Toxic Effects and Protective Mechanisms of Dangerous Substances in Animal Production

The animal production process may be exposed to various dangerous substances, such as metals, metalloids, biotoxins, nanomaterials, and veterinary drugs, which threaten animal health, cast potential risks to the surrounding environment, and significantly, affect the quality of animal-originated food. Once consumed, these substances may cause oxidative stress, apoptosis, inflammatory response, and intestinal flora disturbance, resulting in damage to the digestive system, nervous system, and reproductive system, leading to growth retardation and obesity, and reproductive and developmental disorders. Nevertheless, detailed toxic mechanisms still need to be further scrutinized, and systematic studies on their effects on the gut-liver axis, gut-brain axis, gut-liver-brain axis, their combined/synergistic toxicity mechanisms, as well as methods of detoxification and remediation, are urgently needed. In all, these and other related research may fundamentally leverage our knowledge of these new and emerging hazardous substances and thus provide a better understanding of our current ability to handle multi-disciplinary toxins and give better protection to food consumers and the environment.

The goal of this Research Topic is to lead the cutting-edge discussion on the recent research and achievement in understanding the mechanism of toxicities of conventional and emerging hazardous substances and the related antidote and detoxification mechanism and methods. The article collection welcomes in-depth and novel discoveries and reviews of toxicity mechanisms of traditional hazards, as well as pioneering explorations of emerging hazardous substances. Instead of relatively simple mechanisms, emphasis will be put on the synergistic or accumulative or even heritable comprehensive/complex influences of these dangerous substances on animal organs, tissues, and cellular or subcellular levels physiologically and biochemically. We welcome interdisciplinary works about developing innovative methods and devices for detecting and remediating hazardous substances and related toxic effects, respectively. Manuscripts on the following subtopics are encouraged to be submitted to the Research Topic:

• Toxicity and mechanism of dangerous substances such as heavy metals, metalloids, biotoxins, nanomaterials, veterinary drugs, pesticides, and other/emerging hazardous substances.

• Prevention and treatment methods for heavy metals, metalloids, biotoxins, nanomaterials, veterinary drugs, pesticides, and other/emerging hazardous substances, as well as the mechanisms of protective agents.

• Toxicokinetic and new detection methods of heavy metals, metalloids, biotoxins, nanomaterials, veterinary drugs, pesticides, and other/emerging hazardous substances.