The emerging foodborne and waterborne pathogen, Arcobacter, has been linked to various gastrointestinal diseases. Currently, 19 species are established or proposed; consequently, there has been an increase in the number of publications regarding Arcobacter since it was first introduced in 1991. To better understand the potential public health risks posed by Arcobacter, this review summarizes the current knowledge concerning the global distribution and the prevalence of Arcobacter in food and water. Arcobacter spp. were identified in food animals, food‐processing environments and a variety of foods, including vegetables, poultry, beef, dairy products, seafood, pork, lamb and rabbit. A wide range of waterbodies has been reported to be contaminated with Arcobacter spp., such as wastewater, seawater, lake and river water, drinking water, groundwater and recreational water. In addition, Arcobacter has also been isolated from pets, domestic birds, wildlife, zoo and farm animals. It is expected that advancements in molecular techniques will facilitate better detection worldwide and aid in understanding the pathogenicity of Arcobacter. However, more extensive and rigorous surveillance systems are needed to better understand the occurrence of Arcobacter in food and water in various regions of the world, as well as uncover other potential public health risks, that is antibiotic resistance and disinfection efficiency, to reduce the possibility of foodborne and waterborne infections.

Diet and drinking water are suggested to be major exposure pathways for perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). In this study, food items and water from Faroe Islands sampled in 2011/2012 were analyzed for 11 perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and 4 perfluoroalkane sulfonic acids (PFSAs). The food samples included milk, yoghurt, crème fraiche, potatoes, fish, and fish feed, and the water samples included surface water and purified drinking water. In total, nine PFCAs and four PFSAs were detected. Generally, the levels of PFAS were in the lower picogram per gram range. Perfluorobutanoic acid was a major contributor to the total PFASs concentration in water samples and had a mean concentration of 750 pg/L. Perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA) was predominating in milk and wild fish with mean concentrations of 170 pg/g. Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) was most frequently detected in food items followed by PFUnDA, perfluorononanoic acid, and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Levels of PFUnDA and PFOA exceeded those of PFOS in milk and fish samples. Prevalence of long-chain PFCAs in Faroese food items and water is confirming earlier observations of their increase in Arctic biota. Predominance of short-chain and long-chain homologues indicates exposure from PFOS and PFOA replacement compounds.

This study examined the potential of the water-food-energy nexus in Jordan, as there are strong connections between these pillars that will help to ensure a sustainable future. The focus was on the dual relationship between the three sectors, namely the relationship between water and energy, between water and food, and between energy and food. Currently there are several processes arising from the problems associated with the three sectors that ought to be addressed to avoid negative consequences. Increased demand, shortage of supply, climate change, economic aspects, and population growth are among the numerous factors negatively affecting the water, energy, and food sectors that should be considered in order to achieve sustainability. Having studied the mutual relationship between the three sectors. This research will examine the potential solution of renewable energy technologies to address some of the trade-offs between water, energy and food, bringing substantial benefits in all three sectors. It was established that renewable energy appears to be an essential solution to enhance all the sectors combined. Jordan, for instance, receives abundant energy from the sun and wind. It was concluded that the exploitation of renewable energy is the essential solution needed to meet the challenges facing all three sectors, and thus promote the advancement of the country. It is possible to exploit the energy of the sun and wind in Jordan to produce the quantities of energy needed to desalinate sea water and irrigate the plants in order to provide the population with the food they need in order to live.

In this study, Sea Water Bread (SWB), made with food grade sea water was compared with control bread made with Tap Water (TWB). Sea water’s influence on chemical-nutritional properties of bread was investigated. Contents of salt, macro/micro-elements, basic nutrients, polyphenols, antioxidant activity, olfactory characteristics, and volatile components were analyzed. Chlorides’ analysis showed SWB had a lower salt content than TWB and it was confirmed by ICP-OES investigation. An electronic nose confirmed differences between the groups of aromatic molecules of the bread typologies, as well as the profiles of the volatile molecules by GC-MS.

The link between metal exposure and toxicity is complicated by numerous factors such as exposure route. Here, we exposed a marine fish (juvenile blackhead seabream Acanthopagrus schlegelii schlegelii) to copper either in a commercial fish diet or in seawater. Copper concentrations in intestine/liver were correlated linearly with influx rate, but appeared to be less influenced by uptake pathway (waterborne or dietary exposure). Influx rate best predicted Cu accumulation in the intestine and liver. However, despite being a good predictor of mortality within each pathway, influx rate was not a good predictor of mortality across both exposure pathways, as waterborne Cu caused considerably higher mortality than dietary Cu at a given influx rate. We show that the use of gill Cu accumulation irrespective of the exposure route as a model for observed fish mortality provided a clear relationship between accumulation and toxicity. Investigation of gill Cu accumulation may shed light on the different accumulation strategies from the two exposure pathways. This correlation offers potential for the use of branchial Cu concentration as an indicator of long-term Cu toxicity, allowing for differences in the relative importance of the uptake pathways in different field situations.

The increase in population coupled with rising per capita income and associated change in consumption habits will put unprecedented stress on food, energy and water (FEW) resources. Sustainable and reliable fresh water supply is central for life and also for all sectors that support our existence. Uncertainty on water security prompted interest in investigation of renewable energy driven desalination processes. One particularly promising option is to produce fresh water from the two most abundant resources on earth: solar energy and seawater. In this study, using Solar Electricity, Water, Food and Chemical (SEWFAC) process synthesis concept, we explore and identify synergistic integration alternatives of multi stage flash desalination, solar thermal power, and hydrogen production processes. The promising options have been analyzed by detailed process simulation and optimization using an integrated Aspen Plus and MATLAB modeling environment. The proposed process designs can meet the water and electricity demand with rather high conversion efficiencies. Furthermore, integration of solar hydrogen production and hydrogen-fired power plant can enable continuous production of fresh water and electricity in solar-rich water-poor regions. In addition to other metrics, we have evaluated the performance of the desalination process from power point of view with a new metric, Electricity Equivalent Water (EEW) to demonstrate the marginal energy penalty of desalination. Integration of thermal desalination processes with electricity and hydrogen production is a synergistic alliance and can play a pivotal role in approaching FEW nexus.

Groups of 0+ Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) smolts were transferred to duplicate seawater tanks, and subjected to five different ration levels, 0% (starved), 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% (full fed). Waste feed was collected after each meal. After six weeks all groups were re-fed in excess. During the trial period body weight and length increased significantly in the 50, 75 and 100% groups, while no significant changes in body weight were observed in the 0% and 25% groups. A significant decrease in SGR was observed in the 0 and 25% groups during the first month in sea water. After re-feeding, SGR increased in all groups. All groups, except the previously starved group, showed peak SGR between weeks 6-8 and 8-12. Food restriction at 0% and 25% of full ration for a period of six weeks resulted in significant osmotic disturbances. After six weeks in sea water, plasma Cl⁻ levels were higher in the 0% group than in the other groups. Branchial Na⁺,K⁺-ATPase activity increased in all groups following exposure to seawater. Re-feeding caused a transient increase in branchial Na⁺,K⁺-ATPase activity after two weeks in the previously starved group, with a concurrent reduction in plasma Cl⁻ levels. Previous exposure to different ration levels significantly influenced growth rate and mean body size. Compensatory growth and partial size compensation was seen in the 0, 25 and 50% feed deprivation groups, whereas full size compensation was found in the 75% group.

Global aquatic ecosystems are essential to human existence and have deteriorated seriously in recent years. Understanding the influence mechanism of habitat variation on the structure of the food-web allows the effective recovery of the health of degraded ecosystems. Whereas most previous studies focused on the selection of driving habitat factors, the impact of habitat variation on the food-web structure was rarely studied, resulting in the low success rate of ecosystem restoration projects globally. This paper presents a framework for exploring the effects of spatial variations in water quality and hydrological habitat factors on the food-web structure in city waters. Indices for the evaluation of the food-web structure are first determined by integrating model-parameter extraction via literature refinement. The key water quality and hydrological factors are then determined by coupling canonical correspondence analysis with partial least squares regression. Their spatial variation is investigated using spatial autocorrelation. Finally, fuzzy clustering is applied to analyze the influence of the spatial variations in water quality and hydrological factors on the food-web structure. The results obtained in Ji'nan, the pilot city of water ecological civilization in China, show that the Shannon diversity index, connectance index, omnivory index, and the ratio of total primary production to the total respiration are important indicators of food-web structural change. They show that the driving factors affecting the aquatic food-web structure in Ji'nan are hydrological factors (e.g., river width, water depth, and stream flow), physical aspects of water quality (e.g., air temperature, water temperature, electrical conductivity, and transparency), and chemical aspects (e.g., potassium, dissolved oxygen, calcium, and total hardness). They also show that the stability of the food-web is more prone to spatial variations in water quality than in hydrological factors. Higher electrical conductivity, potassium, total hardness, and air temperature lead to deteriorated food-web structures, whereas better transparency improves structure and stability. We found that water and air temperature are the most important factors in the spatial variation of the food-web structure in the study area, followed by total hardness. Transparency is the least important factor. Large disparities and varied spatial distributions exist in the driving effects of water quality and hydrological factors across regions attributable to differences in geographical environments, water salinity (fresh vs. sea water), and environmental factors (e.g., water pollution). The above methods and results serve as a theoretical and scientific basis for a high success rate of aquatic ecosystem restoration projects in the study area and other cities worldwide.

In this study, ultralayered Co₃O₄ adsorbent was synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The surface area of the solid material was found to be 75.5m²g⁻¹ by BET method. The ultralayered Co₃O₄ was used for the first time as an effective adsorbent for the preconcentration of the Pb(II) ions in various samples prior to flame atomic absorption detection. Analytical parameters affecting the solid phase extraction of Pb(II) such as pH, adsorption and elution contact time, eluent volume and concentration, sample volume and common matrix ions were investigated. The recovery values for Pb(II) were found to be ≥92% even in the presence of 75,000mgL⁻¹ Na(I), 75,000mgL⁻¹ K(I), and 75,000mgL⁻¹ Ca(II) ions. 10s vortexing time was enough for both adsorption and elution contact times. The elution was easily made with 2mL of 2.0molL⁻¹ HNO₃. The reusability (170 cycles) and adsorption capacity (35.5mgg⁻¹) of ultralayered Co₃O₄ were excellent. The preconcentration factor of the method and detection limit were found to be 175 and 0.72µgL⁻¹, respectively. The described method was validated with certified reference material (RM 8704 Buffalo River Sediment, BCR-482 Licken and SPS-WW1 Batch 111-Wastewater) and spiked real samples. It was also applied for the preconcentration of Pb(II) ions in various water (well water, mineral water, waste water and sea water), food (cauliflower and barley), street sediment and tobacco samples.

A simple, rapid, sensitive and environmentally friendly separation and preconcentration procedure, based on the carrier element free coprecipitation (CEFC) of Cu(II) and Cd(II) ions by using an organic coprecipitant, 2-{[4-(4-fluorophenyl)-5-sulphanyl-4H-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl]methyl}-4-{[(4-fluorophenyl) methylene]amino}-5-(4-methylphenyl)-2,4-dihydro-3H-1,2,4-triazol-3-one (MEFMAT) was developed. The analyte ions were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometric (FAAS) determinations. The optimum conditions for the coprecipitation process were investigated on several commonly tested experimental parameters such as pH of the solution, amount of MEFMAT, sample volume, standing time, centrifugation rate and time. The influences of some anions, cations and transition metals on the recoveries of analyte ions were also investigated, and no considerable interference was observed. The preconcentration factor was found to be 50. The detection limits for Cu(II) and Cd(II) ions based on the three times the standard deviation of the blanks (N:10) were found to be 1.49 and 0.45μgL⁻¹, respectively. The relative standard deviations were found to be lower than 3.5% for both analyte ions. The method was validated by analyzing two certified reference materials (CRM-TMDW-500 Drinking Water and CRM-SA-C Sandy Soil C) and spike tests. The procedure was successfully applied to sea water and stream water as liquid samples and tobacco, hazelnut and black tea as solid samples.