Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

2.06 - Emerging Contaminants in Agriculture and Food: Sources, Transport and Exposure Risks

Description

Agricultural ecosystem is a typical sink of diverse emerging contaminants (ECs), and chemicals including, but not limited to, novel pesticides, antibiotics, antibiotic resistance genes, microplastics, and plastic additives enter soils through atmospheric deposition, irrigation, pest and disease control practices, sludge application, and plastic mulching, etc. Moreover, ECs can also enter food during food manufacturing and storage. The transfer, transformation, and accumulation of these ECs through food chains and manufacturing process pose significant risks to environmental sustainability and human health. This session addresses these challenges through following core themes: (1) Sources and Contamination Characterization of ECs: Identifying input pathways, inventories, and region-specific contamination patterns of ECs in agroecosystems and food using targeted, non-targeted, and high-throughput analytical platforms; (2) Transport and Fate in Agricultural Systems and the Food Chain: Elucidating uptake, translocation, degradation/metabolism, and accumulation of ECs in soil–plant systems and trophic transfer in food chains through multi-scale experiments, machine learning, and artificial intelligence-assisted models; (3) Exposure Assessment and Potential Health Risks: Evaluating the exposure levels to human of ECs from food and examining the possible impacts of single and combined contaminants on agricultural ecosystem functions and human health through multi-omics and toxicological approaches. The Asia–Pacific region has the largest population with intensive agrochemical use, concentrated livestock production, widespread plastic mulching, and uneven regulatory frameworks, representing a critical hotspot of EC contamination through food. This session emphasizes regional surveillance and its implications for food safety and public health, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration to advance mechanistic understanding and inform science-based mitigation and regulatory strategies to safeguard food quality and human well-being.  

Chair(s)

Hongwen Sun Nankai University China (Mainland)
Yu Wang Nankai University China (Mainland)