FORURENS: Environmental effects of the new low-calorie sweetener sucralose

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.