Water quality in China is becoming a severe challenge for agriculture and food safety, and it might also impact health of population via agriculture and food. Thus, it is causing widespread concern. Based on extensive literatures review and data mining, current situation of water pollution in China and its effects on food safety were analyzed. The 2nd National Water Resource Survey in China show that the surface water all over the country was under slight pollution and about 60% of groundwater is polluted. Drinking water quality is basically guaranteed in urban area but it is worrisome in rural areas. In addition, China is the largest consumer of fertilizer and pesticide in the world and the amounts of application still show increasing trends. Fertilizers and pesticides are the most important sources of pollution, which affect human health as persistent organic pollutants and environmental endocrine disruptors. Eutrophication of surface water and nitrate pollution of groundwater are serious threats to drinking water safety. Sewage irrigation is becoming a pollution source to China's water and land because of lacking of effective regulations. Although, with the advance in technology and management level, control of nitrogen and phosphorus emissions and reducing water pollution is still a major challenge for China.

The Coastal California basin aquifer system (CCB), USA.Understanding the controls on nonpoint source (NPS) nitrate (NO3−) contamination in groundwater is motivated by the widespread detection of NO3−, implications for human health and aquatic ecosystems, groundwater sustainability, and a growing realization that such understanding across spatial scales promotes management and policy choices that optimize the Water–Energy–Food (WEF) Nexus. In the CCB, the conflicts in the WEF Nexus are apparent because of intensive agricultural practices that have contributed to chronic NO3− loading to groundwater. We evaluate the scale-dependent relations among source, transport, and attenuation (STA) factors that control NPS NO3− contamination in recently recharged CCB groundwater. Logistic regression models are presented for sub-regional and regional model domains.Dissolved oxygen (DO) (attenuation) in groundwater is often the most significant STA factor in all model domains, indicating that DO is an important, scale-invariant factor controlling NPS NO3− contamination. Farm fertilizer (source) is also a significant scale-invariant factor, while many of the transport factors are scale-dependent factors. We present vulnerability maps that illustrate the spatial patterns of predicted probability of detected elevated NO3−. Findings here improve knowledge about the scale dependence of STA factors, which help decision makers develop best management strategies and policies that advances groundwater sustainability and optimizes the WEF Nexus.

Dietary exposure to nitrate and nitrite occurs via three main sources; occurrence in (vegetable) foods, food additives in certain processed foods and contaminants in drinking water. While nitrate can be converted to nitrite in the human body, their risk assessment is usually based on single substance exposure in different regulatory frameworks. Here, we assessed the long-term combined exposure to nitrate and nitrite from food and drinking water. Dutch monitoring data (2012–2018) and EFSA data from 2017 were used for concentration data. These were combined with data from the Dutch food consumption survey (2012–2016) to assess exposure. A conversion factor (median 0.023; range 0.008–0.07) was used to express the nitrate exposure in nitrite equivalents which was added to the nitrite exposure. The uncertainty around the conversion factor was taken into account by using conversion factors randomly sampled from the abovementioned range. The combined dietary exposure was calculated for the Dutch population (1–79 years) with different exposure scenarios to address regional differences in nitrate and nitrite concentrations in drinking water. All scenarios resulted in a combined exposure above the acceptable daily intake for nitrite ion (70 µg/kg bw), with the mean exposure varying between 95–114 µg nitrite/kg bw/day in the different scenarios. Of all ages, the combined exposure was highest in children aged 1 year with an average of 250 µg nitrite/kg bw/day. Vegetables contributed most to the combined exposure in food in all scenarios, varying from 34%–41%. Food additive use contributed 8%–9% to the exposure and drinking water contributed 3%–19%. Our study is the first to perform a combined dietary exposure assessment of nitrate and nitrite while accounting for the uncertain conversion factor. Such a combined exposure assessment overarching different regulatory frameworks and using different scenarios for drinking water is a better instrument for protecting human health than single substance exposure.

Dietary exposure to nitrate and nitrite occurs via three main sources; occurrence in (vegetable) foods, food additives in certain processed foods and contaminants in drinking water. While nitrate can be converted to nitrite in the human body, their risk assessment is usually based on single substance exposure in different regulatory frameworks. Here, we assessed the long-term combined exposure to nitrate and nitrite from food and drinking water. Dutch monitoring data (2012–2018) and EFSA data from 2017 were used for concentration data. These were combined with data from the Dutch food consumption survey (2012–2016) to assess exposure. A conversion factor (median 0.023; range 0.008–0.07) was used to express the nitrate exposure in nitrite equivalents which was added to the nitrite exposure. The uncertainty around the conversion factor was taken into account by using conversion factors randomly sampled from the abovementioned range. The combined dietary exposure was calculated for the Dutch population (1–79 years) with different exposure scenarios to address regional differences in nitrate and nitrite concentrations in drinking water. All scenarios resulted in a combined exposure above the acceptable daily intake for nitrite ion (70 µg/kg bw), with the mean exposure varying between 95–114 µg nitrite/kg bw/day in the different scenarios. Of all ages, the combined exposure was highest in children aged 1 year with an average of 250 µg nitrite/kg bw/day. Vegetables contributed most to the combined exposure in food in all scenarios, varying from 34%–41%. Food additive use contributed 8%–9% to the exposure and drinking water contributed 3%–19%. Our study is the first to perform a combined dietary exposure assessment of nitrate and nitrite while accounting for the uncertain conversion factor. Such a combined exposure assessment overarching different regulatory frameworks and using different scenarios for drinking water is a better instrument for protecting human health than single substance exposure.

La nappe plio-quaternaire de la zone synclinale d'Essaouira constitue l'une des ressources principales pour la population rurale et urbaine de cette région. Peu profonde, cette nappe connaît, d'une part, une exploitation intense par le biais de puits traditionnels et de puits équipés. Ces derniers sont destinés à alimenter la ville d'Essaouira dont ils assurent à peu près 47 pour cent du débit d'approvisionnement total. D'autre part, elle subit les contraintes de sécheresses très répandues au Maroc, dont la plus aiguë du siècle fût celle de 1995, avec des effets qui persistent jusqu'à nos jours malgré les deux cycles hydrologiques pluvieux de 1996 et 1997. Sur le plan qualitatif, les eaux de cette nappe sont menacées par la pollution due aux nitrates résultant des méthodes traditionnelles de puisage. Cette pollution est déjà ressentie au niveau de certains puits qui ont révélé des teneurs supérieures à la norme de 45 mg/l recommandée par l'OMS