Achieving the One Health Goal: Highlighting Groundwater Quality and Public Health

Abstract

In many regions of the world, groundwater is the main water source for multiple uses, including for drinking, irrigation, and industry. Groundwater quality, therefore, is closely related to human health, and the consumption of contaminated groundwater can induce various waterborne diseases. In the last ten years, the world has witnessed a rapid development in groundwater quality research and the assessment of associated health risks. This editorial introduced the foundation of the current Special Issue, Groundwater Quality and Public Health, briefly reviewed recent research advances in groundwater quality and public health research, summarized the main contribution of each published paper, and proposed future research directions that researchers should take into account to achieve the one health goal. It is suggested that groundwater quality protection should be further emphasized to achieve the one health goal and the UN’s SDGs. Modern technologies should be continuously developed to remediate and control groundwater pollution, which is a major constrain in the development of a sustainable society.

Pollution Status of Groundwater Resource by Some Heavy Metals Using Index Approach in Some Part of Nasarawa Area, Kano State, Nigeria

“…Heavy metals can accumulate in the human body system and cause major harm to the nervous system, including cardiovascular illnesses, reproductive problems, and cancer. Heavy metals are not biodegradable (Li et al, 2022;Umar et al, 2023). Heavy metals, for example, Fe, Cu, Zn, and Ni, are essential micronutrients for animal life and vegetation but are dangerous at excess levels, whereas Cr, https://scientifica.umyu.edu.ng/ Hassan & Sada, /USci, 3(1): 095 -102, March 2024 Cd, Pb, and Co have no known physiological functions but are harmful at a certain level (Aktar et al, 2010;Nasiru et al, 2021).…”

Toward One Health: a spatial indicator system to model the facilitation of the spread of zoonotic diseases

“…There is an ongoing debate on the most effective way to measure progress toward One Health goals (11)(12)(13)(14), but there is a clear relationship between contagious diseases and spatial configurations and conditions (15,16). The exponential growth of human population has disrupted the interface between humans, animals, and the environment through increased urbanization and the expansion of livestock and agricultural areas (17).…”