
- Financial viability and options to overcome economic barriers for the provision of arsenic-safe water.
- Education, training and networking.
- The 1 μg/L limit for arsenic in drinking water – is it technically achievable and affordable?
Photo Credits: Argentina – photo by Roger Thunvik, Bolivia – photo by Roger Thunvik, Argentina – photo by Roger Thunvik, Bolivia – photo by Roger Thunvik, Argentina – photo by Roger Thunvik
