A scientometric analysis of research trends on emerging contaminants in the field of cancer in 2012–2021

INTRODUCTION: Recently, emerging contaminants have been discovered in the aquatic environment that can cause a range of human diseases, including cancer. In this study, our scientometric analysis provides a comprehensive overview of emerging contaminants and cancer research from 2012 to 2021. METHODS: The Web of Science Core Collection Database was used to retrieve all related publications. The bibliometix R-package, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer were applied to collect information on annual citations and publications, famous journals and authors, the most productive countries and organizations, popular topics, and keywords. RESULTS: A total of 2378 publications were retrieved. The publication's output showed a gradual upward trend from 2012 to 2021. The most-cited paper was a review article by Vandenberg et al. that was published in 2012. According to the analysis results, the United States published the most articles. The closest collaboration was between the United States and China. Environmental Research and Science of The Total Environment published the most paper. It was Choi KC who was the most productive and had the highest h-index, g-index, and m-index among the authors. The most frequently used keywords were “exposure,” “endocrine-disrupting chemicals,” “endocrine disruptors,” “cancer,” “bisphenol-a,” and so on. DISCUSSION: Emerging contaminants play a significant role in cancer development. However, most studies are conducted in vivo with human cells or animal models, and relatively few are on human models. The scientometric analysis offers researchers a clear picture of the current state of research and hotspots in this field. From our study, researchers may find some hotspots that merit in-depth investigation.