Emerging Chemical Contaminants in Agricultural Systems: What are the Risks to Human and Environmental Health? = Emerging Chemical Contaminants in Agricultural Systems: What are the Risks to Human and Environmental Health?

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Over the past 15 years, there has been increasing concern over the impacts of the so called emerging environmental contaminants (ECs) on ecosystem and human health. ECs are substances that are not routinely monitored in environmental matrices and include pharmaceuticals, veterinary medicines, personal care products and engineered nanoparticles. Many ECs can be released to agricultural systems either directly or indirectly when manures, sewage sludge and wastewater is applied to soils. Once in an agricultural systems, ECs have the potential to be transported to surface waters and ground waters and can then enter drinking water supplies. ECs can also enter the food chain through uptake into plants, fish and shellfish. In this presentation, I will provide an overview of the evidence for the occurrence of ECs in agricultural systems and of the potential movement of these substances into food items and drinking water. Using pharmaceuticals and veterinary medicines as examples, I will explore the potential risks of ECs to human health through direct toxicity and through indirect effects such as selection of antmicrobial resistant micro-organisms. I will evaluate how environmental exposure compares to other exposure pathways and provide an overview of the major knowledge gaps and priorities for future research.