Food Contaminants and Risk Assessment

Dear Colleagues,

Food is an indispensable source of energy components, as well as other compounds capable of affecting our metabolism and regulating life processes. Therefore, the quality and safety of food is very important, as it may also contain undesirable ingredients posing a threat to our health and life. Currently, there is interest in the problem concerning food quality from the perspective of consumers. A particularly important aspect in the assessment of food quality is compliance with safety standards for the presence of residues of plant protection products, as well as toxic substances originating from various sources and belonging to very diverse chemical groups, including mycotoxins, heavy metals (e.g., radioactive elements), dioxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls and heterocyclic aromatic amines. It should also be mentioned that there is concern regarding contamination related to technological processes in food production such as acrylamide, as well as contamination with pathogenic microorganisms (fungi and bacteria) or contaminants related to the use of drugs (antibiotics) during animal husbandry. Agricultural products are contaminated with toxic substances during the development of the plant in the field, through harvesting, as well as during the processing, storage and transport of the finished product. The accumulation of heavy metals in soil, water and air results from incorrect waste management and from the rapid industrialisation and urbanisation of agricultural regions. Sources of inorganic contaminants of the air can be sought in the production of coal, petroleum oil, nonferrous metals as well as cement. Soil contaminants are formed as a result of the agricultural use of fertilisers and plant protection agents. The water environment is contaminated with heavy metals as a result of human activity related to wastewater treatment and drying, and with the disposal of sewage and sanitary wastes from households. Therefore, in this Special Issue, we encourage the submission of papers presenting research results determining the level of the contamination of agricultural products and food with toxic substances from, among others, the environment, as well as risk assessments.

Dr. Grażyna Kowalska
Prof. Dr. Radosław Kowalski
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-anonymized 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.