Environmental Risk Assessment and Control of Emerging Contaminants

Dear Colleagues,

The field of emerging contaminants is an outlet for world-leading researchers to address problems associated with environmental contamination caused by emerging contaminants and their solutions.

Emerging contaminants are synthetic or naturally occurring chemicals or any microorganisms that are not commonly monitored in the environment but have the potential to enter the environment. They are usually accompanied by trace amounts, are difficult to degrade, have persistent properties, etc., and cause known or suspected adverse ecological and/or human health effects. Currently, there is no international consensus on the classification of emerging contaminants; in general, endocrine disruptors (EDCs), pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), brominated flame retardants (BFRs), drinking water disinfection byproducts, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), artificial nanomaterials, and microplastics all fall into this category. Studies have shown that these emerging pollutants have been detected in various environmental media (soil, air, and water) and even in living organisms to a greater or lesser extent. They also include endocrine-disrupting compounds, analgesics, antibiotics, hormones, and a whole range of other pharmaceutical compounds including anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and anti-epileptic drugs. The threat lies in the fact that the environmental and human toxicology of most of these compounds has not yet been studied and in the fact that many of these compounds are not or cannot be tested for in the environmental ecosystem. In addition, when these contaminants are transported in the environment, by-products are generated, the chemical properties of which are as yet undetermined. Biological emerging contaminants are discussed, which are also of significant concern. However, technical control measures and innovative governance concepts for emerging pollutants in the environment also need further development and research.

This Special Issue of the Toxics focuses on the current state of knowledge regarding “Environmental Risk Assessment and Control of Emerging Contaminants”. New research papers, reviews, case reports, and conference papers are welcome to be submitted this issue. Papers dealing with new approaches to derive emerging contaminant standards or risk assessment and management are also welcome. Other manuscript types accepted include methodological papers, position papers, brief reports, and commentaries.

We will accept manuscripts from different disciplines including the investigation and distribution of contaminant sources, exposure assessment science, risk and health impact assessment, risk management including toxicology and environmental benchmarks (standards), the environmental process and transformation of contaminants, combined effect and synergistic pollution, etc.

All in all, we encourage papers addressing science that facilitates greater understanding of the nature, extent, and impacts of the presence of emerging contaminants in the environment; technology that exploits original principles to reduce and control their environmental presence; as well as the development, implementation, and efficacy of national and international policies to protect human health and the environment from emerging contaminants.

Dr. Kun Li
Prof. Dr. Jin Qian
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.

• emerging contaminants
• ecological risk
• biological effect
• environmental assessment
• ecotoxicology
• control techniques and measures
• pollution status and sources
• detection methods and environmental standards
• environmental benchmarks
• new techniques