Preface
Over the last years, a significant growth in the number of research groups in toxicology and environmental health took place in Brazil. Moreover, this progress also resulted in a considerable improvement in the quality of investigations. Based on that, the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health Part A (JTEH, A) has published three special issues dedicated to studies carried out by Brazilian groups between 2010 and 2014.
In 2016, a scientific meeting named “International Meeting of Environmental Health and Toxicology (IMEHTox)” was proposed for a continuous improvement of the integration and sharing experiences between Brazilian scientists and experts from other countries. IMEHTox was held in September of 2016 in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, a city that stands out as a scientific, technological, and cultural center in the northeast part of São Paulo state. Fifteen invited speakers and more than 100 contributions (posters and oral presentations) from different areas of environmental health and toxicology covered the research related to the following topics:
Emerging contaminants: new insights into environmental exposure and effects;
Human biomonitoring: exposure to toxic elements and organic chemicals;
Micronutrients in human health;
Updates in endocrine dysregulation;
Gene–environment interactions;
Mechanisms of neurotoxicology of pesticides and mercury compounds;
Toxicity assessment of nanomaterials and environmental interactions;
New biomarkers of metal exposure;
“Omics” in toxicology.
The authors of the best papers were invited to submit their studies to be considered for publication in JTEH, A. Eleven accepted manuscripts culminated in this special issue.
On behalf of all scientists in toxicology and environmental health in Brazil and the participants in this meeting, we express our sincere gratitude to Professor Sam Kacew, who kindly promoted this special issue.