From Soil to Plate: The Fate of Xenobiotics in the Food Chain with Ecological and Health Risk Implications

Dear Colleagues,

Xenobiotics constitute a varied range of chemical compounds that, according to the definition, are foreign to the organisms or the environment. Xenobiotics are mostly of anthropogenic origin and they have become ubiquitous in the environment. They may have various toxic and carcinogenic effects, both in ecosystems and living organisms, including humans. Special scientific concern is lately being given to the following groups of xenobiotics: potentially harmful elements (PHEs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), rare earth elements (REEs), fertilizers and plant protection products, contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) like pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) or endocrine disruptor compounds (EDCs), as well as their transformation products. Xenobiotics are persistent in the environment, they can migrate through air, water, and soil; finally, they can bioaccumulate both in the original or transformed forms of compounds. All of these might cause negative ecological and health risk effects.

The ecological and health risk implications caused by xenobiotics become an important global issue in the widely understood food industry, as nourishment is necessary to all organisms for living. Our food supplies are currently being produced in a more and more polluted environment, and knowledge and awareness of potential risk implications have turned out to be crucial issues. 

Thus, the goal of the Special Issue is to gather more recent and substantial research on xenobiotics’ transfer from soil, air, and water to the food chain with related risk implications for the better understanding and prediction of ecological and health threats connected with consumed food. 

Dr. Agnieszka Gruszecka-Kosowska
Guest Editor

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