Biomonitoring and Exposure Assessment in Vulnerable Populations: From Source to Health Outcome

Dear Colleagues,

Exposure to environmental contaminants poses a significant risk to public health. Vulnerable populations including children, older adults, and low-income communities often face a disproportionate burden of exposures to harmful chemicals in the environment, resulting in increased health risks.

While environmental sampling (e.g., air, water, soil) and consumer product testing are crucial for identifying sources of environmental chemicals, to effectively assess and address the health effects of chemical exposures, biomonitoring studies and human exposure monitoring through the analysis of biological matrices (e.g., blood, urine) must be integrated.

Biomonitoring links environmental contaminants to internal body burden and potential health effects. Notable contaminants of concern include, but are not limited to industrial and consumer product chemicals (bisphenols, phthalates, parabens, PFAS, flame retardants), agricultural chemicals (pesticides, carbamates),  environmental pollutants (heavy metals, PAHs, PCBs, PCDDs/Fs), food contact and dietary contaminants (plasticizers) . 

Findings from biomonitoring efforts enable public health agencies and communities to:

• Assess population-level exposure to harmful chemicals in the environment
• Identify potential sources and exposure pathways of contaminants
• Identify communities disproportionately affected by environmental pollution and propose intervention and mitigation strategy
• Establish linkage between internal doses and potential health effects
• Educate the public on how to reduce or prevent chemical exposures

Biomonitoring studies play a critical role in shaping public health policies, regulatory standards, and research priorities. Understanding environmental exposures and their impact on human health requires interdisciplinary collaboration among public health professionals, scientists, toxicologists, epidemiologists, and community members.

This special issue aims to raise awareness to biomonitoring efforts and highlight the connections between the environmental exposure and chemical body burden through contributions from diverse disciplines. We invite submissions that delve into topics such as:

• Investigation on contamination sources
• Examination of exposure pathways
• Quantification of contaminants in biological or environmental media
• Identification of communities at higher risk of harmful chemical exposures
• Innovations in detection and quantification techniques, particularly those utilizing LC/GC-MS platforms.
• Exploration on links between chemical exposures, biological effects, and health outcomes, including biomarker discovery, acute and chronic health impacts, and developmental disorders

We encourage submissions from researchers across disciplines, including environmental science, analytical chemistry, toxicology, epidemiology, and public health.

Dr. Jianwen She
Dr. Joy Xiaosong Jiang
Guest Editors

Dr. Dinesh Adhikari
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

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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.