Special Issue on Celebrating the 20th anniversary of POPs forum in China

On the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and China's accession to the Convention, alongside the 20th anniversary of the POPs Forum in China, we are delighted to announce the launch of a virtual special issue titled "Celebrating the 20th anniversary of POPs forum in China" (abbreviated as POPs20). This special issue is designed to showcase the latest research findings and management experiences of scholars and practitioners worldwide in the field of emerging contaminants, with a particular focus on POPs.

Under the advisory guidance of Professor Yu Gang, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the special issue serves three objectives: to facilitate the dissemination of academic and practical outcomes from the POPs Forum in China, to deepen international and domestic academic exchanges in the field, and to bring together multidisciplinary experts and stakeholders from government agencies, industrial sectors, academic institutions, research institutes, and practical application fields. The issue will include discussions on the current progress, existing challenges, and future development directions of POPs and emerging contaminant governance, so as to provide solid scientific and technological support for the construction of a Beautiful China.

This call for papers welcomes high-quality original research, review articles, and  perspective papers focused on the following topics related to emerging contaminants, particularly persistent organic pollutants (POPs):

• Environmental Occurrence and Behaviour: Including environmental distribution, migration and transformation mechanisms, analytical detection methods, and environmental fate of emerging contaminants and POPs in various environmental media (water, soil, atmosphere, sediment, biota, etc.).
• Ecological and Human Health Risks: Covering toxicity assessment, ecological risk evaluation, human exposure pathways, health risk characterization, and related toxicological mechanisms of emerging contaminants and POPs.
• Control and Remediation Technologies: Encompassing efficient treatment, pollution control, in-situ and ex-situ remediation technologies, green and sustainable governance technologies, and engineering application practices for POPs and emerging contaminant pollution.
• Risk Management Measures and Policies: Including regulatory policies, risk management frameworks, international cooperation practices, industrial control standards, and practical governance strategies for emerging contaminants and POPs.

Timeline:

Date First Submission Expected: 1 April 2026

Final Manuscript Submission Deadline: 31 December 2026

Editorial Acceptance Deadline: 30 June 2027

Guest editor:

• Gan Zhang, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Email: zhanggan@gig.ac.cn
• Jun Huang, Tsinghua University, China. Email: huangjun@tsinghua.edu.cn 
• Qingwei Bu, China University of Mining & Technology – Beijing, Chia. Email: qingwei.bu@cumtb.edu.cn 
• Ke Li, University of Georgia, USA. Email: keli@engr.uga.edu 
• Bin Wang, Tsinghua University, China. Email: thuwb@tsinghua.edu.cn