Emerging Contaminants as Vectors of Global Change: Ecotoxicology, Bioaccumulation and Risk

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Biodiversity Conservation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 15

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Chemistry and Physics Department, University of Almeria, 04120 Almeria, Spain
Interests: emerging contaminants; microplastics; sewage epidemiology; water treatment
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Emerging contaminants are increasingly acknowledged as pervasive drivers of global environmental change, owing to their continuous release, environmental persistence, and complex interactions with biological systems. This Special Issue entitled “Emerging Contaminants as Vectors of Global Change: Ecotoxicology, Bioaccumulation and Risk”, aims to consolidate current advances in the understanding the occurrence, fate, and biological effects of contaminants of emerging concern within aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

The SI invites original research articles and reviews addressing a broad spectrum of emerging contaminants, including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, micro- and nanoplastics, industrial chemicals, and their transformation products. Particular emphasis is placed on ecotoxicological responses across multiple levels of biological organization, bioaccumulation and trophic transfer dynamics, and the integration of mechanistic toxicological endpoints into environmental risk assessment frameworks. Contributions exploring mixture toxicity, chronic and sublethal effects, and environmentally realistic exposure scenarios are especially encouraged.

By integrating developments in analytical chemistry, ecotoxicology, and environmental risk assessment, this Special Issue seeks to elucidate the role of emerging contaminants as systemic stressors interacting with other global change drivers. Overall, the collected contributions aim to inform monitoring strategies and regulatory decision-making, supporting the protection of ecosystem integrity and public health under current and future environmental conditions.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Journal of Xenobiotics .

Prof. Dr. Damià Barceló
Dr. Paolo Pastorino
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Diversity 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 2100 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

  • bioaccumulation
  • ecotoxicology
  • emerging contaminants
  • environmental risk assessment
  • global change drivers
  • mixture toxicity
  • trophic transfer

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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