About this Research Topic
Environmental factors contribute significantly to global mortality, accounting for nearly a quarter of all deaths worldwide (24%) and a staggering 28% of deaths in children under five years old. Among these environmental risk factors, chemical pollution of air, water, and soil poses a substantial threat to human health. Given these alarming statistics, assessing environmental contamination becomes pivotal in safeguarding public health.
Traditional monitoring approaches for environmental contamination rely on identifying and quantifying individual chemicals. However, this method has limitations: it may not capture all the unknown compounds present in an environmental matrix, lacks sensitivity to measure individual compounds, and fails to account for synergistic or antagonistic interactions among chemicals. Traditional monitoring is also very expensive, as it requires sophisticated equipment and highly trained personnel. To overcome these challenges, there is a growing need for effect-based tools in public health research. Effect-based tools detect cumulative effects and are useful to connect chemical contamination and ecological status. They evaluate mixture toxicity, integrating the effects of unknown compounds and considering synergistic and antagonistic interactions.
To address the need for effect-based tools, we invite researchers to submit original research and review articles on a variety of topics, including but not limited to:
• biomonitoring of environmental matrices: Explore the use of in vitro assays or other tests to assess the risk to human health resulting from environmental exposure
• advancements in assessing biological effects: Present novel methods or techniques to accurately measure and assess the impacts of environmental matrices on human health
• risk assessment for human health: Investigate the use of effect-based tools to better quantify human exposure, identify potential health effects, and support risk analysis and management efforts
• complementary role of effect-based monitoring: Explore the use of effect-based monitoring as a complementary tool to targeted chemical analysis.
Traditional monitoring approaches for environmental contamination rely on identifying and quantifying individual chemicals. However, this method has limitations: it may not capture all the unknown compounds present in an environmental matrix, lacks sensitivity to measure individual compounds, and fails to account for synergistic or antagonistic interactions among chemicals. Traditional monitoring is also very expensive, as it requires sophisticated equipment and highly trained personnel. To overcome these challenges, there is a growing need for effect-based tools in public health research. Effect-based tools detect cumulative effects and are useful to connect chemical contamination and ecological status. They evaluate mixture toxicity, integrating the effects of unknown compounds and considering synergistic and antagonistic interactions.
To address the need for effect-based tools, we invite researchers to submit original research and review articles on a variety of topics, including but not limited to:
• biomonitoring of environmental matrices: Explore the use of in vitro assays or other tests to assess the risk to human health resulting from environmental exposure
• advancements in assessing biological effects: Present novel methods or techniques to accurately measure and assess the impacts of environmental matrices on human health
• risk assessment for human health: Investigate the use of effect-based tools to better quantify human exposure, identify potential health effects, and support risk analysis and management efforts
• complementary role of effect-based monitoring: Explore the use of effect-based monitoring as a complementary tool to targeted chemical analysis.
Keywords: air pollution, comet assay, cytotoxicity, endocrine disruptors, environmental hazard, environmental health, gene reporter assay, genotoxicity, human health effects, in vitro assay, particulate matter, wastewaters, water pollution
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
