Assessing Industrial Chemicals Using Aquatic Models

Dear Colleagues,

Around the world, every day, thousands of chemicals are transported, stored, and used in manufacturing and industrial processes. These chemicals are not only diverse in their commercial use and their chemical properties, but also in their toxicity. When released into the environment, either though intentional discharge, chemical runoff, or accidental spill, they can pose a significant risk to both human and environmental health. As evidenced by recent surges in government interest and media attention, the environmental risk associated with industrial chemicals such as metals, halogenated flame-retardants, and Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is a topic of emerging interest across research sectors and scientific disciplines.

Beginning with their use as an early indicator of chemical contamination in natural systems, aquatic models have become a staple of both laboratory and field-based toxicology studies. Small fish models such as the Zebrafish (Danio rerio) and killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) have become key in many areas of human health research, while models such as the Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas), Daphnia (Daphnia sp.), Mysid (Mysidopsis bahia), Japanese Medaka (Oryzias latipes), Sea Urchin (Arbacia punctulata), Mussel (Epioblasma brevidens), and Algae (Champia parvula) remain crucial in environmental research. Across scientific disciplines, aquatic models have become a staple of modern toxicology, a trend that will likely continue to grow as the field moves further away from mammalian-based studies.

This Special Issue of the Journal of Xenobiotics aims to assemble recent, multidisciplinary research utilizing aquatic models to assess aspects of industrial contaminants. By bringing together studies on bioaccumulation, metabolism, population modeling, environmental monitoring, chemical fate/transport, and toxicology (including adverse effects, mechanisms of action, concentration-response analyses, risk assessment) of individual contaminants and their mixtures, the goal of this Special Issue is to provide a better understanding of industrial contaminants while highlighting the diverse roles aquatic models play in current toxicological research.  

Dr. Sara M. Vliet
Dr. Subham Dasgupta
Guest Editors

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