Impacts of Emerging Agricultural Pollutants on Environmental Health

Dear Colleagues,

Healthy agricultural soils are essential to maintaining food security in the face of a growing global population. However, the intensification of agricultural practices in recent decades has resulted in significant soil contamination, primarily due to the extensive use of synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as well as the increasing presence of emerging pollutants such as antibiotics, heavy metals, nanomaterials, microplastics, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), among others.

These emerging agricultural contaminants pose serious risks to soil ecosystems. They can disrupt soil biota across multiple trophic levels—including microorganisms (e.g., bacteria, archaea, fungi), mesofauna (e.g., nematodes, collembolans, mites), and macrofauna (e.g., earthworms, insects, mollusks)—leading to declines in soil biodiversity. This loss of biodiversity, in turn, compromises key ecosystem functions such as nutrient cycling, organic matter decomposition, nitrogen fixation, and carbon sequestration. These disruptions threaten not only soil health but also the long-term sustainability and resilience of agricultural systems.

In addition, emerging pollutants may exhibit phytotoxic effects, reducing plant growth and productivity. They can also migrate into adjacent ecosystems—such as surface and groundwater bodies—where they may harm aquatic organisms and potentially bioaccumulate in food webs, posing serious risks to environmental and human health.

Accordingly, this Special Issue invites submissions that address a) the effects of emerging agricultural pollutants on terrestrial and aquatic organisms; b) the effects of emerging agricultural pollutants on soil functions and essential ecosystem services for sustainable agriculture; and c) the transport, fate, and transformation of emerging pollutants within agroecosystems and their potential transfer across environmental compartments (e.g., soil–water–plant systems).

We welcome the submission of research and review articles, including theoretical and practical contributions, as well as case studies. All types of research, including studies reporting negative results, are encouraged to be submitted. All submissions will be subject to peer review prior to publication.

Dr. Manuel Conde Cid
Dr. Vanesa Santás-Miguel
Dr. Andrés Rodríguez-Seijo
Dr. Carla Cruz-Paredes
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. Agriculture 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 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.

• agricultural soils
• ecological risk assessment
• soil biodiversity
• emerging pollutants
• pesticides
• microplastics
• antibiotics
• soil organisms
• aquatic organisms
• pollutant transport and fate
• adsorption–desorption
• phytotoxicity