Biomarkers: Environmental Research and Public Health

This Special Issue will concentrate on the health effects of indoor and outdoor ambient pollution, and where possible should include both ambient monitoring in the proximity of human activity and human pathology presumed to occur due to inhalation of specific contaminants. Contaminants of interest include complex mixtures of industrial chemical exhaust, vehicle exhaust, indoor heating and/or tobacco product combustion (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), as well as any other inhalants considered to lead to human health risks. Chemical classes of interest would include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other compounds prevalent in the ambient environment and considered to contribute to human pathology. Relevant health effects may include but are not limited to biomarkers of exposure (e.g., DNA or protein adduct formation), metabolites (e.g., 1-OH-pyrene), biomarkers of effect (e.g., mutagenesis), and manifestations of specific organ pathology such as lung compromise or cognitive disorders. In addition we are interested in papers that would focus on both adult exposures and the fetal consequences of in utero exposures.

Dr. Miriam C. Poirier
Guest Editor