Aims and scope
Exposure & Health is a multidisciplinary journal that focuses on global human health consequences of exposure to potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) though terrestrial environmental vectors such as food, water, air and soil derived from contaminants resident in either in man-made (i.e. agronomic, pharmaceutical, industrial and urban) or natural/semi-natural environments such as mineralized zones. Naturally produced toxicants such as mycotoxins and agal toxins, non-target human consequences of non-POP pesticides, except occupational exposure, will also be considered if a clear pathway to human risk is the focus.
This journal is interested in any trophic transfer step that leads to human contaminant exposure, such as residue levels in matrices that humans are exposed to, through to direct measurements of human exposure(s) through contaminant residue or biomarkers in human tissues (i.e. tissues and bloods), and subsequent links to health.
The journal provides a unique platform for scientists in this field to exchange ideas and share information on research for the solution of health effects of exposure to pollutants. The journal publishes original research articles and integrative reviews that are relevant to this theme.
The subject areas and scientific fields that are included to the journal are as follows:
*Analytical and detection technologies and approaches in contaminant and biomarker analysis
* Biogeochemical sciences
* Health sciences
* Exposure analysis and Epidemiology
* Social sciences and public policy
* Mathematical, numerical and statistical methods
* Experimental, data collection and data analysis methods.
The following research areas will be highlighted within the scope of the journal:
* Regional and global pollution, exposure and health problems
* Health risk analysis of pollution, methods of quantification and analysis of risk under uncertainty
* Biogeochemical processes in natural, agronomic, urban and industrial ecosystems and health effects
* Statistical and stochastic analysis of pollution, exposure and health data
* Analytical and numerical methods in exposure analysis of pollution
* Endocrine disruptors, pathogens, microbes, chemicals and manufactured materials and exposure health effects
* Biomarker exposure analysis and health outcome
* Health effects of contamination related environmental disasters
* Exposure-Dose reconstruction methods and applications
* Multi-pathway and multi-species pollution and exposure pathway analysis
* Pollution exposure monitoring and epidemiology
* Social policy and health communication topics related to pollution and exposure
* Systems management topics in pollution, exposure and health.
Topics that are NOT within the scope of the journal, and that will not be considered for review if manuscripts are received, are:
* Pollution remediation technologies
* Microbial and virus related studies, such as SARS-COVID and AMR
* Radiation studies
* Animal human-health model studies
* Ecotoxicological studies
* Characterization of the environment without a strong link to human health
* Studies with simplistic human exposure models
*Studies where chemical analysis is not supported by appropriate QA/QC, such as CRM recoveries and LoDs.
* Localized and site-specific studies that do not have wider relevance or new insights, or are of a type commonly found in the literature
* Occupational exposure investigations, including industrial and agronomic
* Atmospheric particulate (PM) studies unless they have a specific PET or POP component
* Microplastics investigations unless they have a specific PET or POP component
* Non-PET or non-POP gases (NOx, ozone, SO2)
* Ground and river water studies centred on common anions and cations such as alkaline and alkaline earth elements, phosphorus and sulphur ions
* While fluoride and nitrate are contaminants of interest, as they have specific human health consequences, the journal receives many localized studies on these ion than it has space to publish, and only where generic new insights can be derived from a study, will that study be considered for review
* Manuscripts that use NHANES, and similar, databases, without significant new associated experimental findings will not be considered