Advanced Analytical Techniques for the Detection and Quantification of Emerging Contaminants

Dear Colleagues,

Emerging contaminants (ECs), including their transformation products (TPs) and metabolites, encompass a vast, changing array of chemicals with potential adverse effects on ecosystems and human health. Their occurrence at trace levels together with their complex chemical properties necessitates advanced analytical techniques for sensitive detection, confident identification, and accurate quantification. This Special Issue highlights the crucial role of cutting-edge analytical methodologies in tackling these challenges.

We are pleased to invite you to submit original research articles and reviews focused on the development, optimization, and application of sophisticated analytical techniques for the determination of ECs (e.g. pharmaceuticals, Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pesticides). Areas of particular emphasis include novel sample preparation protocols, chromatrographic techniques, low/high-resolution mass spectrometry (LRMS, HRMS), ion mobility spectrometry, wide-scope target screening, and suspect and nontarget screening (SNTS) strategies. This Special Issue will consider studies across diverse environmental matrices (water, wastewater, sediment, air, biota, etc.)

We encourage submissions addressing the following topics:

• Advancements in sample preparation strategies (e.g. green, novel, and automated extraction protocols) to isolate ECs from complex environmental matrices;
• Development and validation of targeted multi-class/residue analytical techniques for sensitive, accurate, and/or high-throughput analysis of specific EC categories;
• Development of advanced analytical methodologies (IMS, HRMS etc.) for the confident identification of ECs;
• Comprehensive SNTS workflows for the prioritization and annotation and semi-quantification of unknown contaminants and their TPs;
• Real-world case studies (e.g. environmental monitoring and risk assessment, fates and transformation of ECs, human exposomics, waste-water-based epidemiology, water reuse) that demonstrate the successful applications of these analytical developments in diverse environmental matrices.

We are looking forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Maria Christina Nika
Dr. Dimitrios E. Damalas
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. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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.