Studies on Heavy Metals and Health

Dear Colleagues,

In today’s society, humans are bombarded on a daily basis by exposure to chemicals or compounds that are toxic. Human exposure to heavy metals from lithogenic or anthropogenic origins occurs via a variety of mechanisms. Lithogenic heavy metals are in the Earth’s crust and can enter the body via inhalation of dust, ingestion of contaminated water, or the consumption of foods or crops which are contaminated. In most instances, the heavy metal concentration is quite small. Some metals, such as cadmium, have an exceptionally long half-life in the human body and will bioaccumulate over extended exposure time. Other exposure sources are in the industrial or manufacturing setting, resulting in excessive contamination of the environment with industrial waste, or pollution (anthropogenic), or increased exposure to humans via inhalation or dermal absorption. As concentrations of the heavy metal increases, a wide range of health-related changes occur. Many of the heavy metals are known carcinogens. Additionally, metal-dependent damage to multiple organ systems can occur with primary targets being the kidneys, liver, brain and other rapidly dividing cells. The acceptable level of exposure has been reduced for many of these heavy metals as our understanding has improved. There is much more that needs to be done to further our understanding of the cellular action of heavy metals and how complex metal exposures (more than one metal) may interact within the human body.

For this Special Issue on “Studies on Heavy Metals and Health,” we are interested in original research, case studies and review articles examining the effect of heavy metals on human health. These reports can focus on lithogenic or anthropogenic sources of heavy metals, or a combination of both. Studies which examine exposure to more than one heavy metal simultaneously are of particular interest. The goal of this Special Issue is to form a repository of current and diverse work investigating the health effects associated with exposure to heavy metals.

Prof. David R. Wallace
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Lithogenic
• cadmium
• arsenic
• mercury
• lead
• copper
• zinc
• anthropogenic
• mining
• pollution