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Toxics
Special Issues
Ecotoxicological Effects of Contaminants on Aquatic Organisms
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Ecotoxicological Effects of Contaminants on Aquatic Organisms

A special issue of Toxics (ISSN 2305-6304). This special issue belongs to the section "Ecotoxicology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 2806

Editors

Dr. Renato Massaaki Honji

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Fisiologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo (IB/USP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Interests: aquatic ecotoxicology; endocrine disruption in fish; reproductive toxicology; developmental ecotoxicology; neuroendocrine effects; fish physiology and behavior; ecotoxicology in aquaculture
Dr. Amanda da Silveira Guerreiro

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
Departamento de Fisiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG), Rio Grande, RS, Brazil
Interests: aquatic toxicology; effects of emerging contaminants on non-target species; fish and invertebrate physiology and toxicology; reproductive toxicology; invertebrate immunity; oxidative metabolism; aquaculture; endocrine disruption; transcriptomics; gene expression
Dr. Giovana Souza Branco

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
Departamento de Fisiologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo (IB/USP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Interests: aquatic ecotoxicology; ecotoxicology in aquaculture; endocrine disruption in fish; gene expression; neuroendocrine effects; reproductive toxicology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The ecotoxicological effects of environmental contaminants on aquatic organisms are an increasing global concern, as diverse chemicals, including metals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products are routinely detected in natural ecosystems. Aquatic organisms are exposed to complex mixtures of stressors, rather than isolated substances, and these stressors can interact additively, synergistically, antagonistically, or unpredictably. Recent evidence demonstrates that contaminant mixtures disrupt key biological processes, including physiological homeostasis, development, reproduction, and behavior, with consequences cascading from molecular pathways to population dynamics and ecosystems health. This Special Issue of Toxics, entitled “Ecotoxicological Effects of Contaminants on Aquatic Organisms”, aims to integrate mechanistic, organism-level, and ecological insights on contaminant exposure in freshwater, estuarine, and marine environments. We invite original research articles and critical reviews addressing contaminant occurrence, environmental fate, bioavailability, and toxic effects, with emphasis on environmentally realistic conditions, mixture toxicity, and multilevel approaches. Submissions applying biomarkers, histopathology, omics technologies, adverse outcome pathways, and ecological risk assessment are encouraged. By integrating traditional and emerging ecotoxicology perspectives, this Special Issue seeks to advance conceptual frameworks, identify knowledge gaps, and support evidence-based environmental management and regulatory decision-making to protect aquatic biodiversity under increasing anthropogenic pressure.

Dr. Renato Massaaki Honji
Guest Editor

Dr. Amanda da Silveira Guerreiro
Dr. Giovana Souza Branco
Guest Editor Assistants

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-anonymized 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

  • aquatic ecotoxicology
  • environmental contaminants
  • metals
  • pharmaceuticals
  • microplastics
  • nanoplastics
  • mixture toxicity
  • biomarkers
  • aquatic organisms
  • environmental risk

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 2008 KB  
Article
Exposure to the Environmental Toxins Microcystin-LR and Roundup® Causes Cellular Damage in the Hepatopancreas of the White River Crayfish (Procambarus acutus)
by Mona Khalil, Antonillamarein E. Hanna, Brandon T. Kenaya, Amira S. Abuhmoud, Sarah A. Magid, Miranda J. Jasinski, Shaza Ahmed, Andrew A. Bosah, Sabrina A. Cacanindin, Oswaldo Celestino Escobar, Yara A. El-Sheikh, Evelyn M. Rihacek, Kendra R. Evans, Gregory M. Grabowski, Levi Storks and Rachelle M. Belanger
Toxics 2026, 14(8), 712; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics14080712 - 12 Aug 2026
Viewed by 521
Abstract
Aquatic ecosystems are routinely exposed to natural and anthropogenic stressors, and when multiple pollutants co-occur, their synergistic effects may exceed those of individual contaminants. This study evaluated the individual and combined effects of the widely used agrochemical Roundup®, whose active ingredient [...] Read more.
Aquatic ecosystems are routinely exposed to natural and anthropogenic stressors, and when multiple pollutants co-occur, their synergistic effects may exceed those of individual contaminants. This study evaluated the individual and combined effects of the widely used agrochemical Roundup®, whose active ingredient is glyphosate (GLY) and the cyanobacterial toxin microcystin-LR (MC-LR) on the hepatopancreas of crayfish. Following a seven-day exposure to MC-LR (15 ppb), GLY (75 ppb), or their combination (MC-LR + GLY), cellular and morphological alterations were assessed using flow cytometry and histological analyses. MC-LR exposure increased hepatopancreatic vacuole number 3.7-fold and vacuole proportion 6.8-fold relative to controls, whereas GLY increased vacuole proportion 5.2-fold. Combined exposure increased tubule lumen proportion by approximately 65%, while epithelial height remained unchanged. GLY reduced viable (fluorescein diacetate-positive) hepatopancreatic cells by approximately 86%, and both GLY and MC-LR + GLY increased non-viable (propidium iodide-positive) cells by 4.8-fold and 4.3-fold, respectively. MC-LR alone did not significantly affect cell viability. These findings indicate that MC-LR primarily induces structural alterations, whereas GLY causes pronounced cellular cytotoxicity. Although co-exposure did not consistently produce synergistic toxicity, it enhanced tissue remodeling, emphasizing the importance of evaluating environmentally relevant contaminant mixtures and their implications for freshwater ecosystem health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecotoxicological Effects of Contaminants on Aquatic Organisms)
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11 pages, 1426 KB  
Article
Glyphosate Promotes the Spread of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in the Intestine: An Overlooked Environmental Risk
by Junyue Zheng, Xiangguang Chen, Jiazhen Jiang and Fengchang Wu
Toxics 2026, 14(6), 506; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics14060506 - 10 Jun 2026
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Abstract
Glyphosate (Gly) is currently the most commonly used broad-spectrum herbicide in the world. The extensive residues of Gly and its major metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in food and the environment make it inevitable for humans to consume them. Although Gly has been shown [...] Read more.
Glyphosate (Gly) is currently the most commonly used broad-spectrum herbicide in the world. The extensive residues of Gly and its major metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in food and the environment make it inevitable for humans to consume them. Although Gly has been shown to disturb the homeostasis of gut microbiome by inhibiting the shikimic acid pathway of microorganisms, the potential health effects [such as the occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs)] remain unclear. Furthermore, as antibiotics that also act on the intestinal microbiota, their extensive residues inevitably lead to co-exposure with Gly. For these reasons, this study used zebrafish as experimental organisms to explore the effects of Gly/AMPA and oxytetracycline (OTC) exposure alone or in combination on ARGs in the intestine. Our results indicate that Gly exposure, rather than AMPA exposure, led to a 1.67-fold increase in the relative abundance of ARGs in the zebrafish intestine. Combined exposure to Gly and OTC led to a 2.30-fold increase in the relative abundance of ARGs in the zebrafish intestine, indicating a synergistic effect, whereas the additive effect of AMPA and OTC was negligible. In conclusion, the health risk of antibiotic resistance caused by Gly through the gut microbiota is a neglected hot topic. Further studies are needed to clarify Gly-induced functional drug resistance and to assess the human relevance of these findings using more appropriate model organisms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecotoxicological Effects of Contaminants on Aquatic Organisms)
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Review

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18 pages, 1042 KB  
Review
The Toxicological Effects of Emerging Pollutants on Marine Invertebrates: A Review
by Shenyu Liu, Guangyan Liang, Lei Chen, Shan Wang and Yuxue Qin
Toxics 2026, 14(5), 447; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics14050447 - 20 May 2026
Viewed by 981
Abstract
Marine invertebrates are characterized by high species diversity, a wide distribution, ease of culture, low cost, short life cycles and high sensitivity to pollutants, which makes them excellent models for observing toxic effects and elucidating underlying mechanisms. This paper reviews representative species from [...] Read more.
Marine invertebrates are characterized by high species diversity, a wide distribution, ease of culture, low cost, short life cycles and high sensitivity to pollutants, which makes them excellent models for observing toxic effects and elucidating underlying mechanisms. This paper reviews representative species from three phyla—Arthropoda, Mollusca, and Echinodermata—under both single emerging contaminant exposure and combined exposure scenarios, and analyzes the reproductive and neurotoxic impacts of these contaminants on marine invertebrates. Neurotoxicity is mediated by several key mechanisms: inhibition of acetylcholinesterase activity; disruption of neurotransmitter balance, oxidative stress; and cellular damage, interference with embryonic neural development and axis specification, and impairment of neural cell differentiation and migration. Reproductive toxicity impairs reproductive development by disrupting endocrine signaling, inducing oxidative stress, downregulating reproduction-related genes and damaging gonadal structure. Studies have shown that, besides environmental factors, contaminant concentration is closely correlated with toxic potency and differing concentration ratios can lead to either antagonistic or synergistic effects in combined toxicity. Current research has largely focused on single or binary contaminant systems, whereas studies on multi-contaminant mixtures and their interactions with multiple environmental factors remain limited. Future research should prioritize combined exposure to multiple contaminants, long-term multigenerational observations and the development of comprehensive ecological risk assessment models and monitoring standards, thereby providing a scientific basis for marine ecological conservation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecotoxicological Effects of Contaminants on Aquatic Organisms)
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