ijerph-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Health Impacts Associated with Dietary Exposure to Chemical Contaminants and Residues

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 2953

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, The University of Manchester, Manchester M1 7DN, UK
Interests: food chemical safety/regulation; food science; environmental sciences; environmental contaminants (dioxins, PCBs, flame retardants, POPs); dietary exposure; risk assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue has a focus on trace chemicals that can be found in foods that have been associated with adverse health effects. The most concerning chemicals from a health protection perspective tend to fall into three broad categories: (i) residues of chemicals used in food production, such as veterinary medicines used to rear farm animals and pesticides used to protect plants used for food; (ii) contaminants that may arise either as a result of industrial pollution or can arise due to natural contamination; and (iii) contaminants that arise as a result of food processing.

To assess the risk to health from food chemicals, it is necessary to (i) make an estimate of exposure and (ii) characterize the hazard.

The surveillance of occurrence in foods (and feeds in case of animal risk assessment) and dietary intake estimates are required to estimate the exposure for these chemicals, and can inform priorities for food control and risk management.  Exposure estimates may be performed for the general population or specific population groups, e.g., defined by age, dietary preference or on a geographical basis of either the population or area of food production.

Toxicological studies using conventional animal studies, new approach methodologies (NAMs) or epidemiological studies looking at health outcomes in exposed population groups can be used to characterize the hazard.

This Special Issue aims to collect papers that (i) describe surveys of food products for residues and contaminants, (ii) dietary exposure estimates for consumers, and (iii) toxicological and epidemiology studies. The papers can cover established food chemicals or food chemicals that are of emerging concern. Papers that cover the wider risk assessment process and public health and control measures for food chemicals are also welcome for submission to this Special Issue.

Topics that are suitable for this issue include food surveys, dietary exposure estimates toxicological studies, epidemiology studies and risk assessment for the following:

  • Residues of veterinary medicines; 
  • Residues of pesticides; 
  • Persistent organic pollutants (POPs);
  • Dioxins and PCBs; 
  • Flame retardants; 
  • Per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs);
  • Heavy metals and arsenic;
  • Mycotoxins;
  • Shellfish toxins;
  • Acrylamide;
  • 3‐monochloropropane diol (3‐MCPD); 
  • Furan; 
  • Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs);
  • Food contact materials;
  • Other food chemicals.

Dr. Martin David Rose
Guest Editor

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. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 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 2500 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

  • residues
  • chemical contaminants
  • risk assessment
  • consumer exposure
  • dietary intake
  • toxicology
  • new approach methodologies (NAMs)
  • epidemiology
  • food control

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

14 pages, 336 KiB  
Article
Testing the Development of a Diet-Based Bisphenol a Score to Facilitate Studies on Child Neurodevelopment: A Pilot Project
by Marisa A. Patti, Apollo Kivumbi, Juliette Rando, Ashley Song, Lisa A. Croen, Rebecca J. Schmidt, Heather E. Volk and Kristen Lyall
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2025, 22(8), 1174; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22081174 - 25 Jul 2025
Abstract
While gestational Bisphenol A (BPA) exposure has been associated with autism, limited work has focused on dietary sources. Here, we sought to develop a summary metric to capture dietary exposure specifically and test its associations with measured levels, as well as child traits [...] Read more.
While gestational Bisphenol A (BPA) exposure has been associated with autism, limited work has focused on dietary sources. Here, we sought to develop a summary metric to capture dietary exposure specifically and test its associations with measured levels, as well as child traits related to autism. Participants (n = 116) were from the Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI) Study, which recruited pregnant women who previously had a child diagnosed with autism. Maternal concentrations of BPA were quantified in urine, and dietary sources of BPA were ascertained via food frequency questionnaires during gestation. A novel BPA “dietary burden score” was developed based on reported intake of foods known to contribute to BPA exposure (i.e., canned foods) from a Dietary History Questionnaire modified for pregnancy. Child autism-related traits were assessed via the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2). We examined associations between BPA biomarkers, dietary burden scores, and child SRS scores. Dietary burden scores were weakly correlated with urinary BPA concentrations (R = 0.19, p = 0.05) but were not associated with child SRS scores. Our work suggests that more detailed dietary assessments may be needed to fully capture diet-based BPA exposures and address diet as a modifiable source of chemical exposure to reduce associated health impacts of BPA. Full article

Review

Jump to: Research

20 pages, 512 KiB  
Review
Potential Role of Glyphosate, Glyphosate-Based Herbicides, and AMPA in Breast Cancer Development: A Review of Human and Human Cell-Based Studies
by Hannah M. Schluter, Hajar Bariami and Hannah Lui Park
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21(8), 1087; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21081087 - 17 Aug 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2364
Abstract
The potential connection between exposure to glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) and breast cancer risk is a topic of research that is rapidly gaining the public’s attention due to the conflicting reports surrounding glyphosate’s potential carcinogenicity. In this review, we synthesize the current [...] Read more.
The potential connection between exposure to glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) and breast cancer risk is a topic of research that is rapidly gaining the public’s attention due to the conflicting reports surrounding glyphosate’s potential carcinogenicity. In this review, we synthesize the current published biomedical literature works that have explored associations of glyphosate, its metabolite, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), and GBHs with breast cancer risk in humans and human cell-based models. Using PubMed as our search engine, we identified a total of 14 articles that were included in this review. In the four human studies, urinary glyphosate and/or AMPA were associated with breast cancer risk, endocrine disruption, oxidative stress biomarkers, and changes in DNA methylation patterns. Among most of the 10 human cell-based studies, glyphosate exhibited endocrine disruption, induced altered gene expression, increased DNA damage, and altered cell viability, while GBHs were more cytotoxic than glyphosate alone. In summary, numerous studies have shown glyphosate, AMPA, and GBHs to have potential carcinogenic, cytotoxic, or endocrine-disruptive properties. However, more human studies need to be conducted in order for more definitive and supported conclusions to be made on their potential effects on breast cancer risk. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop