The Congress Arsenic in the Environment offers an international, multi- and interdisciplinary discussion platform for research and innovation aimed towards a holistic solution to the problem posed by the environmental toxin arsenic, with significant societal impact. The Congress has focused on cutting edge and breakthrough research in physical, chemical, toxicological, medical, agricultural and other specific issues on arsenic across a broader environmental realm. The Biennial Congress Arsenic in the Environment was first organized in Mexico City (As2006) followed by As2008 in Valencia (Spain), As2010 in Tainan (Chinese Taiwan), As2012 in Cairns (Australia), As2014 in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and As2016 in Stockholm (Sweden).
The 7th International Congress As2018 was held July 1-6, 2018, in Beijing, P. R. China and was entitled Environmental Arsenic in a Changing World.

The Congress addressed the broader context of arsenic research aligned on the following themes:
Theme 1: Arsenic Behaviour in Changing Environmental Media
Theme 2: Arsenic in a Changing Agricultural Ecosystem
Theme 3: Health Impacts of Environmental Arsenic
Theme 4: Technologies for Arsenic Immobilization and Clean Water Blueprints
Theme 5: Sustainable Mitigation and Management

Arsenic in drinking water (mainly groundwater) has emerged as an issue of global health concern. During last decade, the presence of arsenic in rice, possibly also other food of plant origins, has attained increasing attention. This is particularly true in the Asian countries, where the use of high arsenic groundwater as source of irrigation water and drinking water has been flagged as severe health concern. This has been accentuated by elevating arsenic concentrations in deep groundwater recharged from shallow high arsenic groundwater, which may have further detrimental effects on public health. Notably, China has been in the forefront of research on arsenic biogeochemical cycling, health effects of arsenic, technologies for arsenic removal, and sustainable mitigation measures. The Congress has attracted professionals involved in different segments of interdisciplinary research on arsenic in an open forum, and strengthened relations between academia, research institutions, government and non-governmental agencies, industries, and civil society organizations to share an optimal ambience for exchange of knowledge.

Yong Guan Zhu is Professor of Soil Environmental Sciences and Environmental Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He is the director general of the Institute of Urban Environment, CAS. He has been working on soil-plant interactions, with special emphasis on rhizosphere microbiology, biogeochemistry of nutrients, metals and emerging pollutants (such as antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes). Professor Zhu is co-editor-in-chief of Environmental Technology & Innovation (Elsevier), associate editor of Environment International (Elsevier), and editorial members for many international journals, such as New Phytologist, Trends in Plant Science, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Environmental Science and Pollution Research. Professor Zhu has been influential in shaping global policies related to food safety, such as setting the global rice arsenic standard. He is a scientific committee member for the ICSU program on Human Health and Wellbeing in Changing Urban Environment, and served for nine years as a member of Standing Advisory Group for Nuclear Application, International Atomic Energy Agency (2004-2012).

Huaming Guo is full professor of Hydrogeochemistry in the School of Water Resources and Environment at China University of Geosciences (Beijing) (CUGB) (since 2008). He received his PhD in Hydrogeology in 2002 (China University of Geosciences (Wuhan)), and experienced a postdoctoral position at Tsinghua University (2002-2004). Dr. Guo was also a research fellow of Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (2005-2006) and a senior visiting scholar at USGS Denver Federal Center (2010) and Columbia University (2014).

He is involved in many national and international research projects, and collaborates with scientists from universities and research institutes in Europe, USA, South America, and Australia. He has authored/co-authored over 100 international publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Professor Guo is currently Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Hydrology, Associate Editor of the journals Applied Geochemistry, Chemie der Erde-Geochemistry, and Groundwater for Sustainable Development.

Prosun Bhattacharya holds a PhD in Sedimentary Geochemistry from University of Delhi, India (1990). He is a Professor of Groundwater Chemistry and Coordinator of the KTH-International Groundwater Arsenic Research Group, at the Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Science and Engineering at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. Since 2016, he is also an Adjunct Professor at the School of Civil Engineering & Surveying & International Centre for Applied Climate Science at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. He has authored/co-authored over 300 international publications in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. He has organized several international workshops on natural arsenic in groundwater and sustainable mitigation and edited 9 books on diverse aspects of natural arsenic in groundwater and groundwater for sustainable development until 2014. He is the Editor in Chief of Journal Groundwater for Sustainable Development published by Elsevier and the Frontiers in Environmental Sciences: Specialty Section on Groundwater Resources and Management and Associate Editor of Journal of Hydrology and a member of the Editorial Board of Environment International. Based on his global engagements in the field of arsenic research he has been honored with the title as the Fellow of the Geological Society of America in April, 2012.

Arslan Ahmad is a leading Research Scientist at KWR Water Cycle Research Institute of the Netherlands, with particular focus on the removal of metals and related substances from drinking water. Part of his work is also focused on resource recovery from water, wastewater and residuals generated from the treatment processes. More recently, Arslan Ahmad has been engaged in the development of innovative solutions for managing low arsenic and chromate concentrations in public drinking water supply in the Netherlands. Arslan Ahmad is the Exhibition Chair and Member of the Scientific Committee of 7th International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment (As2018). Arslan Ahmad is Guest Editor of CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Book Series Sustainable Water Developments. He is closely collaborating with KTH-International Groundwater Arsenic Research Group at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology and the International Society of Groundwater for Sustainable Development (ISGSD) on developing cutting edge technology or arsenic removal. Since 2017, he is elected as the Vice -Chair of the IWA Specialist Group Metals and Related Substances in Drinking Water (METRELS).

Jochen Bundschuh completed his PhD on numerical modeling of heat transport in aquifers from the University of Tübingen in 1990. He is working in geothermics, subsurface and surface hydrology and integrated water resources management, and related disciplines. He served as an expert for the German Agency of Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and as a long-term professor for the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) in Argentine. He worked as adviser in mission to Costa Rica at the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) and engaged in evaluation and development of its huge low-enthalpy geothermal resources for power generation. Since 2005, he is an Affiliate Professor of the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. In 2006, he was elected Vice-President of the International Society of Groundwater for Sustainable Development ISGSD. He was visiting professor at the Department of Earth Sciences at the National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. Since 2012, Dr. Bundschuh is a professor in hydrogeology at the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia working on the wide field of water resources and low/middle enthalpy geothermal resources, water and wastewater treatment and sustainable and renewable energy resources. Dr. Bundschuh is author of the books Low-Enthalpy Geothermal Resources for Power Generation (2008) (Taylor & Francis/CRC Press) and Introduction to the Numerical Modeling of Groundwater and Geothermal Systems: Fundamentals of Mass, Energy and Solute Transport in Poroelastic Rocks. He is editor of 16 books and editor of the book series Multiphysics Modeling, Arsenic in the Environment, Sustainable Energy Developments and the recently established series Sustainable Water Developments (all CRC Press/Taylor & Francis). Since 2015, he is an editor in chief of the Elsevier journal Groundwater for Sustainable Development.

Ravi Naidu is the CEO and Managing Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), Professor and Global Innovation Chair and Director of the Global Centre for Environmental Remediation at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Prof. Naidu's work focuses on the remediation of contaminated soil, water and air, and the potential impacts of contaminants upon environmental and human health at local, national and global levels. Prof. Naidu received his PhD in environmental science from Massey University, New Zealand. He is an elected Fellow of the Soil Science Societies of America (2000) and New Zealand (2004), and the America Society of Agronomy (2006), and was the founding director of the University of South Australia's Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation. In 2013 was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has authored or co-authored over 420 journal articles and 80 technical publications as well as seven patents, and co-edited 11 books and over 66 book chapters in the field of soil and environmental sciences. In 2013, Professor Naidu received an honorary Doctorate of Science from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University for outstanding contributions to agriculture, and won the Richard Pratt - Banksia CEO Award at the Banksia Sustainability Awards, recognizing his contributions towards environmental sustainability.