Heavy Metal and Metalloid Contamination of Surface and Underground Water

Abhik Gupta serves as Professor of Ecology and Environmental Science and the Pro Vice-Chancellor of Assam University, Silchar, India. He has also served as the Head of the Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, and Dean, School of Environmental Sciences at Assam University. He has published more than 25 research articles and book chapters on heavy metal and metalloid contamination of surface water and groundwater, and on the toxicity, bioaccumulation, and remediation of heavy metals, in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes. A Fellow of the National Institute of Ecology, India, Prof. Gupta received the EU NAMASTE Academic staff grant in 2014 at the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain; the Erasmus Mundus Senior Scholarship in Bioethics in 2008 at Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; and the “Water Voice Messenger Award” from the World Water Council in 2003, at Kyoto, Japan. He was the Vice-President (India) of the Asian Bioethics Association during 2007–2010, and chaired the Science and Technology Committee of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, New Delhi, India, during 2010–2012. Prof. Gupta has delivered invited lectures on major environmental and ethical issues, including those on heavy metals and metalloids, at several universities and research institutes in India, Japan, the USA, Spain, the Netherlands, and Australia.

Section 1
Heavy Metals: Definitions and Properties. Geogenic Occurrence of Heavy Metals and Metalloids in Surface and Underground Water. Anthropogenic Contributions of Heavy Metals and Metalloids to Surface and Underground Water. Public health issues emanating from heavy metal contamination of freshwater ecosystems and groundwater. Effects of heavy metals on freshwater communities. Responses of freshwater biota to heavy metal and metalloid exposure. Accumulation of heavy metals by freshwater biota. Remediation of heavy Metals by biota. Effects of climate change on heavy metals and their toxicity on freshwater organisms.
Section 2
Water Policy and Legal Framework vis-à-vis Heavy Metal Contamination. Policy and Legal framework for Water Pollution with Special Reference to Heavy Metals and Metalloids in Different Parts of the World. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Its Implications in Heavy Metal and Metalloid Contamination of Water.
Section 3Ethical approaches towards environmental issues. Water ethics in indigenous societies. Ethical issues in heavy metal contamination of surface water and groundwater.