Key message:
The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) will conduct a risk assessment of potentially toxic metals in soil and fertiliser products and look at the fate and effects of these metals in the food chain and the environment.
The potentially toxic metals arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel and zinc are present as natural elements in soil. They can also be present as contaminants in fertilising materials. With repeated fertiliser applications over time, these metals may accumulate in soil, resulting in negative health and environmental effects.
Levels of toxic metals in agricultural soil
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has requested the VKM to give their opinion on several questions related to the potentially toxic metals arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), Chromium III (Cr3+), Chromium VI (Cr6+), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) in Norwegian agricultural soil.
- What do we know about the levels of these metals in agricultural soil in Norway today?
- Describe the fate (mobility) of these elements within and umiddelbart rundt outside of agricultural soil after the application of fertiliser products containing these elements to agricultural land and transfer to the affected organisms in table 1?
- What level of these metals in agricultural soils would give the risk of negative effects* on the selected affected organisms found in table 1?
- What do we know about the current exposure to these metals for the affected exposure levels and the sources for the exposure?
Affected organism | *Negative effects |
Plants
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Animals
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Humans
| Exposure/intake, not toxicological effects* |
The VKM Panel on Animal Feed is responsible for the risk assessment. The report will be published during 2019.
Contact
The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment
Office:
Sandakerveien 24 C (entrance D11) 0473 Oslo
Webmaster: Tanya S. Kristiansen
Responsible editor: Ingrid M. Høie
