Tackling Complexity: Transport, Fate, Exposure, and Prioritization for Organic Contaminants in Complex Mixtures

Dear Colleagues,

Organic contaminants nearly always present as a component of complex mixtures, comprising tens to thousands of individual compounds in both source substances and in environmental and biological matrices. For example, sources of emerging contaminants such as aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) contain diverse components including hundreds of unique per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) with diverse structures and properties amid equally complex matrices of non-fluorinated constituents; these materials can then contaminate water, sediment, and biota at affected sites. Other de facto sources such as wastewater contain an array of pharmaceuticals, personal care products (PPCPs), as well as their transformation products, representing a major challenge in developing risk assessment approaches for impacted environments or implementing effective treatment technologies for chemicals of concern. Research is ongoing to provide advanced analytical and bioanalytical techniques to assess complex mixture composition and provide toxicity/risk assessment information for chemical prioritization and rapid decision making. Studies aiming to provide this comprehensive characterization of mixtures use a wide range of innovative lab-based, field-based, and in silico approaches to describe mixtures at the whole or fractionated level and identify contaminants that drive ecological and human health risk.

In this Special Issue, we will present the current state of science related to understanding the fate and transport of complex mixtures in environmental systems, exposure of humans and ecological receptors to these mixtures, and strategies to identify compounds that should be prioritized as primary drivers of risk. Original research articles and reviews are welcome. Articles describing the use of innovative workflows to prioritize contaminants based on occurrence, effects, or predicted risks, and articles demonstrating the fractionation of complex mixtures among environmental and biological compartments, are especially welcome.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Carrie McDonough
Dr. James McCord
Guest Editors

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.

• complex mixtures
• emerging contaminants
• organic pollutants
• high-resolution mass spectrometry
• risk assessment
• exposure assessment