From plants to human - plant accumulation and transfer of organic foreign compounds in primary food chain

The transfer of contaminants from soil through the food chain -from farm to fork- is a major issue of the agenda of the European Commission and also a thematic priority area within The Food Research Programme's Call for 2008. To achieve the goal of food s afety, knowledge and tools for estimating transfer of foreign compounds in the food web is necessary. The absence of complete data set and high-quality experiments represents a challenging barrier for routine application of the existing plant uptake model s. Plants for human consumption, livestock forage and feeds are exposed to a wide range of foreign organic compounds following use of pesticides, fertilizers or from atmospheric deposit. The proposed project aims to provide a basis for improved risk asse ssment models of human exposure through food. This is achieved by experimental quantification of uptake, translocation and plan metabolism of a wide range of foreign organic compounds (from ionc to very polar). Different types of plant, representing will be tested. The effect of organic matter in soil and nutrient level on uptake in plants will also be evaluated. The experimental datasets will be used for validation and testing of existing models of plant uptake and translocation of organic contaminants. Experimental datasets and model predictions will be used to provide case studies and model estimates of human exposure risks focusing on new and emerging problem contaminants. Foreign organic compounds which will be included in the project will include ve terinary and human drugs, pesticides and the most relevant xenobioitc found or suspected to be found in sewage sludge.