{"title":"Roadmap of environmental health research on emerging contaminants: Inspiration from the studies on engineered nanomaterials","authors":"Xiaona Li , Feng He , Zhenyu Wang , Baoshan Xing","doi":"10.1016/j.eehl.2022.10.001","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Research on the environmental health of emerging contaminants is critical to understand their risks before causing severe harm. However, the low environmental concentrations, complex behaviors, and toxicology of emerging contaminants present enormous challenges for researchers. Here, we reviewed the research on the environmental health of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs), one of the typical emerging contaminants, to enlighten pathways for future research on emerging contaminants at their initial exploratory stage. To date, some developed pretreatment methods and detection technologies have been established for the determination of ENMs in natural environments. The mechanisms underlying the transfer and transformation of ENMs have been systematically explored in laboratory studies. The mechanisms of ENMs-induced toxicity have also been preliminarily clarified at genetic, cellular, individual, and short food chain levels, providing not only a theoretical basis for revealing the risk change and environmental health effects of ENMs in natural environments but also a methodological guidance for studying environmental health of other emerging contaminants. Nonetheless, due to the interaction of multiple environmental factors and the high diversity of organisms in natural environments, health effects observed in laboratory studies likely differ from those in natural environments. We propose a holistic approach and mesocosmic model ecosystems to systematically carry out environmental health research on emerging contaminants, obtaining data that determine the objectivity and accuracy of risk assessment.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":29813,"journal":{"name":"Eco-Environment & Health","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772985022000345/pdfft?md5=e194fbbd2135c20ea36790c9ae8f7e90&pid=1-s2.0-S2772985022000345-main.pdf","citationCount":"30","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Eco-Environment & Health","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772985022000345","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 30
Abstract
Research on the environmental health of emerging contaminants is critical to understand their risks before causing severe harm. However, the low environmental concentrations, complex behaviors, and toxicology of emerging contaminants present enormous challenges for researchers. Here, we reviewed the research on the environmental health of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs), one of the typical emerging contaminants, to enlighten pathways for future research on emerging contaminants at their initial exploratory stage. To date, some developed pretreatment methods and detection technologies have been established for the determination of ENMs in natural environments. The mechanisms underlying the transfer and transformation of ENMs have been systematically explored in laboratory studies. The mechanisms of ENMs-induced toxicity have also been preliminarily clarified at genetic, cellular, individual, and short food chain levels, providing not only a theoretical basis for revealing the risk change and environmental health effects of ENMs in natural environments but also a methodological guidance for studying environmental health of other emerging contaminants. Nonetheless, due to the interaction of multiple environmental factors and the high diversity of organisms in natural environments, health effects observed in laboratory studies likely differ from those in natural environments. We propose a holistic approach and mesocosmic model ecosystems to systematically carry out environmental health research on emerging contaminants, obtaining data that determine the objectivity and accuracy of risk assessment.
期刊介绍:
Eco-Environment & Health (EEH) is an international and multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal designed for publications on the frontiers of the ecology, environment and health as well as their related disciplines. EEH focuses on the concept of “One Health” to promote green and sustainable development, dealing with the interactions among ecology, environment and health, and the underlying mechanisms and interventions. Our mission is to be one of the most important flagship journals in the field of environmental health.
Scopes
EEH covers a variety of research areas, including but not limited to ecology and biodiversity conservation, environmental behaviors and bioprocesses of emerging contaminants, human exposure and health effects, and evaluation, management and regulation of environmental risks. The key topics of EEH include:
1) Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation
Biodiversity
Ecological restoration
Ecological safety
Protected area
2) Environmental and Biological Fate of Emerging Contaminants
Environmental behaviors
Environmental processes
Environmental microbiology
3) Human Exposure and Health Effects
Environmental toxicology
Environmental epidemiology
Environmental health risk
Food safety
4) Evaluation, Management and Regulation of Environmental Risks
Chemical safety
Environmental policy
Health policy
Health economics
Environmental remediation