Risk Assessment of Mycotoxins: Challenges and Emerging Threats
A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Mycotoxins".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 1
Special Issue Editors
Interests: genetic toxicology; advanced in vitro 3D cell models; natural toxins; environmental pollutants; toxicogenomics; com-bined exposures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: in vitro 3D cell models; anthropogenic environmental contaminants; genotoxicity; safety risk assessment
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Mycotoxins are among the most significant chemical food contaminants, posing a serious threat to public health. It is estimated that 4.5 to 5 billion people worldwide are chronically exposed to mycotoxin-contaminated food. The global occurrence and diversity of mycotoxins are increasing, partly due to climate change. Their presence in food is therefore an open challenge for food safety and poses a serious risk to human and animal health. While regulatory limits exist for certain well-known mycotoxins, many so-called “emerging mycotoxins” remain unregulated despite their frequent detection in agricultural products. For many of these toxins, toxicological data are lacking, particularly concerning chronic exposure to low doses through contaminated food over a significant part of the human lifespan. In addition, humans are typically exposed daily to complex mixtures of mycotoxins, and their combined toxicological effects are still poorly understood and need to be studied more systematically.
This Special Issue aims at addressing these knowledge gaps by presenting new data on the toxicity and underlying molecular mechanisms of action of emerging mycotoxins and their mixtures, contributing to a more relevant human health risk assessment. Since it is practically impossible to completely avoid mycotoxin ingestion from food, it is crucial to characterize and assess the risks associated with dietary exposure. This knowledge will be essential for developing strategies to mitigate health risks to humans and animals, while also raising public awareness of mycotoxins in food and their potential to induce adverse health effects.
We welcome original research articles and reviews in areas including, but not limited to, the following:
- Toxicity evaluation of emerging mycotoxins and their mixtures, both in vitro and in vivo;
- Mechanistic studies of emerging mycotoxins on biological systems;
- Novel analytical methods for mycotoxin detection;
- Occurrence and levels of mycotoxins in agricultural products and food;
- Dietary exposure to mycotoxins and health risk assessment.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Bojana Žegura
Dr. Katja Kološa
Dr. Matjaž Novak
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- emerging mycotoxins
- risk assessment
- toxicity
- analytical methods
- combined effects
- food contamination
- mechanism of action
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