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Exposure Assessment to Environmental Contaminants in Children
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Exposure Assessment to Environmental Contaminants in Children

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Toxicology and Public Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 8967

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Carmela Protano

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Interests: public health; environmental epidemiology; risk assessment; environmental pollution
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Maria Luisa Astolfi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Interests: analytical and bioanalytical chemistry; environmental chemistry and monitoring; elemental analysis; atomic spectroscopic techniques (ICP-MS, ICP-OES, CV-AFS, AMA, GF-AAS); sample treatment; determination of trace elements in foods
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

children are a high-risk population for acute and chronic effects of environmental threats because they are much more vulnerable respect to the adults. Children’s increased susceptibility is related to the peculiar characteristics of exposure and physiological features. Indeed, even when children and adults are exposed to the same levels of environmental contaminants, the daily intake of air, fluids and foods are higher in children than in adults. Additionally, the organism of children is immature and defense mechanisms are not fully functioning. Finally, when the environmental exposure begin during childhood, the risk of negative outcome for human health with long latency is very high.

The World Health Organization declared that children cannot be considered “little adults” and need for devoted studies in order to perform an appropriate risk characterization specific for pediatric age. One of the key step of risk characterization process is the exposure assessment, that allow to quantify who, how, where, why populations are exposed to environmental hazard.

This special issue aims to show new information on children’s exposure to environmental contaminants. We welcome original articles, systematic reviews and meta-analysis, critical reviews and short communications addressing children’s susceptibility to contaminants at various stages of growth, environmental exposures to contaminants during pediatric age, and contamination of environmental matrices (air, water, foods and objects) that pose exposure risks to children. 

Dr. Carmela Protano
Dr. Maria Luisa Astolfi
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. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 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 2500 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

  • Environmental monitoring
  • Human biomonitoring
  • Non-invasive biological matrices
  • Environmental exposures
  • Environmental contaminants
  • Toxic element
  • Contaminant distributions
  • Contaminant intake
  • Risk assessment

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 2815 KiB  
Article
Application of Single-Particle Mass Spectrometer to Obtain Chemical Signatures of Various Combustion Aerosols
by Hee-joo Cho, Joonwoo Kim, Nohhyeon Kwak, Heesung Kwak, Taewan Son, Donggeun Lee and Kihong Park
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(21), 11580; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111580 - 4 Nov 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2338
Abstract
A single-particle mass spectrometer (SPMS) with laser ionization was constructed to determine the chemical composition of single particles in real time. The technique was evaluated using various polystyrene latex particles with different sizes (125 nm, 300 nm, 700 nm, and 1000 nm); NaCl, [...] Read more.
A single-particle mass spectrometer (SPMS) with laser ionization was constructed to determine the chemical composition of single particles in real time. The technique was evaluated using various polystyrene latex particles with different sizes (125 nm, 300 nm, 700 nm, and 1000 nm); NaCl, KCl, MgCO3, CaCO3, and Al2O3 particles with different chemical compositions; an internal mixture of NaCl and KCl; and an internal mixture of NaCl, KCl, and MgCl2 with different mixing states. The results show that the SPMS can be useful for the determination of chemical characteristics and mixing states of single particles in real time. The SPMS was then applied to obtain the chemical signatures of various combustion aerosols (diesel engine exhaust, biomass burning (rice straw), coal burning, and cooking (pork)) based on their single-particle mass spectra. Elemental carbon (EC)-rich and EC-organic carbon (OC) particles were the predominant particle types identified in diesel engine exhaust, while K-rich and EC-OC-K particles were observed among rice straw burning emissions. Only one particle type (ash-rich particles) was detected among coal burning emissions. EC-rich and EC-OC particles were observed among pork burning particles. The single-particle mass spectra of the EC or OC types of particles differed among various combustion sources. The observed chemical signatures could be useful for rapidly identifying sources of atmospheric fine particles. In addition, the detected chemical signatures of the fine particles may be used to estimate their toxicity and to better understand their effects on human health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exposure Assessment to Environmental Contaminants in Children)
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13 pages, 836 KiB  
Article
Urinary Mercury Levels and Predictors of Exposure among a Group of Italian Children
by Maria Luisa Astolfi, Matteo Vitali, Elisabetta Marconi, Stefano Martellucci, Vincenzo Mattei, Silvia Canepari and Carmela Protano
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(24), 9225; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249225 - 10 Dec 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2318
Abstract
Urinary mercury (Hg) levels are suitable to assess long-term exposure to both elemental and inorganic Hg. In this study, the urinary Hg levels of 250 children (aged 6–11 years) from three areas with different anthropogenic impacts in the Rieti province, central Italy, were [...] Read more.
Urinary mercury (Hg) levels are suitable to assess long-term exposure to both elemental and inorganic Hg. In this study, the urinary Hg levels of 250 children (aged 6–11 years) from three areas with different anthropogenic impacts in the Rieti province, central Italy, were assessed. The Hg concentrations were in the range of 0.04–2.18 µg L−1 with a geometric mean equal to 0.18 µg L−1 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.17–0.20 µg L−1] or 0.21 µg g−1 creatinine (95% CI, 0.19–0.23 µg g−1 creatinine), and a reference value calculated as 95th percentile of 0.53 µg L−1 (95% CI, 0.44–0.73 µg L−1) or 0.55 µg g−1 creatinine (95% CI, 0.50–0.83 µg g−1 creatinine). In all cases, urinary Hg data were below the HBM-I values (7 µg L−1 or 5 µg g−1 creatinine) established for urine, while the 95th percentile was above the German Human Biomonitoring Commission’s RV95 (0.4 µg L−1) set for children without amalgam fillings. A significant correlation (p < 0.05) was found between creatinine-corrected results and residence area, with higher urinary Hg levels in children living in the industrial area. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that creatinine was the main predictor of urinary Hg. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exposure Assessment to Environmental Contaminants in Children)
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Review

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11 pages, 907 KiB  
Review
Environment in Children’s Health: A New Challenge for Risk Assessment
by Francesca Mastorci, Nunzia Linzalone, Lamia Ait-Ali and Alessandro Pingitore
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(19), 10445; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910445 - 4 Oct 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3203
Abstract
In the last few years, many studies have focused on the effects of environmental contaminant exposure during the prenatal period or infancy as predictors of health outcomes in the future. In these time windows, due to their rapid growth, and physiologic and metabolic [...] Read more.
In the last few years, many studies have focused on the effects of environmental contaminant exposure during the prenatal period or infancy as predictors of health outcomes in the future. In these time windows, due to their rapid growth, and physiologic and metabolic development, we can observe a higher vulnerability to the effects of environment, with respect to adulthood. The evidence of possible influences, partly mediated by epigenetic mechanisms, involve neurobehavioral responses and immune, endocrine, and respiratory systems, acting directly on the child or indirectly when mediated by placental transfer or breast feeding. In particular, due to a greater intake of air, food, and fluids relative to body weight, crawling behaviors and short stature, the risk of excessive exposure is greater in children. However, data on the long-term implications of early exposures are scarce. Additionally, so that physicians and institutions for child care and assistance of pregnant women can take actions to counteract the effects of chemical pollution (i.e., by educational opportunities), a risk assessment perspective that responds to the biocomplexity of the human being is needed. The present paper provides an overview of physiologic and behavioral characteristics during the perinatal period and in childhood, suggesting in a more integrated way, the need of a new risk-assessment approach to managing chronic disease in pediatric patients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exposure Assessment to Environmental Contaminants in Children)
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