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Environmental contaminants
Team role
The Environmental Contaminants team covers research into the links between exposure to chemicals in the environment and resulting human and environmental health effects.
It does this by undertaking studies in support of risk assessments relating to consumer dietary exposure to established and emerging environmental contaminants. It uses analytical chemistry to support collaborative studies of environmental pathways of toxic chemicals, fundamental aspects of toxicology and health, and an emergency and contingency response.
This work area covers research and surveillance to ensure the safety of food with respect to chemical contaminants including a range of regulated and near-regulated organic environmental contaminants such as PCDD/Fs (dioxins and furans), PCBs, PAHs, PBDEs (polybrominated diphenylethers) and compounds with emerging concerns, e.g. brominated dioxins and brominated biphenyls, chlorinated napthalenes and nano-particles).
The section is responsible under EU law for carrying out duties as UK National Reference Laboratory for dioxins and PCBs in food and animal feed, and for PAHs in food.
Science themes
Risk assessment of environmental contaminants
A key part of the risk assessment process is the estimation of consumer exposure. By far the greatest route of exposure to environmental contaminants for most people is through the diet. We work with other UK and non-UK Government Departments, NGOs and industry to conduct food surveys, which can be used as a basis for consumer exposure estimates and dietary intake calculations, and to check regulatory compliance.
Pathways of environmental contaminants in the environment
Studies on the translocation pathways of environmental contaminants from sources to humans and animals are an important tool in the process of limiting human exposure. Knowledge of current levels and pathways allow a refinement of the risk assessment to animal and subsequently human health posed by these compounds. These outputs can also contribute to the development of practical control measures to reduce levels of these contaminants in food by providing advice on feed production technologies, animal husbandry, differential sourcing, and contaminant reduction measures.
These studies are carried out in partnership with central government, Universities and other research organisations, and influence control and abatement policy at an EU/International level.
Emerging contaminants
The proactive strategy of recognising the toxic potential of new contaminants and developing the means to measure these and thus have an early sight of the potential risk, is a key area of research for us. We have a world -wide reputation in the field of emerging contaminants, particularly halogenated micro-pollutants. Collaborative work with universities, regulators and other research organisations has increased the breadth of our capacity in this area.
Health effects resulting from exposure to environmental contaminants
We work in partnership with universities and other research organisations, supplying analytical expertise needed for research projects looking at some fundamental aspects of toxicology and health.
Key team members
Key team publications
Martin Van den Berg, Linda S. Birnbaum, Michael Denison, Mike De Vito, William Farland, Mark Feeley, Heidelore Fiedler, Helen Hakansson, Annika Hanberg, Laurie Haws, Martin Rose, Stephen Safe, Dieter Schrenk, Chiharu Tohyama, Angelika Tritscher, Jouko Tuomisto, Mats Tysklind, Nigel Walker and Richard E. Peterson. The 2005 World Health Organization Reevaluation of Human and Mammalian Toxic Equivalency Factors for Dioxins and Dioxin-Like Compounds Toxicological Sciences 93 (2) 223-241 (2006)
Alwyn Fernandes, Pamela Dicks, David Mortimer, Martin Gem, Frankie Smith, Malcolm Driffield, Shaun White and Martin Rose. (2008) Brominated and Chlorinated Dioxins and Brominated Flame Retardants in Scottish Shellfish: Methodology, Occurrence and Human Dietary Exposure. Molecular Nutrition and Food Research 52 (2) 238-249.
Martin Rose, John Lewis, Nicola Langford, Malcolm Baxter, Simona Origgi, Matthew Barber, Helen MacBain and Kara Thomas Arsenic in Seaweed - forms, concentration and dietary exposure Food and Chemical Toxicology, 45, 1263-1267 (2007)
Paul F. Clark, David Mortimer, Robin J. Law, Jon Averns, Bill Cohen, Martin Rose, Alwyn Fernandes & Philip S. Rainbow (2009) Dioxin and PCB contamination in Thames Chinese mitten crabs: implications for human consumption as a control mechanism for an alien invader. Environmental Science and Technology 43 (5) 1624-1629.
David R Bell, Sally Clode, Ming Qi Fan, Alwyn Fernandes, Paul M D Foster, Tao Jiang, George Loizou, Alan MacNicoll, Brian Miller, Martin Rose, Lang Tran, Shaun White Toxicity of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in the developing male Wistar(Han) rat II: chronic dosing causes developmental delay Toxicological Sciences 99: 224-233 (2007)
Tiede, K., Boxall, A.B.A., Tear, S. P., Lewis, J., David, H., Hassellöv, M. (2008) Detection and characterization of engineered nanoparticles in food and the environment. Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A, 25(7), 795-821.
Malcolm Baxter, Laurence Castle, Helen M Crews, Martin Rose, Graham Lappin, Colin Garner and Daniel Leong. (2009) A sensitive method for the determination of chlorine - 36 in foods using accelerator mass spectrometry. Food Additives and Contaminants 26 (1) 139-144.
Lars Jorhem, Christina Ästrand, Birgitta Sundström, Malcolm Baxter, Penny Stokes, John Lewis, Kierstin Petersson Grawé. Elements in rice on the Swedish market: 2. Chromium, copper, iron, manganese, platinum, rubidium, selenium and zinc. Food Additives and Contaminants. 25, (7), 841-850, (2008)
Food choice and phytoestrogen consumption in women previously treated for postmenopausal breast cancer. B.M. Parry, J.M. Lawrence, L. Story, J.E. Brown, D.B. Clarke, M Raats, S.M. Horton, J.M. Stilwell and R.M. Rainsbury. Breast Cancer Research, 2008, 10(2), S47-S48.
Determination of phytoestrogens in dietary supplements by LC-MS/MS. D. B. Clarke, V. Bailey and A. S. Lloyd. Food Additives and Contaminants, 2008, 25(5), 534-547.