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Journals
Toxics
Special Issues
Emerging Pollutants in the Air and Health Risks
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Emerging Pollutants in the Air and Health Risks

A special issue of Toxics (ISSN 2305-6304). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Pollution and Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 2681

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Qi Zhao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, 44 West Wenhua Road, Jinan 250012, China
Interests: climate change; air pollution; health risk assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Gongbo Chen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Interests: climate change; air pollution; exposure assessment; environmental epidemiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, emerging pollutants in the air, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), heavy metals, ultrafine particles, and microplastics, have been increasingly recognized as serious threats to human health. Unlike traditional pollutants, emerging pollutants are often less regulated and more difficult to detect, making them a critical concern for modern air quality management. These pollutants originate from various human activities, including industrial processes, urban development, and agricultural practices. Despite their growing presence, the health risks associated with these pollutants remain underexplored, with limited evidence regarding their toxicity mechanisms and long-term impacts on human health. In the Special Issue “Emerging Pollutants in the Air and Health Risks”, we aim to present a collection of original articles or reviews on the following topics:

  1. Exposure assessment of emerging pollutants in the air.
  2. Identification of key emerging air pollutants impacting health.
  3. Health risk modeling of emerging pollutants in the air.
  4. Evaluation of toxic mechanisms and pathways of emerging air pollutants.
  5. Novel methodologies for toxicity and health effect assessment.

Dr. Qi Zhao
Dr. Gongbo Chen
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. 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

  • emerging pollutants
  • air pollution
  • exposure assessment
  • risk assessment
  • novel methodologies
  • statistical modeling
  • toxic mechanisms

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1781 KiB  
Article
Associations Between Brominated Flame Retardant Exposure and Depression in Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study
by Yulan Cheng, Yue Fei, Zemin Xu, Ruiyao Huang, Yuling Jiang, Lihan Sun, Xuehai Wang, Shali Yu, Yonghua Luo, Xiaobo Mao and Xinyuan Zhao
Toxics 2024, 12(12), 918; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12120918 - 19 Dec 2024
Viewed by 760
Abstract
Background: Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are a type of widespread pollutant that can be transmitted through particulate matter, such as dust in the air, and have been associated with various adverse health effects, such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease. However, there [...] Read more.
Background: Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are a type of widespread pollutant that can be transmitted through particulate matter, such as dust in the air, and have been associated with various adverse health effects, such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease. However, there is limited research on the link between exposure to mixtures of BFRs and depression in the general population. Methods: To analyze the association between exposure to BFRs and depression in the population, nationally representative data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES; 2005–2016) were used. In the final analysis, a total of 8138 adults aged 20 years and older were included. To investigate the potential relationship between BFRs and outcomes, we used binary logistic regression, restricted cubic spline (RCS), quantile-based g computation (QGC), and weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression. Results: The findings showed that serum BFR concentrations were associated with depressive symptoms over a broad spectrum. Binary logistic regression and RCS analysis showed that certain BFRs, particularly PBB153, were significantly and positively associated with the incidence of depression, even after adjustment for various confounders (p < 0.05). Mixed exposure to BFRs was also found to be associated with depression in the population, with a stronger association in men. The two most influential BFRs, PBB153 and PBDE85, were identified in both mixed exposure models and are potential risk factors of concern. Conclusion: Our study identified new insights into the relationship between BFRs and depression, but sizable population-based cohort studies and toxicology mechanism studies will be needed to establish causality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Pollutants in the Air and Health Risks)
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17 pages, 4436 KiB  
Article
Non-Genotoxic and Environmentally Relevant Lower Molecular Weight Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Significantly Increase Tumorigenicity of Benzo[a]pyrene in a Lung Two-Stage Mouse Model
by Alison K. Bauer, Deedee Romo, Finnegan Friday, Kaila Cho, Kalpana Velmurugan and Brad L. Upham
Toxics 2024, 12(12), 882; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12120882 - 2 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1374
Abstract
The World Health Organization has classified air pollution as a carcinogen, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are major components of air particulates of carcinogenic concern. Thus far, most studies focused on genotoxic high molecular weight PAHs; however, recent studies indicate potential carcinogenicity of [...] Read more.
The World Health Organization has classified air pollution as a carcinogen, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are major components of air particulates of carcinogenic concern. Thus far, most studies focused on genotoxic high molecular weight PAHs; however, recent studies indicate potential carcinogenicity of the non-genotoxic lower molecular weight PAHs (LMW PAHs) that are found in indoor and outdoor air pollution as well as secondhand cigarette smoke. We hypothesize that LMW PAHs contribute to the promotion stage of cancer when combined with benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), a legacy PAH. We specifically determined the effects of an LMW PAH mixture containing 1-methylanthracene (1MeA), fluoranthene (Flthn), and phenanthrene (Phe) combined with B[a]P on lung tumor promotion. To test this hypothesis, we used a two-stage, initiation/promotion BALB/ByJ female lung tumor mouse model. The mice were initiated with 3-methylcholanthrene followed by exposures to B[a]P, the LMW PAH mixture, and the combination of the LMW PAH mixture plus B[a]P, all at 10 mg/kg. The LMW PAHs combined with B[a]P significantly increased the promotion and incidence of lung tumors over that of B[a]P alone. The LMW PAHs in the absence of B[a]P did not significantly promote tumors, indicating strong co-promotional activities. We further assessed the effects of these PAHs on other hallmarks of cancer, namely, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid inflammatory infiltrates, pro-inflammatory transcripts, KC protein content, and mRNA expression of the gap junction (Gja1) and epiregulin (Ereg) genes. The LMW PAHs increased the biomarkers of inflammation, decreased Gja1 expression, and increased Ereg expression, all consistent with tumor promotion. This study indicates that non-genotoxic LMW PAHs can contribute to the cancer process and warrants further studies to assess the carcinogenic risks of other LMW PAHs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Pollutants in the Air and Health Risks)
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