Climate Change and Emerging Contaminants: Changing Environmental Fate, Exposure Pathways, and Ecological Risks
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61424/3khbx588Keywords:
Climate change, emerging contaminants, environmental fate, contaminant transport, exposure pathways, ecological risksAbstract
Climate change is increasingly reshaping the environmental fate, transport, transformation, and ecological impacts of emerging contaminants, creating complex challenges for environmental protection and ecosystem sustainability. Emerging contaminants, including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides, microplastics, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, occur in aquatic, terrestrial, and atmospheric environments, where their behavior is influenced by changing climatic conditions. This study examines the interactions between climate change and emerging contaminants, focusing on how rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, floods, droughts, sea-level rise, and extreme weather events influence contaminant persistence, mobility, bioavailability, and distribution. It also explores changing exposure pathways, including surface runoff, groundwater infiltration, atmospheric deposition, sediment resuspension, and food-web transfer, which may increase the exposure of aquatic organisms, terrestrial wildlife, and human populations. Climate-driven changes in hydrological processes and ecosystem conditions can alter contaminant degradation rates, chemical interactions, and biological uptake, potentially intensifying toxicity and disrupting ecological relationships. Furthermore, the combined effects of climate stressors and chemical pollution may produce cumulative and synergistic risks that are not adequately captured by conventional environmental risk assessment approaches. The study highlights the need for integrated monitoring systems, climate-informed contaminant modeling, improved regulatory frameworks, and interdisciplinary risk assessment strategies that account for interactions between environmental change and chemical pollution. It concludes that understanding the dynamic relationship between climate change and emerging contaminants is essential for anticipating future ecological risks, strengthening environmental management, and developing adaptive pollution-control strategies that protect ecosystem resilience under changing climatic conditions.
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