Environmental Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants: Determination and Implications for Food Safety and Public Health
A special issue of Toxics (ISSN 2305-6304). This special issue belongs to the section "Exposome Analysis and Risk Assessment".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 869
Special Issue Editors
Interests: food contamination and safety; environmental exposure assessment; bioaccumulation in food chains; human biomonitoring; waste incineration and industrial pollution; persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: human biomonitoring of POPs; environmental monitoring of POPs; exposure to chemicals of general and vulnerable populations; dietary exposure to environmental contaminants; congener specific analyses of POPs
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Persistent Organic Pollutants remain a major global health challenge due to their persistence, bioaccumulative properties and documented toxic effects. Despite international regulations, human exposure continues through multiple pathways, with dietary intake as the predominant route in the general population. Lipophilic Persistent Organic Pollutants such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans and polychlorinated biphenyls accumulate in fat-rich foods of animal origin (meat, dairy, fish and eggs) and may contaminate crops via soil, irrigation water and atmospheric deposition. Additional exposure occurs through inhalation of polluted air, ingestion of contaminated water or soil and occupational contact in high-risk industries.
Even low-level contamination can result in significant body burdens over time, underscoring the need for accurate exposure assessment. Human biomonitoring provides integrated data across all routes, while monitoring food, biota and environmental matrices enables source identification, trend analysis and emergency response. Robust analytical methods and harmonized protocols are essential for reliable quantification and effective risk management.
This Special Issue invites original research, reviews and methodological papers addressing advances in Persistent Organic Pollutants exposure assessment, innovative sampling strategies, sensitive analytical techniques and biomonitoring approaches. Contributions integrating occurrence data into risk assessment frameworks, as well as studies on spatial and temporal trends and source attribution, are particularly encouraged. Relevant topics include:
- Food contamination and safety implications
- Human biomonitoring and bioaccumulation in food chains
- Analytical methods for biological and environmental matrices
- Risk assessment and public health responses
- Emergency surveillance frameworks for contamination events
Our aim is to provide a comprehensive platform for research that strengthens evidence-based decision-making and regulatory compliance.
Dr. Stefania Paola De Filippis
Dr. Elena Dellatte
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. Toxics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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.
Keywords
- persistent organic pollutants
- bioaccumulation
- food contamination
- human biomonitoring
- exposure assessment
- analytical methods
- public health risk
- dioxins and PCBs
- food chain
- emergency surveillance
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