Abstract
Water quality affects human health and ecological biodiversity, as water ingestion is the primary exposure pathway of human health risk, and water is the most active natural element participating in the transformation of ecological system. In this paper, the background of editing this special issue was outlined, and the main contents and contributions of papers published in this special issue were introduced. Several research directions that are important to guarantee the water safety in the Yellow River basin were proposed. This special issue provides a platform for researchers to share their latest research results, which will not only be helpful for enhancing water protection and management in the Yellow River basin, but also benefit the international community in addressing similar issues.