Legacy and Emerging Contaminants in Marine Biota

Dear Colleagues,

The ocean has long been considered a sink in which pollutants derived from human activities, such as legacy and emerging contaminants, can be deposited. Despite global restrictions, regulatory action, and bans, a substantial amount of information shows that legacy contaminants are still present in the marine environment and its biota due to their limited degradation and atmospheric transportation. Moreover, the presence of emerging contaminants, including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, personal care products, surfactants, and pesticides, in marine environments worldwide has become a major concern since some of these display potential to pose risk to both humans and environments. In this context, scientific knowledge concerning the ecotoxicology of the substances being discussed is crucial for assessing the environmental statuses of marine waters. However, while certain species, or taxonic groups, have been largely investigated, others suffer from a lack of information regarding both the presence and levels of multiple contaminants that can pose risks to their survival. 

In this context, this Special Issue of Environments aims at updating the current knowledge regarding the presence and levels of both legacy and emerging pollutants in marine biota. In the wide range of this topic, we encourage papers focusing on poorly investigated species, with special attention focusing on bioindicators and endangered and keystone species.

Dr. Ginevra Boldrocchi
Prof. Dr. Roberta Bettinetti
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. Environments 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 1800 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.

• legacy pollutants
• emerging pollutants
• keystone species
• bioindicators
• pollution monitoring
• ecosystem conservation