Interaction and Intersection: The Effects of Environmental Exposures on Children's Health

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental toxicants harm children’s health and because they rarely occur in isolation, there is a risk of potentiated adverse effects from exposures co-occurring in the environment. Increasingly, there is evidence that children are exposed to mixtures of not only “like” chemicals (ex., metals) but to a slew of legacy and emerging pollutants in the places where they live and spend time, from schools, to play spaces, to places of worship. We are only beginning to understand how those diverse chemicals interact together, as well as with children’s genetic make-up and nutritional status, to affect their growth and development.

At the same time, environmental exposures intersect with other aspects of children’s beings and lives: their race and ethnicity; sex; the activities they engage in; the socioeconomic status of their families and communities; the strength of their community’s voice or level of marginalization within society; the places where they live and the socio-cultural and political structures they encounter; etc. These intersections produce conditions in which exposure types and levels differ across communities, where exposures could be ignored or exacerbated, and where a given exposure could result in more harm to children’s physical or mental health and to their futures.

The aim of this special issue is to explore the biological interactions and socio-economic intersections through which environmental toxicants affect the health of children up to 18 years of age. Original research and reviews from around the world are welcome. Submissions considering complex exposures (more than two chemicals and more than one class of chemical) are particularly encouraged.

Toxics is an open access journal; authors can inquire about discounts. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Katarzyna Kordas
Dr. Jose Suarez
Guest Editors

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.

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