From Use to Emission: Anthropogenic substances in Modern Societal Systems

A substantial fraction of chemical emissions occurs not during production or disposal, but during the everyday use of products, materials, and infrastructure. These emissions are often diffuse, intermittent, and highly variable, shaped by human behaviour, operating conditions, and maintenance practices—yet they remain poorly quantified and underrepresented in models and emission inventories.This Research Topic seeks contributions that advance understanding of how anthropogenic chemicals are released, transformed, and transported under real-world conditions, with a particular focus on the use phase of societal systems.We welcome studies that bridge measurement, modelling, and system-level perspectives to better capture how emissions occur in practice and how they translate into environmental exposure and real-world relevance.Chemical risk assessment and environmental modelling have traditionally focused on production processes, intrinsic properties, and environmental fate. However, these approaches often rely on simplified or assumed emission scenarios, particularly for emissions arising during the use phase.In reality, emissions from transport systems, buildings, consumer products, water infrastructure, and waste processes are diffuse and intermittent rather than point sources. They are highly variable, depending on usage patterns and environmental conditions, and remain difficult to quantify due to limited empirical data. Consequently, they are often oversimplified in inventories and models, introducing significant uncertainty.Although chemicals are typically assessed and managed based on intrinsic hazards and standardised scenarios, such approaches can overlook how real-world emission patterns and system dynamics influence exposure.At the same time, advances in environmental monitoring, high-resolution data, and modelling techniques provide new opportunities to better characterise these complex processes under realistic conditions.A critical gap therefore remains between assumed emissions used in models and inventories and the actual release, transformation, and transport of chemicals in real-world systems. This Research Topic aims to address this gap by improving the representation of use-phase emissions and developing a more realistic, system-level understanding of chemical exposure to inform more effective environmental management strategies.We invite original research, reviews, and perspectives on emissions and behaviour of anthropogenic chemicals arising from the use of products, materials, and infrastructure.Topics include emissions during use, such as chemical release during operation of systems (e.g. vehicles, buildings, appliances), diffuse emissions from consumer products and materials, and the influence of usage patterns and operating conditions. Contributions addressing system-level and lifecycle perspectives are encouraged, including emissions across use, servicing, and end-of-life stages, stock and flow modelling, and links between material use and environmental loading.We also welcome studies on environmental fate under real-world conditions, including partitioning, transport, and transformation processes, as well as formation of by-products during use or treatment. Submissions may address measurement and data gaps, such as field observations of diffuse emissions, comparison with inventories, and uncertainty analysis. Topic editors: David Brown, Martin Brüggemann Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81758/from-use-to-emission-anthropogenic-substances-in-modern-societal-systems