Innovations in Analytical Chemistry for Environmental and Food Safety: Methodologies and Molecular Insights
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Physical Chemistry and Chemical Physics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: mass spectrometry; proteomics; lipidomics; liquid chromatography; food research
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: chemometrics; green extraction; food quality and safety; screening methods
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue focused on Innovations in Analytical Chemistry for Environmental and Food Safety: Methodologies and Molecular Insights. Ensuring the safety and quality of our environment and food systems has become a global priority due to increasing pollution, emerging contaminants, and the complexity of modern food production.
Recent advances in analytical chemistry, including novel sensors, miniaturized detection systems, advanced separation techniques, high-resolution mass spectrometry, and data-driven analytical approaches, are transforming how contaminants and quality indicators are monitored. By exploring these innovations, this Special Issue will highlight the latest scientific developments that can support regulatory compliance, public health, and sustainable environmental management.
This Special Issue aims to present state-of-the-art research and review articles that showcase new analytical methods, technologies, and applications relevant to the detection, quantification, and monitoring of contaminants in environmental and food matrices. Emphasis is placed on molecular-level insights, including advances in identifying chemical structures, transformation products, metabolite profiling, and biomolecular interactions that influence contaminant behaviour. Contributions focusing on high-resolution and molecular-targeted techniques such as HRMS-based fingerprinting, molecular speciation, isotope ratio analysis, and omics-driven approaches are encouraged, as they deepen our understanding of contaminant pathways, modes of action, and their impacts on biological and ecological systems.
Our goal is to gather a minimum of 10 high-quality papers. If this number is reached, the Special Issue may also be published in book form.
Authors are encouraged to submit original research articles, reviews, short communications, and methodological papers. Research areas include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Sample preparation innovations, including microextraction and green analytical methods;
- Innovative analytical techniques for detecting chemical, biological, or emerging contaminants as pesticides, heavy metals, PFAS, microplastics, and mycotoxins;
- Advanced chromatographic and spectroscopic methods for environmental and food analysis;
- Nanomaterial-based sensors and biosensors for rapid detection of adulteration and authenticity testing in food products;
- Portable, field-deployable analytical devices;
- Innovative methodologies for food traceability including pioneering data analysis;
- Quality assurance, method validation, and regulatory aspects;
- Environmental risk assessment supported by analytical measurements;
- Molecular-level approaches that elucidate contaminant structures, transformation pathways, and interactions within environmental and food matrices.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Cosima Damiana Calvano
Dr. Francesco Longobardi
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-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 Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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
- innovative sample preparation
- food quality and safety
- advanced analytical techniques
- risk assessment
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