HYDROCHEMISTRY

Water is one of the most abundant substances on earth and the earth’s lifeline.  It is, therefore, vulnerable to human pressure and has been exposed to varying degrees of pollution in terms of both magnitude and type. Due to rapid urbanization and changes in land use, inappropriate planning and management, and insufficient research, water resources are deteriorating and hydrochemical changes are becoming more apparent. Because of various interactions amongst the environmental spheres, water contamination disperses to different parts of the ecosystem. Over the past decade, many environmental contamination incidents have been reported not only in the hydrosphere, but also in the atmosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. As one of the most open economies in the world, Malaysia has seen high industrial and infrastructural development and has therefore been subjected to environmental changes due to “invisible threats” particularly inorganic and organic contamination. Over the past decade, there have been important new advances in environmental analytical methods and results and in the interpretation of considerable dynamic and complex environmental data. The presence of old and new contaminants in different compartments of the environment, such as in water (drinking water, surface river and lake waters, groundwater, estuarine water, and seawater), biota (fish, mollusks, and corals), plants (lichens and paddy), sediments, and the soil is the result of various processes and factors that have significantly altered the natural condition to a new level of pollution and a new risk index status. Therefore, intensive research on the hydrochemistry and geochemistry of areas, focusing on solutions, can provide insight into the distribution, transport mechanisms, environmental and human risks, and predictions of the levels of pollutants. It can also lead to more efficient and sustainable management. By proposing a framework incorporating forensic and holistic approaches in environmental resource protection, remediation, and management, a safe environment can be created for humans. Therefore, information dissemination within the scientific community and to the public is required for communication, governance, and better mitigation and prevention corresponding to environmental pollution. These efforts should go beyond past and present emerging contaminants and extend to future concerns, considering the past and future trends of resource utilization and environmental pollution.