Project summary.
The project aims at understanding possible environmentally deleterious
effects of the recenty introduced artificial sweetener sucralose. The
registration of food-additives does not require any environmental risk
assessment by envir onmental agencies. Consequently, there is a risk
that no one with an understanding of more complex ecological functions
has the opportunity to examine possible risks. Sucralose will end up
entirely in the aquatic environment and is extremely persist ent in
water. The concentrations of sucralose will, therefore, build up in
waters receiving effluent from sewage treatment plants. Sucralose is a
chlorinated derivative of sucrose and as such also an extremely potent
sucrose mimic, at least for so me physiological functions. It has been
shown that sucralose inhibits the transport of sucrose in suggar cane.
The transport of sucrose is a key function in vascular plants.
However, appart from sweetness the effect of sucralose on other
physiological functions of sucrose has not been investigated.