From Exposure to Disease: Health Impacts of Pesticides

Intensive pesticide application has become a defining feature of contemporary agriculture, fueling growing concern about its consequences for both human health and the environment. Evidence has accumulated regarding the persistence of pesticide residues in water, soil, air, and food, with documented links to a spectrum of adverse health outcomes—from biochemical and physiological changes to chronic diseases. Notably, organophosphates, carbamates, pyrethroids, and widely used herbicides such as glyphosate have been implicated in neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, and carcinogenicity. Despite advances in chemical detection and toxicology, significant gaps remain in the translation of exposure data into meaningful assessments of health risk. Limited integration exists between state-of-the-art environmental monitoring, biomarker development, and epidemiological studies, especially as concerns escalate over low-dose, chronic exposures and cumulative effects in agricultural and peri-urban populations.This Research Topic aims to advance our understanding of the pathways by which pesticide exposure leads to disease, emphasizing the need for a multidisciplinary approach. The primary objectives are to encourage the development and validation of innovative analytical techniques for detecting pesticide residues, identify and characterize sensitive biomarkers of exposure and effect, and elucidate the toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic mechanisms linking environmental exposure to human health outcomes. By integrating analytical chemistry, molecular toxicology, and population-based studies, this initiative seeks to clarify the health impacts of acute and chronic pesticide exposure, particularly among vulnerable groups such as agricultural workers and residents of intensively farmed regions. Ultimately, the goal is to generate robust scientific evidence to inform risk assessment, safeguard public health, and guide policy and mitigation efforts.The scope of this Research Topic encompasses studies investigating the detection and quantification of pesticide residues in environmental and biological samples, the development of chromatographic and spectrometric methods, occupational and community exposure assessments, discovery and validation of biomarkers, toxicological mechanism research, and health risk evaluation. Research addressing environmental degradation, chemical transformation, and mitigation of pesticide pollution is also of interest. We particularly welcome contributions that:- Link environmental and biomonitoring data to epidemiological and clinical endpoints- Explore cumulative and low-dose effects in at-risk populations- Integrate molecular, analytical, and public health perspectives- Propose innovative methodologies for exposure assessment- Develop strategies for minimizing human and environmental risksWe invite original research articles, reviews, case studies, methods papers, and perspectives. Interdisciplinary submissions spanning chemistry, toxicology, epidemiology, and environmental sciences are highly encouraged, especially those focusing on regions with intensive pesticide use. Topic editors: José Belisario Leyva Morales, CAROLINA PANIS, Bernardo Lemos Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79707/from-exposure-to-disease-health-impacts-of-pesticides