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Toxics
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Environmental Contaminants and Human Health
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Environmental Contaminants and Human Health

A special issue of Toxics (ISSN 2305-6304). This special issue belongs to the section "Exposome Analysis and Risk Assessment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 February 2025 | Viewed by 5677

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Lin Xu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Interests: environmental pollutants; environmental health effects; environmental modeling
Dr. Penghui Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Environmental Science and Safety Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology
Interests: environmental pollutants; environmental health effects; environmental modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Xingchen Zhao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Environmental Science, Shandong University；
Interests: Nanotoxicology, Micro/nanoplastics, Food chain

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental contaminants and related human health risks have become a global environmental issue. Environmental contaminants enter the ecosystem and are enriched by the food chain. Potential exposure to humans has been a concern for society as a whole. In recent years, there has been growing interest in the relationship between environmental contaminants and human diseases, trying to answer the question of how the contaminants affect human bodies. Therefore, this Special Issue focuses on environmental contaminants and human health, aiming to figure out the relationship and mechanism. Therefore, it covers but is not limited to the following topics: the occurrence levels of contaminants in environmental and human bodies, exposure estimation, toxicity research, meta-analyses, and data reviews.

Prof. Dr. Lin Xu
Dr. Penghui Li
Dr. Xingchen Zhao
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

  • environmental contaminants
  • exposure
  • health effects
  • risk estimation
  • toxicological effect
  • food chain
  • microplastics
  • emerging pollutants
  • nanotoxicology

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 8554 KiB  
Article
The Relationship Between PM2.5 and Eight Common Lung Diseases: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Analysis
by Yuhang Jiang, Jingwen Si, Yuhang Wang, Han Zhang, Fang Zhou, Xike Lu, Xin Li, Daqiang Sun and Zheng Wang
Toxics 2024, 12(12), 851; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12120851 - 26 Nov 2024
Viewed by 70
Abstract
Air pollutants have both acute and chronic impacts on human health, affecting multiple systems and organs. While PM2.5 exposure is commonly assumed to be strongly associated with all respiratory diseases, this relationship has not been systematically analyzed. This study employed a two-sample Mendelian [...] Read more.
Air pollutants have both acute and chronic impacts on human health, affecting multiple systems and organs. While PM2.5 exposure is commonly assumed to be strongly associated with all respiratory diseases, this relationship has not been systematically analyzed. This study employed a two-sample Mendelian randomization approach to investigate the effects of PM2.5 on eight common lung diseases, using data from GWAS. Additionally, multivariable Mendelian randomization was applied to assess the direct effects of various air pollutants and the mediating roles of common factors such as BMI and smoking. At a significance threshold of 5×10−8, PM2.5 showed a significant causal relationship with both asthma and COPD. When the screening threshold was relaxed to 5× 10−6, this exposure continued to demonstrate significant associations not only with asthma and COPD, but also with other respiratory diseases, including pneumonia, emphysema/chronic bronchitis, and lung cancer. In the multivariable Mendelian randomization analysis, which controlled for smoking and bacterial infections, the association with pneumonia became non-significant, while the relationships with the other four diseases persisted. This study provides a systematic exploration of the relationship between PM2.5 and eight pulmonary diseases from a new perspective, deepening our understanding of the impact of air pollution on health and laying the foundation for future efforts to mitigate these effects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Contaminants and Human Health)
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16 pages, 2254 KiB  
Article
Consumption of Native Fish Associated with a Potential Carcinogenic Risk for Indigenous Communities in the Peruvian Amazon
by Magaly Alejandra Brousett-Minaya, Fred William Chu-Koo, Juvenal Napuchi-Linares, Cynthia Elizabeth Zambrano Panduro, Juan Amilcar Reyes-Larico, Adriana Edith Larrea-Valdivia and Ivan Edward Biamont-Rojas
Toxics 2024, 12(8), 552; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12080552 - 30 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1244
Abstract
Aquatic environments, such as fluvial environments, play an important role in the transport of material from throughout the basin, and this material partially sediments along the way. The objective of this study was to analyze, from an ecotoxicological point of view, the concentrations [...] Read more.
Aquatic environments, such as fluvial environments, play an important role in the transport of material from throughout the basin, and this material partially sediments along the way. The objective of this study was to analyze, from an ecotoxicological point of view, the concentrations of arsenic and heavy metals in sediment and the muscle of native fish, to correlate their interaction and to evaluate the potential risk to public health using carcinogenic risk indices in four rivers of the Peruvian Amazon. There were 27 sampling sites where sediment and fish (except for five points) samples were collected. A sampling pool was created with fish muscles from all species collected at each sampling site. Concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Hg were analyzed in both sediment and fish muscle, in duplicate. The results indicate the presence of concentrations higher than those recommended by international guidelines for sediment and food. Mercury (Hg) concentrations in the Tigre, Morona, and Pastaza rivers are up to six times higher than the recommended value for daily consumption. The carcinogenic risk due to the regular consumption of native species in the indigenous communities living on the banks of the four studied rivers is high. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Contaminants and Human Health)
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13 pages, 836 KiB  
Article
Associations between Ethylene Oxide Exposure and Liver Function in the US Adult Population
by Shanshan Li, Jinzhou Wang, Dengliang Lei, Dadi Peng, Kezhen Zong, Kaili Li, Zhongjun Wu, Yanyao Liu and Zuotian Huang
Toxics 2024, 12(8), 551; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12080551 - 30 Jul 2024
Viewed by 941
Abstract
Background: Ethylene oxide, a reactive epoxy compound, has been widely used in various industries for many years. However, evidence of the combined toxic effects of ethylene oxide exposure on the liver is still lacking. Methods: We analyzed the merged data from the National [...] Read more.
Background: Ethylene oxide, a reactive epoxy compound, has been widely used in various industries for many years. However, evidence of the combined toxic effects of ethylene oxide exposure on the liver is still lacking. Methods: We analyzed the merged data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2013 to 2016. Ultimately, 4141 adults aged 18 and over were selected as the sample. We used linear regression to explore the association between blood ethylene oxide and LFT indicators. Results: The weighted linear regression model showed that HbEO is positively correlated with ALP (β = 2.61, 95% CI 1.97, 3.24, p < 0.0001), GGT (β = 5.75, 95% CI 4.46, 7/05, p < 0.0001), ALT (β = 0.50, 95% CI 0.09, 0.90, p = 0.0158), and AST (β = 0.71, 95% CI 0.44, 0.98, p < 0.0001) and negatively correlated with TBIL (β = −0.30, 95% CI −0.43, −0.16, p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Ethylene oxide exposure is significantly associated with changes in liver function indicators among adults in the United States. Future work should further examine these relationships. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Contaminants and Human Health)
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12 pages, 2295 KiB  
Article
Effects of 6PPD-Quinone on Human Liver Cell Lines as Revealed with Cell Viability Assay and Metabolomics Analysis
by Yunqing Qi, Aiqing Qiu, Xinyue Wei, Yiting Huang, Qing Huang and Wei Huang
Toxics 2024, 12(6), 389; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12060389 - 26 May 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1991
Abstract
N-(1,3-Dimethyl butyl)-N′-phenyl-phenylenediamine-quinone (6PPD-Q) is a derivative of the widely used rubber tire antioxidant 6PPD, which was first found to be acutely toxic to coho salmon. Subsequent studies showed that 6PPD-Q had species-specific acute toxicity in fishes and potential hepatotoxicity in [...] Read more.
N-(1,3-Dimethyl butyl)-N′-phenyl-phenylenediamine-quinone (6PPD-Q) is a derivative of the widely used rubber tire antioxidant 6PPD, which was first found to be acutely toxic to coho salmon. Subsequent studies showed that 6PPD-Q had species-specific acute toxicity in fishes and potential hepatotoxicity in mice. In addition, 6PPD-Q has been reported in human urine, demonstrating the potential widespread exposure of humans to this chemical. However, whether 6PPD-Q poses a higher risk to humans than its parent compound, 6PPD, and could cause adverse effects in humans is still unclear. In this study, we utilized two human liver cell models (the human proto-hepatocyte model L02 and the human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2) to investigate the potentially differential effects of these two chemicals. Cell viability curve analysis showed that 6PPD-Q had lower IC50 values than 6PPD for both liver cell lines, suggesting higher toxicity of 6PPD-Q to human liver cells than 6PPD. In addition, L02 cells are more sensitive to 6PPD-Q exposure, which might be derived from its weaker metabolic transformation of 6PPD-Q, since significantly lower levels of phase I and phase II metabolites were detected in 6PPD-Q-exposed L02 cell culture medium. Furthermore, pathway analysis showed that 6PPD-Q exposure induced changes in phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan biosynthesis and tyrosine metabolism pathways in L02 cells, which might be the mechanism underlying its liver cell toxicity. Gene expression analysis revealed that exposure to 6PPD-Q induced excessive ROS production in L02 cells. Our results further supported the higher risk of 6PPD-Q than 6PPD and provided insights for understanding the effects of 6PPD-Q on human health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Contaminants and Human Health)
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Review

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16 pages, 1218 KiB  
Review
Reproductive Toxicity and Multi/Transgenerational Effects of Emerging Pollutants on C. elegans
by Zhiling Wu, Lingqiao Wang, Weihua Chen, Yiqi Wang, Ke Cui, Weiyan Chen, Jijun Liu, Huidong Jin and Ziyuan Zhou
Toxics 2024, 12(11), 785; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12110785 - 29 Oct 2024
Viewed by 722
Abstract
Emerging pollutants (EPs) are receiving increasing attention due to the threats they pose to the environment and human health. As EPs continue to emerge, risk assessment requires many model animals. Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) has been an outstanding toxicological model organism [...] Read more.
Emerging pollutants (EPs) are receiving increasing attention due to the threats they pose to the environment and human health. As EPs continue to emerge, risk assessment requires many model animals. Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) has been an outstanding toxicological model organism due to its growth and development characteristics. Particularly, in studying the transgenerational influences of EPs, C. elegans has advantages in saving time and cost due to its short generation cycle. As infertility has become a major problem in human reproductive health, reproductive toxicities of EPs on contemporary nematodes and across generations of C. elegans were introduced in this review. Moreover, the underlying mechanisms involved in germ cell apoptosis, spermatogenesis, and epigenetic alteration were discussed. Future research opportunities and challenges are also discussed to expand our understanding of the reproductive influences of EPs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Contaminants and Human Health)
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