Occurrence of Contaminants of Emerging Concern and Their Risks to Aquatic Animals
A special issue of Toxics (ISSN 2305-6304). This special issue belongs to the section "Emerging Contaminants".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 January 2026 | Viewed by 6
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In recent years, Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs)—including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, microplastics, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs)—have become increasingly prevalent in aquatic environments. Unlike traditional pollutants, these compounds are often not fully regulated; yet, they can bioaccumulate, disrupt biological processes, and threaten both aquatic biodiversity and food safety. The growing use of synthetic chemicals and poor disposal practices have accelerated their entry into rivers, lakes, estuaries, and oceans, raising urgent environmental and public health concerns.
The Scope of the Special Issue includes (but is not limited to):
- Environmental occurrence and distribution of CECs;
- Acute and chronic toxicity studies;
- Field-based ecological risk assessments;
- Bioaccumulation and biomagnification;
- Molecular, cellular, and organismal responses;
- Synergistic and mixture toxicity effects;
- Biodegradation and removal techniques;
- Policy, regulation, and environmental management.
In this Special Issue, we aim to provide readers with updated insights into the toxicity mechanisms and ecological risk assessment of pollutants. It will primarily address bioaccumulation, toxic effects, and the ecological risk assessment of traditional and emerging pollutants, with a particular focus on aquatic animals.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Liping Hou
Guest Editor
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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
- contaminants of emerging concern (CECs)
- aquatic toxicology
- bioaccumulation
- ecological risk assessment
- mixture toxicity and synergistic effects
- environmental pollution
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