(Methyl)Mercury, Arsenic, and Lead Contamination of the World’s Largest Wastewater Irrigation System: the Mezquital Valley (Hidalgo State—Mexico)

Guédron, Stéphane; Duwig, Céline; Prado, Blanca; Point, David; Flores, M.; Siebe, Christina

doi:10.1007/s11270-014-2045-3

Cited by 39 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…As a consequence, agricultural crops and their human communities have thrived in the valley where today nearly 500 000 people live, entirely dependent on the wastewater and its nutrients supplied by the ever-growing Mexico City. For nearly 25 years a team led by Christina Siebe of the University of Mexico has quantified the transformation of the Mezquital Valley as a critical zone ecosystem, making measurements down to 35 m of depth, including effects on water, nutrients, trace metals, pathogens, and human health (Guédron et al, 2014;Siebe et al, 2016). This CZO also documents the fate of pharmaceuticals and changes in resistance genes during long-term wastewater irrigation (Dalkmann et al, 2012;Jechalke et al, 2015).…”

Section: How Deep Is An Ecosystem?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ideas and perspectives: Strengthening the biogeosciences in environmental research networks

et al. 2018

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Abstract. Long-term environmental research networks are one approach to advancing local, regional, and global environmental science and education. A remarkable number and wide variety of environmental research networks operate around the world today. These are diverse in funding, infrastructure, motivating questions, scientific strengths, and the sciences that birthed and maintain the networks. Some networks have individual sites that were selected because they had produced invaluable long-term data, while other networks have new sites selected to span ecological gradients. However, all long-term environmental networks share two challenges. Networks must keep pace with scientific advances and interact with both the scientific community and society at large. If networks fall short of successfully addressing these challenges, they risk becoming irrelevant. The objective of this paper is to assert that the biogeosciences offer environmental research networks a number of opportunities to expand scientific impact and public engagement. We explore some of these opportunities with four networks: the International Long-Term Ecological Research Network programs (ILTERs), critical zone observatories (CZOs), Earth and ecological observatory networks (EONs), and the FLUXNET program of eddy flux sites. While these networks were founded and expanded by interdisciplinary scientists, the preponderance of expertise and funding has gravitated activities of ILTERs and EONs toward ecology and biology, CZOs toward the Earth sciences and geology, and FLUXNET toward ecophysiology and micrometeorology. Our point is not to homogenize networks, nor to diminish disciplinary science. Rather, we argue that by more fully incorporating the integration of biology and geology in long-term environmental research networks, scientists can better leverage network assets, keep pace with the ever-changing science of the environment, and engage with larger scientific and public audiences.

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Section: How Deep Is An Ecosystem?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ideas and perspectives: Strengthening the biogeosciences in environmental research networks

et al. 2018

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“…Water scarcity is a growing challenge in the arid and semiarid regions of the world [1][2][3][4]. In these regions, the use of wastewater for irrigation and other purposes has become a common and often unregulated practice, and groundwater quality assessments are seldom carried out [5,6]. In Latin America, it is estimated that 70% of the raw wastewater used in irrigation reaches an underlying aquifer [7,8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of the Hydrogeochemical Processes and Assessment of Groundwater Quality, Using Multivariate Statistical Approaches and Water Quality Index in a Wastewater Irrigated Region

Celestino

Ramos-Leal

Cruz

et al. 2019

Water

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Groundwater quality and availability are essential for human consumption and social and economic activities in arid and semiarid regions. Many developing countries use wastewater for irrigation, which has in most cases led to groundwater pollution. The Mezquital Valley, a semiarid region in central Mexico, is the largest agricultural irrigation region in the world, and it has relied on wastewater from Mexico City for over 100 years. Limited research has been conducted on the impact of irrigation practices on groundwater quality on the Mezquital Valley. In this study, 31 drinking water wells were sampled. Groundwater quality was determined using the water quality index (WQI) for drinking purposes. The hydrogeochemical process and the spatial variability of groundwater quality were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) and K-means clustering multivariate geostatistical tools. This study highlights the value of combining various approaches, such as multivariate geostatistical methods and WQI, for the identification of hydrogeochemical processes in the evolution of groundwater in a wastewater irrigated region. The PCA results revealed that salinization and pollution (wastewater irrigation and fertilizers) followed by geogenic sources (dissolution of carbonates) have a significant effect on groundwater quality. Groundwater quality evolution was grouped into cluster 1 and cluster 2, which were classified as unsuitable (low quality) and suitable (acceptable quality) for drinking purposes, respectively. Cluster 1 is located in wastewater irrigated zones, urban areas, and the surroundings of the Tula River. Cluster 2 locations are found in recharge zones, rural settlements, and seasonal agricultural fields. The results of this study strongly suggest that water management strategies that include a groundwater monitoring plan, as well as research-based wastewater irrigation regulations, in the Mezquital Valley are warranted.

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“…Many studies have reported soil and air pollution data and their main sources for the region (Beltran-Hernandez, 2009;Chávez et al, 2012;García et al, 2010;Guédron et al, 2014;Hernández-Martínez et al, 2014;Hernández, 2012;Martínez-Carrillo et al, 2010;Otazo-Sanchez et al, 2013). These sources contaminate the valley; and paradoxically, boosted its socio-economic development.…”

Section: Case Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

GHG and black carbon emission inventories from Mezquital Valley: The main energy provider for Mexico Megacity

Montelongo-Reyes

Otazo-Sánchez

Romo-Gómez

et al. 2015

Science of The Total Environment

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(Methyl)Mercury, Arsenic, and Lead Contamination of the World’s Largest Wastewater Irrigation System: the Mezquital Valley (Hidalgo State—Mexico)

Cited by 39 publications

References 82 publications

Ideas and perspectives: Strengthening the biogeosciences in environmental research networks

Ideas and perspectives: Strengthening the biogeosciences in environmental research networks

Identification of the Hydrogeochemical Processes and Assessment of Groundwater Quality, Using Multivariate Statistical Approaches and Water Quality Index in a Wastewater Irrigated Region

GHG and black carbon emission inventories from Mezquital Valley: The main energy provider for Mexico Megacity

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