Population Health Perspectives on Environmental Exposures and Influences on the Prevalence of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities

Dear Colleagues,

While hypotheses concerning the etiology of birth defects and developmental disabilities abound, the causes of most of these conditions in infants and young children are unknown.  The examination of environmental exposures has received increasing scrutiny, especially in the context of emerging awareness of gene–environment interactions and epigenetic effects of environmental exposures. Spatial statistical methods as well as GIS-based techniques have supported many interesting studies in this area.

In this Special Issue, we seek manuscripts with empirical data that extend our knowledge of the potential role of environmental factors (including but not limited to air, water, soil, meteorology) that may be associated with an increased risk for birth defects and developmental disabilities, directly or through the interaction with community-level or individual-level factors.

Prof. Russell S. Kirby
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 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. 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.