Editorial

Special Issue of Environmental Science and Pollution Research (ESPR)

Biomonitoring of atmospheric pollution: possibilities and future challenges

  Almeida M, Wolterbeek HT, Markert B, Loppi S (2016), in press

This special issue of Environmental Science and Pollution Research highlights selected papers presented at the Seventh International Workshop of BioMAP (BioMAP7), which is focused on biomonitoring of atmospheric pollution, and which was held on June 14–19, 2015, in Lisbon, Portugal.

BioMAP7, in addition to the specific issues related to biomonitoring as a technique, specifically addressed the potential of biomonitoring in assessing human exposure to and effects of exposure to toxic substances: as it is, biomonitoring comprises interdisciplinary approaches, which need input from environmental, biological, chemico-analytical, data analytical and medical-epidemiological domains.

This special issue cannot fully reflect the diversity and creativity of the ideas and new insights that were shared at BioMAP7. However, as editors, we hope that this issue may prompt scientists from the diverse fields to participate in BioMAP workshops to come: the collected papers show and justify the strong position of the biomonitoring technique in worldwide studies on atmospheric pollution.