Geochemical Signatures of Toxic Metal(loid)s in Coastal Sediments and Terrestrial Flora: Applications for Environmental Monitoring and Human Health Risk Assessment

Organic geochemistry provides a critical framework for understanding how organic matter mediates the behavior of inorganic contaminants in dynamic environmental systems.In coastal zones where land and sea processes converge, anthropogenic pressures such as industrial discharge, agricultural runoff, and urban effluent drive complex geochemical transformations. Terrestrial plants irrigated with coastal or contaminated waters, and wild flora occupying coastal margins, act as sensitive recorders of these processes. However, the mechanisms linking organic geochemical composition to trace metal(loid) speciation, accumulation, and mobility are not yet fully understood, particularly in heterogeneous coastal environments.Emerging analytical and molecular advances now enable high-resolution tracing of contamination pathways and assessment of ecological and human health impacts. This highlights the need for integrative approaches combining geochemical, isotopic with statistical methods, which help identify patterns, quantify uncertainty, distinguish contamination sources, and build predictive models linking environmental signals to health outcomes.This Research Topic aims to advance the understanding of environmental signatures—including elemental and isotopic geochemical signatures and molecular (organic) tracers—associated with toxic metal(loid)s in coastal sediments and terrestrial flora, with particular emphasis on metal(loid) speciation, organic–inorganic interactions, transport and transformation processes, and their environmental and human health implications.It seeks contributions that couple molecular and isotopic tracers with chemometric tools, to resolve contaminant sources, transport dynamics, and transformation processes. Particular attention is given to the bioaccumulation of contaminants in crops and wild plants, their use as geochemical indicators, and their relevance to sustainable agriculture and food safety. By integrating geochemical and organic compound analyses within real-world environmental settings, this Research Topic encourages studies that move beyond single-matrix analyses to system-level interpretations linking land–sea interfaces. The ultimate goal is to develop comprehensive frameworks for environmental monitoring and risk assessment that support sustainable resource management and ecosystem protection.This Research Topic welcomes submissions applying elemental and isotopic geochemical signatures and molecular (organic) tracers—associated with toxic metal(loid)s and chemometric methodologies to investigate contaminant dynamics in coastal sediments, terrestrial plants, and linked environmental systems. Both empirical and modeling studies are encouraged. To gather further insights, we invite articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:o Organic geochemical signatures of toxic metal(loid) contamination in sediments and florao Molecular and isotopic tracers of contaminant origin and transformationo Chemometric and multivariate approaches for source apportionment and spatial classificationo Hydrocarbon fingerprinting and organic contaminant source attribution in coastal environmentso Bioaccumulation pathways and risk assessment of toxic elements in irrigated and wild plants Topic editors: Ramia AL BAKAIN, Jerome VIAL, Ivan Spanik Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/83584/geochemical-signatures-of-toxic-metalloids-in-coastal-sediments-and-terrestrial-flora-applications-for-environmental-monitoring-and-human-health-risk-assessment