New Developments and Challenges in Chemical Risk Assessment for Occupational and Environmental Hygiene

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, enormous changes have occurred in the environment, in daily life, and also in the world of work. The protection of the population and workers’ health must also evolve over time, as new knowledge and technological/methodological innovations are required to properly address the problems related to the assessment and management of risk for human health.

With a particular focus on chemical risk but extended to a wide range of occupational and environmental settings and exposure types, this Special Issue aims to collect scientific contributions useful for exploring research and practice in the field of risk assessment and management applied to environmental and occupational hygiene.

This Special Issue aims to collect original research articles concerning a broad spectrum of topics, which includes, but is not limited to:

• Methodological and technological innovations and challenges for exposure science and exposure data production and analytics, also including the use of advanced sensor technologies (e.g., low-cost, miniaturized, wearable, placeable, implantable sensors), the use of new environmental and biological monitoring methods, the sampling and analysis of chemicals, and the use of new data analysis techniques (e.g., machine learning, big data).
• Modeling techniques for exposure assessment, with a particular focus on model performance assessment studies, methodological innovations in modeling approaches, the application of new techniques (e.g., machine learning, big data) to modeling, and proposals for overcoming knowledge gaps such as the modeling of aggregate exposure assessment, exposure to mixtures or to objects and solid materials.
• The study of non-conventional exposure scenarios (e.g., in-vehicle exposure and urban and/or traffic environments), or exposure scenarios in specific conditions (e.g., smart working) and in non-industrial living and working environments (e.g., indoor air quality in offices, schools, residences, and public buildings).
• Emerging chemical risk factors in living and working environments (e.g., engineered nanomaterials and chemicals recently classified as hazardous, including recently classified carcinogenic, mutagenic, and reprotoxic substances).
• Regulations and policies regarding chemical risk in living and working environments, with particular focus on the practical repercussions and challenges for risk assessment and management in living and working environments.
• The application of risk management techniques, with a particular focus on safe-by-design or prevention-through-design approaches, techniques for reducing exposure to chemical agents, and the study of the adequacy of risk management measures and personal protective equipment.

Dr. Andrea Spinazzè
Dr. Francesca Borghi
Dr. Andrea Cattaneo
Prof. Dr. Domenico M. Cavallo
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. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 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 2500 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.

• exposure science
• advanced sensor technologies
• exposure modeling
• exposure assessment
• environmental monitoring
• biological monitoring
• hazardous chemicals
• occupational exposure
• big-data
• machine-learning