Marine Ecotoxicology and UN Sustainable Development Goal 14: Towards Sustainable Solutions to Reduce Environmental Hazards

Dear Colleagues,

Research in marine ecotoxicology focuses on the monitoring of the health status of marine habitats and their resources in relation to environmental and anthropogenic stressors. Through a multidisciplinary approach, it explores the occurrence, distribution, and transformation of contaminants in water, sediments, and biota and their impact on bioindicators from the subcellular to population level.

Seas and oceans act as sinks for many pollutants, from organic chemicals to plastics, which have been identified as detrimental for marine ecosystems and a priority for future studies to ensure sustainable development. In line with the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda, marine ecotoxicology will thus play a key role in the preservation of natural capital stocks in order to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is in line with the recent COVID-19 implications for SDG14 “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”, as the drastic reduction in human activity might provide a chance for the oceans to recuperate.

The aim of the Special Issue “Marine Ecotoxicology and UN Sustainable Development Goal 14: Towards Sustainable Solutions to Reduce Environmental Hazards” is to bring together the latest advances in marine ecotoxicology, in the hope of providing novel tools and solutions to reduce environmental hazards associated with human activities in terms of environmental monitoring, remediation of legacy, and contaminants of emerging concern (CEC), with an ecological perspective. All marine environmental commons, including coastal regions, the open ocean, and polar regions, are of interest. Manuscripts submitted to the Special Issue should propose innovative analytical and/or toxicological approaches projected to secure marine resources from human impacts, in line with the SDGs. Ecotoxicity studies investigating sustainable and ecosafe solutions (e.g., nanomaterials), with application/release in the marine environment, are also welcome.

Dr. Elisa Bergami
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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.

• ecotoxicology
• marine environmental monitoring
• natural capital
• contaminants of emerging concern
• multiple stressors
• impact assessment
• sustainable development goals