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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

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