Early-Life Heavy Metal Exposure: Effects on Fetal Growth, Birth Outcomes, and Offspring Health

Dear Colleagues,

Heavy metals are drawing increasing attention and are largely attributed to agricultural, mining, and industrial development. Human exposure to heavy metals has become ubiquitous, mainly through drinking water, smoking, and diet. Some heavy metals can (e.g., cadmium and lead) accumulate within tissues because of their long biological half-life and low biological excretion rate and have been associated with various adverse health consequences, including renal dysfunction, cardiovascular diseases, and metabolic syndrome. Previous studies have mainly focused on the health effects of contemporary heavy metal exposure. Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) theory indicates that exposure to adverse factors in early life may impair not only fetal growth but also the development of chronic diseases in adulthood. Gestational exposure to heavy metals is known to induce fetal growth restriction, yet the effect and mechanism of exposure to heavy metals in early life on fetal growth, birth outcomes, and the offspring's health remain unclear.

This Special Issue focuses on the effect and mechanism of early life exposure to heavy metals or metal-containing particles on birth outcomes, fetal growth, and offspring health. We expect the topics to cover a wide range of areas, including animal models and population studies that examine the effects of early life metal exposure on fetal growth and long-term health, exploring mechanisms such as the placenta/sperm–fetus–organ axis, epigenetics, and early biomarker screening for disease susceptibility, as well as discussion on advanced omics technologies, multi-omics approaches, and machine learning applications in the context of early life metal exposure. Authors are invited and welcome to submit original research papers, reviews, and short communications.

Prof. Dr. Hua Wang
Dr. Chengyong He
Dr. Yi-Xin Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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.

• heavy metals
• early life
• birth outcomes
• fetal growth
• offspring health
• metal-containing nanoparticles
• epigenetics
• biomarker
• omics technique
• machine learning