New Methods for Evaluating Effects of Exposure to Environmental Complex Mixtures on Human 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: 19 April 2026 | Viewed by 1
Special Issue Editors
Interests: causal inference; environmental health sciences; mediation analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: population health metrics and evaluation, including (1) methodological studies of comprehensive health metrics; (2) evaluation of burden of diseases and injuries, and (3) novel modeling methods for casual inference
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Humans are rarely exposed to a single agent; rather, they experience concurrent, time-varying mixtures spanning air pollutants, metals, pharmaceuticals/biocides, PFAS, nanomaterials, micro- and mesoplastics, noise, heat, and built-environment features. This Special Issue focuses on new methods, models, or approaches to treat data and evaluate the health risk of exposure to these different agents. Studies that provide clear implications for decision making across the human life course are also welcomed. We consider methodological advances in (1) risk assessment and inference methods with interaction (synergy/antagonism), (2) featured exposure–response modeling such as high-dimensional inference regarding Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression, g-computation, etc., and (3) evaluation of intervention measures targeting these mixtures based on causal frameworks. We also encourage applications that bridge epidemiology, toxicology, and risk assessment, with open code/data and rigid modeling techniques to unveil the link behind complex environmental mixtures and human health. Situating within the existing literature on comparative risk assessment and health impact assessment, this Special Issue extends beyond single-pollutant paradigms and advances mixture-based exposure–response functions and counterfactual analysis suitable for estimating population health burdens. Submissions spanning cohort, panel, and case-crossover, as well as experimental designs, and contributions covering diverse populations and environmental determinant perspectives, are especially encouraged.
Dr. Wangjian Zhang
Dr. Xiao Lin
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 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
- comparative risk assessment
- environmental complex mixtures
- human mixture exposome
- effect modification
- equity and vulnerable populations
- adverse health effects
- methodological studies
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.