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Toxics
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Advances in Risk Assessment and Management
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Advances in Risk Assessment and Management

A special issue of Toxics (ISSN 2305-6304). This special issue belongs to the section "Exposome Analysis and Risk Assessment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2022) | Viewed by 12197

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Martí Nadal

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Toxicology and Environmental Health, School of Medicine, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Sant Llorenç 21, 43201 Reus, Catalonia, Spain
Interests: human health risk assessment; chemical mixtures; emerging pollutants; ecotoxicology; biomonitoring
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The COVID-19 pandemic that swept across the world in 2020 brought with it a range of new terms, many of which quickly reached a quotidian level. “Risk” is one of these words. Risk is usually defined as a function of probability and impact, but this definition encompasses an entire world as people are permanently exposed to chemicals in daily activities such as breathing, eating, or drinking. However, these chemicals are present as complex mixtures of large sets of pollutants with varied physicochemical and toxicological properties, whose adverse health effects cannot be easily evaluated. This Special Issue on “Risk Assessment and Management” invites the submission of manuscripts and reviews covering a wide range of manuscripts on risk science, including risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication. Studies focused on the development of novel techniques and advanced procedures to evaluate health risks of chemical exposure will be welcome. The Special Issue is open to investigations of the risk inherent to chemical mixtures as well as the impact of emerging pollutants, with especial emphasis on the study of vulnerable and sensitive populations (e.g., newborns, children, pregnant women).

This Special Issue will cover studies related to:

  • Environmental monitoring;
  • Human biomonitoring;
  • Exposure and co-exposure models;
  • Biomarkers for health risk assessment;
  • Mixtures of chemical pollutants.

Dr. Martí Nadal
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. Toxics 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.

Keywords

  • Health risks
  • Human exposure
  • Chemical mixtures
  • Emerging pollutants
  • Risk communication
  • Sensitive population

Published Papers (4 papers)

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14 pages, 866 KiB  
Article
Early-Life Exposure to Formaldehyde through Clothing
by Marta Herrero, Neus González, Joaquim Rovira, Montse Marquès, José L. Domingo and Martí Nadal
Toxics 2022, 10(7), 361; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics10070361 - 30 Jun 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5467
Abstract
Clothes contain a wide range of chemicals, some of them potentially hazardous. Recently, there has been a growing interest in eco-friendly clothing, including the use of organic cotton. However, the process of eco-friendly fabric production does not exclude the use of toxic substances, [...] Read more.
Clothes contain a wide range of chemicals, some of them potentially hazardous. Recently, there has been a growing interest in eco-friendly clothing, including the use of organic cotton. However, the process of eco-friendly fabric production does not exclude the use of toxic substances, such as formaldehyde, a known human carcinogen. The present investigation was aimed at determining the presence of formaldehyde in eco-friendly and conventional clothing of pregnant women, babies, and toddlers from the Catalan (Spain) market. The potential effects of washing were also investigated by comparing the reduction of formaldehyde in unwashed and washed clothing. Formaldehyde was detected in 20% of samples, with a mean level of 8.96 mg/kg. Formaldehyde levels were surprisingly higher in eco-friendly than in regular garments (10.4 vs. 8.23 mg/kg). However, these differences were only significant (p < 0.05) for bras (11.6 vs. 7.46 mg/kg) and panties (27.1 vs. 6.38 mg/kg) of pregnant women. Dermal exposure and health risks were assessed for three vulnerable population groups: pregnant women, babies, and toddlers. In general, exposure was higher in babies (up to 1.11 × 10−3 mg/kg/day) than in other groups (2.58 × 10−4 and 4.50 × 10−3 mg/kg/day in pregnant women and toddlers, respectively). However, both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks were below the safety limits (<1 and <10−5, respectively) according to national regulations. Notwithstanding, although formaldehyde levels were below the legal limits (<75 mg/kg) and health risks were within acceptable ranges, clothing may contain other toxic substances in addition to formaldehyde, thus increasing the risks. Finally, since no formaldehyde was detected in washed textile samples, a safe and simple practice for the consumers is to wash clothing before the first use. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Risk Assessment and Management)
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15 pages, 1505 KiB  
Article
The Human Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals Impurities (Cd and Pb) in Herbal Medicinal Products as Menthae piperitae tinctura (Mentha × piperita L., folium) Available in Pharmacies from Poland
by Kamil Jurowski and Mirosław Krośniak
Toxics 2022, 10(5), 273; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics10050273 - 23 May 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1962
Abstract
Appropriate human health risk assessment (HHRA) is desire in modern regulatory toxicology, especially for elemental impurity studies. The aim of this article is the comprehensive HHRA of two heavy metals impurities—Cd and Pb in herbal medicinal products (HMP) as Menthae piperitae tinctura ( [...] Read more.
Appropriate human health risk assessment (HHRA) is desire in modern regulatory toxicology, especially for elemental impurity studies. The aim of this article is the comprehensive HHRA of two heavy metals impurities—Cd and Pb in herbal medicinal products (HMP) as Menthae piperitae tinctura (Mentha × piperita L., folium) available in Polish pharmacies. These phytopharmaceuticals registered in EU are very common and usually applied OTC products by adults and also children/adolescents. For this purpose, we applied double regulatory approach, including: (1) requirements of ICH Q3D R1 guideline about elemental impurities and (2) additionally margin of exposure (MoE)-based concept to cover also specific population groups. Raw results shows that Cd and Pb were present in all analyzed HMP with Mentha × piperita L., folium (PTM1–PTM10) available in Polish pharmacies. In all samples, Cd impurities (in the range: 0.305–0.506 µg/L) were greatly lower than Pb impurities (in the range: 1.122–4.4921 µg/L). The HHRA of Cd and Pb impurities considering ICH Q3D R1 guideline-based approach made it possible to conclude that all results were below the permissible limit set by FAO/WHO for medicinal herbs and plants in different countries (300 µg/kg for Cd and 10,000 µg/kg for Pb). Additionally, the estimated daily intake of investigated elemental impurities compared to the PDE value confirm all samples safety. The second approach, an MoE-based strategy, indicated that the obtained values of MoE for Cd and Pb in daily dose for each samples were above 10,000; hence, exposure to these elemental impurities would not cause a health risk for all investigated population groups (children, adolescents, and adults). To the best our knowledge, this article is the first study about heavy metals impurities level in final HMPs as Menthae piperitae tinctura (Mentha × piperita L., folium) available in Polish pharmacies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Risk Assessment and Management)
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13 pages, 946 KiB  
Article
Dynamic Olfactometry and Oil Refinery Odour Samples: Application of a New Method for Occupational Risk Assessment
by Andrea Spinazzè, Elisa Polvara, Andrea Cattaneo, Marzio Invernizzi, Domenico Maria Cavallo and Selena Sironi
Toxics 2022, 10(5), 202; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics10050202 - 20 Apr 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2458
Abstract
Refineries are characterized by relevant odour impacts, and the control and monitoring of this pollutant have become increasingly important. Dynamic olfactometry, a sensorial analysis that involves human examiners, is currently the most common technique to obtain odour quantification. However, due to the potential [...] Read more.
Refineries are characterized by relevant odour impacts, and the control and monitoring of this pollutant have become increasingly important. Dynamic olfactometry, a sensorial analysis that involves human examiners, is currently the most common technique to obtain odour quantification. However, due to the potential presence of hazardous pollutants, the conduction of occupational risk assessment is necessary to guarantee examiners’ safety. Nevertheless, the occupational risk for olfactometric examiners, specifically correlated with oil refineries emissions, has not been investigated yet. Therefore, this paper applies a new methodology of risk assessment for workers involved in dynamic olfactometry, focusing on odorous refineries emissions. The chemical characterization of refinery emissions was obtained by TD-GC-MS, analysing odorous samples collected at different refinery odour sources. A database of chemical pollutants emitted from a refinery plant was built up, and the minimum dilution values to be adopted during the analysis of refinery odorous samples was calculated. In particular, this evaluation highlighted that, in this scenario, a non-negligible carcinogenic risk may exist for panellists exposed to refineries’ samples, and the carcinogenic risk is sometimes higher than what is acceptable. Therefore, a minimum dilution value between 1.01 and 5, according to the specific sample, must be set to guarantee the examiners’ safety. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Risk Assessment and Management)
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8 pages, 1127 KiB  
Technical Note
An Innovative Filtering System for the Handling of Asbestos-Based Products: Improvement of Safety and Quality of Work in Analysis Laboratories
by Oriana Motta, Concetta Pironti, Marta Venier and Antonio Proto
Toxics 2022, 10(6), 281; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics10060281 - 25 May 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1782
Abstract
Although being banned or restricted in many countries since the early 1990s, large quantities of asbestos are still used or present in building materials all over the world and its removal or handling requires specific systems that limit exposure to airborne fibers The [...] Read more.
Although being banned or restricted in many countries since the early 1990s, large quantities of asbestos are still used or present in building materials all over the world and its removal or handling requires specific systems that limit exposure to airborne fibers The exposure to asbestos causes chronic diseases such as asbestosis and lung cancer with an incubation period of 20 to 50 years. Among the operators most exposed to contamination are those who handle and analyze the materials in laboratories. For this reason, our work focused on an innovative method for removing a filter unit from a laboratory extraction hood, in order to improve the safety conditions for the operators and the surrounding environment. The hood has a particular construction technology with a mechanism that allows the spraying of a special encapsulating liquid on the ULPA filters below the work-bench, which is capable of forming a film and blocking the fibers on the surface of the same filter. The fibers are irreversibly bounded and can no longer be released into the surrounding environment. The monitoring of activity highlighted the absence of asbestos fibers in the air after installation of the filter and workers feel safer performing their activities. The introduction of an innovative filtering system enhanced the safety of work activities involving asbestos exposure, moreover, the time spent on the hood’s maintenance and the risk perception of workers were improved. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Risk Assessment and Management)
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