Coastal aquifers, a critical component of the land-ocean continuum, act as hotspots of fresh groundwater and seawater mixing while reactive processes further govern the elemental flux to the ocean in form of groundwater discharge. Here we report stable Sr (δ88/86Sr) and Ca isotope (δ44/40Ca) data for groundwater samples collected from multiple depths (14–333 mbgl) from two coastal aquifers in the Ganges River delta (Sundarbans). Significant variability is observed in δ88/86Sr values (range 0.542 ‰) with shallow (up to 42 mbgl) aquifer samples showing high δ88/86Sr values (up to 0.666 ‰ relative to NIST SRM987), which indicates pronounced interaction with seawater and fractionation induced by Sr removal during carbonate precipitation. The δ44/40Ca values of these samples also show large variability (range 0.76 ‰) which loosely follows the δ88/86Sr trend. The δ88/86Sr-δ44/40Ca correlation is relatively poor for shallow groundwater samples and reflects differences in fractionation mechanisms during carbonate precipitation for Sr and Ca isotopes. In contrast to the shallow aquifer samples, the deep aquifer samples display limited seawater influence. The depth-bound variability of molar Sr/Ca, δ88/86Sr, and δ44/40Ca suggests considerable removal of solute Sr and Ca due to secondary mineral formation, dominated by carbonates at shallower depths consistent with saturation index (SI) calculations. This study highlights that formation of secondary minerals in coastal aquifers, as inferred from stable Sr and Ca isotopes, can affect the transport of highly soluble elements like Sr and Ca from the continents to the oceans and has implications for solute geochemistry in coastal aquifers. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.

Coastal groundwater is susceptible to physico-chemical modification from interaction with seawater and other surface waters. Surface water-groundwater (SW-GW) interaction can alter the Sr concentration and radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr signature of both seawater and groundwater from multi-depth aquifers. In this study, we document such an interaction between a tropical ocean (Bay of Bengal [BoB]) and the coastal aquifers of a large mega-deltaic system formed by the Himalayan-sourced Ganges River, at shallow (10–50 m below ground level [bgl]), and deeper (115 and 333 m bgl) depths, using radiogenic strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr), stable isotope ratios (δ18O and δD), salinity and dissolved solutes. The mean 87Sr/86Sr for shallow coastal aquifers (10–50 m bgl: 0.71094) suggests that seawater mixes with the terrestrial-sourced shallow groundwater, modifying them to brackish water. This is further supported by the stable isotope signatures (14–25 m bgl: −3.63 to −0.7 ‰ and 30–50 m bgl: −3.5 to −1.2 ‰ δ18O). The radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr (115 m bgl: 0.71681 and 333 m bgl: 0.71995) and depleted δ18O (115 m bgl: −5.04 to −1.61 ‰ and 333 m bgl: −4.43 to −2.38 ‰) suggest relatively less to negligible mixing between seawater and terrestrial-sourced resident groundwater at greater depths. The mixing process is additionally characterized by a significant Sr flux discharged from these coastal aquifers to the BoB, which ranges between 7.7 × 104 and 12 × 105 mol/year for shallow aquifers, and between 1.78 × 104 and 8.26 × 104 mol/year for deep aquifers, respectively. The overall contribution of Sr from old groundwater of deep aquifers is 1.43 % (115 m bgl) and 0.66 % (333 m bgl), whereas shallow aquifers show a higher contribution, ranging from 6.18 to 9.57 % of BoB Sr budget. This study suggests that the discharge of recirculated brackish water to the BoB from the shallow aquifers contributes more than 5 times higher Sr to the oceanic budget than the deep aquifer, contributing as an essential component of the global oceanic budget of Sr. © 2024 Elsevier B.V.

Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting (RRWH) offers a viable solution to the pressing issue of saline groundwater in regions like Ainavolu, a village in Andhra Pradesh, India. This study examines the potential of RRWH systems to provide a sustainable alternative water source in rural settings faced with water scarcity due to saline groundwater. Firstly, in view of the limitation in terms of spatial resolution associated with satellite imagery, a UAV-based survey is conducted to create a high-resolution orthomosaic of the study region, enabling precise delineation and classification of rooftop materials to estimate harvestable rainwater. Findings of this study suggest that RRWH could significantly alleviate water shortages by potentially collecting approximately 20.16 million litres of rainwater annually. However, despite this substantial capacity, the adoption of RRWH remains limited due to financial, technical, behavioural, and institutional factors. Through comprehensive fieldwork, including focus group discussions and one-on-one interactions, we identified 17 critical factors hindering RRWH adoption. Based on these insights, we propose a tailored roadmap to promote RRWH implementation, incorporating strategies such as partnerships with local vendors, specialized training programs, subsidies, and targeted awareness campaigns. This study not only underscores the practicality of RRWH in offsetting the challenges posed by unsuitable groundwater but also provides a scalable model for enhancing water security through community-based initiatives and technological integration. Since the scenario of water scarcity and responses of residents change with the cultural and economic characteristics, it is suggested to update the factors while adopting the proposed framework. © The Author(s) 2025.

Arsenic (As) accumulation in rice plant from arsenic contaminated groundwater has now become an emerging global concern. The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the accumulation pattern of As in different parts of rice plants grown in an As affected area of in order to the make appropriate and safe selection of suitable rice varieties to be cultivated in the As affected areas. The study was conducted by collecting twelve different varieties of rice and soil samples from four arsenic affected villages of Purbasthali II block, West Bengal, India. The soil As level varies between 5.88 and 71.33 mg/kg and soil enzyme activity was recorded 0.215–0.724 µg/24 h/kg soil of amylase, 0.187–4.598 µg/24 h/kg soil of invertase, and 0.103–4.406 µg/24 h/kg soil of cellulose and these activators of soil enzymes were also observed to be affected by arsenic. The highest arsenic accumulation was recorded in root, shoot and leaf of the variety R6 (Voganti) and in rice husk and grain of theR11 (Nayanmoni) and R1 (Miniket), respectively. The overall accumulation pattern of arsenic in different parts of rice plants were in the order of root > shoot > leave > rice husk > rice grain. However, arsenic accumulation varied widely in different cultivars. The mean value of arsenic in rice grain was recorded < 1.0 mg/kg, which was much closer to FAO/WHO prescribed safe limit (1.1 ppm by weight according to FAO, 2019). Our study can be concluded by suggesting varieties like R4 (Miniket) and R8 (Sada Sorno) can be safely cultivated in the As affected areas. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to the International Society of Paddy and Water Environment Engineering 2025.

Elevated fluoride (F⁻) levels in groundwater, primarily due to geogenic processes, pose significant health risks, including dental and skeletal fluorosis and neurological disorders. This study aimed to quantify source-dependent F⁻ exposure at the community level in selected tropical dry regions of Andhra Pradesh, India. These locations include Chintal Cheruvu, Rompicharala, Shantamangalur, Thimmapur, and Nadendla. Community surveys and drinking water sample analyses were conducted in these regions. Dental Fluorosis Index (DFI) was used to estimate exposure levels across age and sex groups. Findings of surveys indicate that groundwater consumption with high F⁻ (4.3 mg/L) results in the highest exposure dose (0.62 mg/kg/day), with Chintal Cheruvu identified as the most affected. A strong positive correlation was observed between exposure dose, water F⁻ content, and the Community Fluorosis Index (CFI), with R² values of 0.98 and 0.97, respectively. Dental fluorosis prevalence exceeded 80% across all age groups, and household surveys revealed 100% unawareness of F⁻ exposure risks. Though there exist many ways to determine the impact of fluoride, the hierarchy of regions may change with the type of parameter chosen. To address this, we developed the Fluoride Impact Index (FII), a multi-criteria index computed considering various parameters indicating the impact of fluoride in a region. The magnitude of FII for Chintal Cheruvu is 0.563 which is highest among the considered regions indicating that it is most impacted region that needs remedial measures first in the hierarchy. Rompicharala with FII as 0.252, Nadendla (0.223), Shantamangalur (0.214), and Thimmapur (0.188) follows the hierarchy. These findings highlight the urgent need to raise awareness about F⁻ exposure risks and to identify sustainable alternative water sources. Immediate interventions, including human health risk assessments using the USEPA approach and the provision of safe drinking water, are critical to achieving SDG-6 of safe drinking water for all by 2030. © 2024

Drinking water sources with groundwater arsenic (As) contamination face multifaceted challenges in the removal and supply of fresh drinking water resources. To eradicate this problem, bioremediation has evolved to become more effective than other chemical and physical removal processes in its cost-effectiveness, high removal efficiency, and lesser production of secondary by-products or waste. Thus, this study aimed to treat As from aqueous media and to detoxify highly toxic forms of As by the isolated bacteria from As-affected areas. We isolated two new Gram-positive bacteria, which are reported here (Bacillus sp. and Bacillus cereus), with As5+ minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 4500 mg/L for the Bacillus sp. and 1000 mg/L for Bacillus cereus; meanwhile, for As3+, the MICs are 600 mg/L for both isolates. Bacillus sp. and Bacillus cereus can also effectively convert the highly toxic and easily mobile As3+ to As5+ in aqueous media. This study also demonstrates that these bacteria can remove a significant proportion of As3+ and As5+ (averaging 50% for both) from aqueous media. These As-resistant bacteria from the As-affected area can be used and upscaled for the treatment of As for a safer drinking water supply. © 2024 by the authors.

Microplastics, small sized plastic particles having size <5 mm are formed through primary process including production of beauty products, microbeads and microfibres as well as secondary process including mechanical weathering, friction, aberration and fragmentation of large plastics. The major sources of microplastics are land-based and ocean-based sources. Microplastic pollution is a serious concern due to the persistent, low biodegradability and bio-accumulative behaviour. Microplastics can bioaccumulate in the food chain and can cause ecological and human health risk. Hence, it is important to remove from the aquatic ecosystems. Microplastics are removed from aquatic systems and wastewater through a series of processes such as physical, chemical and biological treatments. In the present articles, >250 articles are reviewed to collect the information regarding the various physical, chemical and biological methods for the removal of microplastics. Also, the probable control strategies to combat with plastic pollution were assessed. It was concluded that recent water treatment methods are efficient in removing microplastic pollution. The efficiencies to remove microplastic from the water ranged between 74 %-99.2 %, 65 %-99.20 % and 77 %-100 % for physical, chemical and biological treatment methods, respectively. Among the three treatment methods, physical methods especially the filtration of water from biochar is the most efficient way (efficiency up to 100 %) to remove microplastics. It was also concluded that creating public awareness, promoting reusing, recycling and reducing, and application of bioplastics can control the production of microplastics from plastic wastes. This review will be useful to add current knowledge regarding the abatement of microplastic pollution, and finding novel solution to control microplastics. This review will also help the policymakers to implement most effective and cost-efficient method to remove microplastics, and to find out new methods to reduce, reuse and recycle plastic wastes. © 2024

Microplastics (MPs) are impacting coastal and ocean ecosystem and also have been linked with ‘blue economy’, which accounts major portion to the total economy of a nation. The ocean serves as a sink for MPs, receiving them from rivers, runoff, industrial effluents, and direct waste discharge. Consequently, marine organisms are impacted, leading to indirect economic losses, and causing irreparable damage to the blue economy. In addition, the presence of chemicals and microorganisms on MPs is causing detrimental effects on marine organisms, leading to economic repercussions. Coastal tourism, a key aspect of the blue economy, relies on a sustainable and visually appealing environment, which is being threatened by rising marine debris, primarily plastic waste generated by tourists. The clean-up cost is very high, whereas the existing removal technologies do not have higher efficiency and are not that much cost effective. Thus, this study reviews the country wise economic effect of plastic pollution, along with existing policies, regulations and the management strategies to control MPs in marine system considering its potential impacts on sectors associated with marine resources vis-à-vis blue economy. © King Abdulaziz University and Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.

Sustainable development goals (SDGs), notably SDG 6, emphasize the need to preserve clean and sustainable water resources for the well-being of current and future generations. Natural water resources, such as lakes, rivers, oceans, and groundwater, play a vital role in sustaining the delicate ecosystems that facilitate life on our planet. Since the presence of contaminants such as heavy metals, agricultural runoff, emergent organic compounds, microplastics (MPs), and microbiological pollutants in the aquatic environment deteriorate the quality of the natural water systems, the progress toward the achievement of SDGs gets challenging and complex. These above stated contaminants follow diverse pathways, including stormwater runoff, agricultural runoff, effluent discharges, and the natural weathering of sediments and solid wastes. The concentration of these contaminants detected in the environment varies largely depending on various factors, such as land use or season, which further add to the difficulties and hence requires proper detection and management strategies. Certain pollutants, such as MPs, are at a very preliminary stage of investigation and their proper detection techniques and classification is the need of the hour. Various mitigation techniques have been explored till date among which many techniques have proved to be beneficial. However, to ensure proper mitigation of contaminants and protection of our valuable natural water resources, integrated efforts of researchers, policy makers, and the community is necessary. Hence, further reinvestigations are required to come up with scalable and economically viable mitigation techniques that will not only focus on contaminant removal but also on reusability of wastewater or resources, which is consistent with the larger goal of promoting sustainability in water resource management. © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved including those for text and data mining AI training and similar technologies.

There has been a growing concern over the occurrence of fluoride (F−) in groundwater and the impact of F− exposure on human health issues over the past decades. So, this study conducted a regional–scale assessment of the occurrence and trend of groundwater F− distribution [2014–2018] integrated with locally field–based investigations on F− exposure to a few selected families (10 households and 35 respondents) and reason behind their consumption of F− containing water (n = 18). In the local study, water samples were collected from multiple sources around the selected households by dividing them into consumptive and non–consumptive use. Results revealed that across the state of Andhra Pradesh, the occurrence of F− is more than the permissible limit in groundwater, and it has been increasing over the years (2014–2018) (average SD is 0.55), and the local study showed that the groundwater had an average of 1.5 mg/L F−, while other sourced water had an average of <1 mg/L F−. Most interestingly, nine families are consuming non–F− containing water (<0.52 mg F−/day) which is commercially available, while only one family is consuming F− containing groundwater and being exposed to >3 mg F−/day. This disparity in fluoride exposure is dependent on economic stability and health exposure policies. © 2024 by the authors.

Groundwater salinization of coastal aquifers as a result of climate change and anthropogenic activities is a widely acknowledged phenomenon. Sundarbans, in India is one such area where this phenomenon is noticed at an unprecedented rate making drinking water unpotable for consumption. Studies identifying the prime drivers causing this detrimental phenomenon are limited as the existing studies explicitly lack analyzing the holistic view. Building on this gap, this study aims to conduct a systematic literature review and identify the list of drivers that are promoting groundwater salinization. The influence of wide range of parameters depicting the climate change i.e., varying rainfall pattern, sea level rise (SLR), El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and tropical cyclones (TC) on qualitative and quantitative variations in the groundwater at various temporal scales is studied with the help attributes collected from literature. The study reveals a significant drop in groundwater levels (GWL) between 1996 and 2017. This depletion is noted to be primarily attributed to variations in the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), affecting rainfall patterns and recharge rates. During tropical cyclones, GWL rapidly raised, while it is noted that the groundwater quality is sensitive to ENSO. Sea-level rise, changing rainfall patterns, and increasing population density exacerbate groundwater salinization. Existing sources of water, i.e., shallow aquifers exhibit high salinity, and deep aquifers exceed permissible limits. The study evidences the needs to address drinking water scarcity and potential migration resulting from these complex interactions between climate, population, and groundwater management. © 2024 Elsevier B.V.

Groundwater of coastal aquifers have strong hy-draulic connections with the coastal hydrodynamics in a various spatiotemporal scale. But the along with the sub daily tidal influence the Tropical cyclone dependent acute groundwater level response has rarely been studied. These acute and instantaneous groundwater level (GWL) fluctuations during tropical cyclones (atmospheric depression) have a direct impact on groundwater flow dynamics and have an impact on instantaneous solute and contaminant mobilization. These groundwater dynamics include influx of sweater and submarine groundwater discharge over the period each atmospheric low-pressure events simultaneously. The dynamic state of GWL fluctuations get stabilized along with decay of atmospheric low-pressure events but the change in solute concentration may stay for a month to seasonal recharge of groundwater and is proportional to the level of acute GWL fluctuations. Thus, this monitoring and prediction of atmospheric low- pressure event dependent GWL fluctuations is a possible indicator of groundwater vulnerability, especially in coastal aquifers. This study conducts a comparative analysis of machine learning and deep learning models to predict groundwater level fluctuations. The models include a Fully Connected Neural Network (FCNN), Artificial Neural Network (ANN), MLPRe-gressor, Support Vector Regressor (SVR), and Random Forest Regressor (RFR). Each model is evaluated using metrics such as Mean Squared Error (MSE), R2 score, Normalized Root Mean Squared Error (NRMSE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), and standard deviation. The results underscore the capability of deep learning techniques to capture nonlinear features in hydrological data, thereby enhancing the understanding and prediction of groundwater levels. Such predictions are crucial for assessing seawater infiltration, which is a potential threat to the available drinking water sources and nutrient and contaminant fluxes within coastal aquifers. Submarine groundwater discharge, facilitated by these aquifers, plays a pivotal role in nutrient transfer from terrestrial to marine ecosystems, thereby influencing marine health and primary productivity. © 2024 IEEE.

Freshwater is a finite resource, especially in the coastal zones around the world. Managing this precious resource becomes even more important in developing countries with severe water pollution and poor governance, such as those in Asia and Africa. Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) brings the hydraulic connection between terrestrial groundwater and marine water along the coast and has control over the supply of nutrients and pollutants in the coastal ecosystems. The hydraulic connection of SGD often depends on the local hydrogeological conditions and sociocultural activities, which eventually depend on the awareness of local communities. So, this study explains SGD from different scientific, cultural, and religious points of view, in addition to listing its benefits and marine ecosystem services. It also highlights the role of submarine springs (listed under SGD) in nutrient transport and cycling in the coastal ecosystem. Study results revealed that SGD-mediated discharge of nutrients contains nitrate (NO3), sulfate (SO4), phosphate (PO4), and ammonium (NH4 +) and is also involved in ocean acidification as well if not monitored and maintained diligently. SGD is not important at the continental level, but it is locally significant as it is related to local terrestrial activity along the topography, hydraulic conductivity, and tidal forcing. Thus, this study would allow attention to be directed toward alternative ideas and ways of optimal societal and scientific investment, focusing on their strategies not to harm or pollute the marine ecosystem because of the inadequate sociocultural and scientific understanding of terrestrial freshwater pollution. © 2025 selection and editorial matter, Shamik Chakraborty, Amit Chatterjee and Pankaj Kumar; individual chapters, the contributors. All rights reserved.

Elevated groundwater salinity is unsuitable for drinking and harmful to crop production. Thus, it is crucial to determine groundwater salinity distribution, especially where drinking and agricultural water requirements are largely supported by groundwater. This study used field observation (n = 20,994)-based machine learning models to determine the probabilistic distribution of elevated groundwater salinity (electrical conductivity as a proxy, >2000 μS/cm) at 1 km2 across parts of India for near groundwater-table conditions. The final predictions were made by using the best-performing random forest model. The validation performance also demonstrated the robustness of the model (with 77% accuracy). About 29% of the study area (including 25% of entire cropland areas) was estimated to have elevated salinity, dominantly in northwestern and peninsular India. Also, parts of the northwestern and southeastern coasts, adjoining the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, were assessed with elevated salinity. The climate was delineated as the dominant factor influencing groundwater salinity occurrence, followed by distance from the coast, geology (lithology), and depth of groundwater. Consequently, ∼330 million people, including ∼109 million coastal populations, were estimated to be potentially exposed to elevated groundwater salinity through groundwater-sourced drinking water, thus substantially limiting clean water access. © 2024 American Chemical Society.

Coastal aquifers are hydraulically connected to the sea and a storm (cyclone/hurricane) can disrupt the surface water-groundwater (SW-GW) interaction process which is largely unexplored. Thus, this study aims to explore the impact of storm surges (both positive and negative) on coastal aquifers, focusing on pollutant mobilization, groundwater level (GWL) fluctuations, and solute concentration (Salinity, Cl-) and subsequent re-stabilization based on pre-existing studies from the coast of USA and India through a systematic review process. The outcome of this study revealed that there is a positive relationship between cyclonic speed, rainfall, storm surge height and GWL in lithologically conductive aquifers. Positive surge raises GWL, salinity and transportation of surface contaminants into groundwater while negative surge induces fall in salinity, and accelerates submarine groundwater discharge and exports contaminants/nutrients to sea. The restabilization of SW-GW interaction dynamics is case dependent, which takes a week to month to years, and is dependent on local hydrogeology and intensity of storm. So, the study recommends prioritizing to safeguard the coastal groundwater otherwise increasing storms will lead to questions on freshwater sustainability and coastal ecosystems in present climate change scenario. © 2024 The Authors

The Sundarbans represent the largest mangrove system on Earth, covering >10,000 km2. These mangroves can export a vast amount of aquatic carbon that can be potentially sequestered for millennia. However, the mechanisms that drive these processes remain poorly constrained. Here, we estimate porewater-driven carbon exchange between the Sundarbans and the Bay of Bengal using high-resolution time series and a radon groundwater mass balance approach spanning a neap-spring tidal cycle. Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) increased from neap to spring tides by 352 % up to a maximum of 65.6 cm d−1 largely driven by creek bank overtopping after the mid-tide. Exports of dissolved organic and inorganic carbon and alkalinity doubled between neap and spring, likely due to the ‘first flush’ of older porewater in the mangrove flats. Groundwater discharge was a significant driver of the net carbon export, contributing up to 86.7 % of DIC and 74.0 % of alkalinity during the spring tide while contributing a lower proportion of DOC (4 %–23 %). If these results are representative of the Sundarbans more broadly, carbon fluxes from the Sundarbans would be more than an order of magnitude higher than some of the world's largest rivers on an areal basis, highlighting the importance of Sundarbans mangroves to global oceanic carbon budgets. © 2024 The Authors

The role of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in transporting terrestrial-sourced arsenic (As) to the global oceans is not well documented. In the present study, executed on a coast adjoining the extensive groundwater As-contaminated Ganges river delta, we hypothesize that As-enriched groundwater discharges to the adjoining Bay of Bengal (BoB) through SGD flow paths. We conducted high-resolution, field-based investigations and thermodynamic modeling to understand the SGD-sourced As discharge and geochemical cycling of As and other redox-sensitive solutes along the discharge path under varying redox conditions and water sediment interactions. The As distribution and other solutes were measured in a series of multi-depth observation wells and sediment cores, extending from the high tide line (HTL) to 100 m toward the sea, for pre- and post-monsoon seasons. Results reveal the presence of a plume carrying up to 30 μg/L dissolved load of As toward the sea. Arsenic is associated with a plume of Fe and exhibits similar shore-perpendicular variability. Arsenic distribution and transport is controlled by the Fe-Mn redox cycle and influenced by terrestrial groundwater discharge. Field-observations and geochemical modeling demonstrate that Fe-hydroxide precipitates in the subterranean estuary and acts as an interim sink for As, which is eventually mobilized on alteration of geochemical conditions with the season. Fluctuating plume size can be attributed to seasonal variation in fresh groundwater input to the site. Estimates indicate up to 55mg/m2/d As is released to BoB from the site. Based on physicochemical observations this study demonstrates the yet to be studied SGD derived As cycles and the role of SGD dynamics in controlling the fate of redox-sensitive contaminants and their discharge into global oceans. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd

Microplastics (MPs) have already been detected in various environmental matrices like soil, sediment, and surface water, and recently in groundwater also. The occurrence of MPs in groundwater depends up on the transportation through recharge and may controlled by source and local hydrogeology, and partly on the process of surface water-groundwater interaction (SW-GW). Based on the available studies, we intended to establish a hypothetical overview on the source and process-dependent occurrence of MPs in groundwater across terrestrial and coastal aquifers. Groundwater recharge from agricultural stagnant water, losing streams near dumping sites and agricultural fields, effluents from wastewater treatment plants, septic system failure etc. are the potential sources of MPs in groundwater. The factors like sea level rise and tidal pumping are among the major factors which may control the migration of MPs in coastal aquifer along with the physical and chemical properties of the aquifer media. These MPs have another ecological concern as they can adsorb persistent organic pollutants as well as heavy metals and transfer them to animal tissues through food chain. Studies are being conducted mainly focusing the MP contamination in surface water, marine environment and soil, and very limited studies are available to address the source of MPs in groundwater. However, no such study has been done on the existence, profusion, or environmental factors that contribute to MP pollution in the groundwater in relation to the present climate change scenario. Understanding the extent of MP contamination in groundwater systems is necessary for developing effective management strategies and minimizing their impact on the environment and human health. This study focusses on the source along with the controlling factors of the migration of MPs towards groundwater including the effect of climate change. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.