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Currently, water availability and accessibility have become more challenging due to population growth, development of industrial and agricultural activities, and the effects of climate change. Various types of pollutants released by human activities threaten water quality and availability. Microplastics and emerging contaminants are currently affecting water resources and posing a risk to human health. The present study reviews the available studies that analyzed the abundance, shape, and size of microplastics in water, including glass, plastic, reusable, recyclable, and beverage bottled water, tap water, and wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) influent and effluent. Analysis of the collected data allowed comparison of microplastic abundance in different packaging water bottles, tap water, and raw and treated water from WWTPs. The analysis results suggest that microplastics in drinking water are mainly associated with water sources. Therefore, more attention should be paid to water treatment and purification processes and technologies. The type of packaging is also a crucial parameter to consider when quantifying microplastics in drinking water, although the use of glass bottles is recommended to minimize the potential associated risk to humans and ensure safe consumption. Increasing public awareness and knowledge about waste separation, the potential risks of microplastics to human health, and the urgent need for behavioral change in the management of waste, mainly plastic objects, remain the main keys to reducing the number of plastics entering our environment and our bodies.

Water quality preservation represents one of the biggest challenges the world is facing nowadays. In Morocco, water quality decline is among the significant problems facing the country’s water sector. Geographic Information System (GIS) is an effective and useful tool for interpreting, evaluating and displaying spatial data for water resources management. In order to assess the Physico-chemical characteristics of groundwater of the Sahel-Doukkala aquifers, water samples were collected from 50 points well distributed in the study area, analysed according to standard methods, and the results were interpreted using the geographic information system (GIS) technique. There was an important spatial variability in the studied parameters and element concentrations (T°, pH, EC, Cl-, Ca2+, Mg2+, Sr, B and Na+), revealing that the aquifers lithology, sea intrusion and the agriculture methods are the main factors influencing the water nature in the study area.

The present study examines the radionuclides (40K, 226Ra and 210Pb) concentrations in soil and plants collected from El Jadida agricultural area. The transfer factors of radionuclides from the soil to different components of the plants (stems, roots, leaves, and fruits) was also determined and assessed. The plants include various vegetable crops, including pumpkin, zucchini, beans, fennel, potato, sunflower, broccoli, onion, carrot, cabbage, tomato, and mallow from three different locations. A wide-range HPGe gamma-ray spectrometer is used for radionuclide activity measurement. The radionuclides activities of soil samples display a wide range of variability from one location to another. The concentrations of 226Ra vary between 18 ± 1 Bq.Kg-1 and 80 ± 4 Bq.Kg-1, the concentrations of 210Pb range from 49.7 ± 4.4 Bq.Kg-1 to 269 ± 16 Bq.Kg-1, and the 40K values fluctuate between 94,1 ± 6,5 and 286,1 ± 15,3 Bq.Kg-1. The study showed that the transfer factor for K-40 is more significant than Pb-210 and Ra-226, mainly related to the use of fertilizers rich in potassium in the agricultural areas, leading to its concentrations increase.