When the U.S. Congress wanted a report on how to keep the national food supply safe from metals contamination in soils, they contacted Dr. Om Dhankher at the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, and Dr. Jason White, Director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES).
Funded by a grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Dhankher and White have now positioned Stockbridge as a leading organization in the quest to guarantee a clean food supply for the nation.
Continuing their important work, Dhankher and White organized a special symposium at the annual meeting of CANVAS this November, which represents the united front of 13,000 certified professionals from the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), and the Agronomic Science Foundation (ASF).
The symposium, hosted in Salt Lake City, was titled “Mitigating Toxic Elements of Contamination in Foods: Bridging Knowledge Gaps.” Reflecting heightened global concern about the effects of toxic metals in food systems, the symposium was a very popular part of this year’s annual conference.
Leading academic and industry specialists gave presentations on strategies for reducing arsenic, cadmium, and mercury in food crops, preventing contamination between soil and shelf, and the challenge of passing regulations to safeguard food quality and safety.
The organization’s Donald L. Sparks Distinguished Lectureship in Soil Chemistry featured Stockbridge Director and University Distinguished Professor Baoshan Xing. He was selected for this prestigious recognition due to his pioneering and influential research on microplastic contamination.
Microplastics are the microscopic particles into which discarded plastic degrades. Despite being unseeable with the naked eye, microplastics and their effects remain present in the environment for many years afterwards, contaminating waters, soils, plants, and ultimately food crops.
Xing’s invited special lecture titled “Microplastics: Environmental Processes and Health Implications,” drew a large and engaged audience, representing growing global concern surrounding the effects of microplastics on our environment.
Dr. Xing demonstrated the prevalence of microplastics in the environment, and he discussed their far-reaching consequences for both ecosystem integrity and human health.
His presentation produced a dynamic Q & A session which highlighted numerous practical, technological, and policy-related approaches to addressing microplastic contamination and their implications for agriculture, food systems, and human health.
As it always has, the scientific research produced by the Stockbridge School of Agriculture remains a leading force in national and global efforts to protect the environment, and to remediate the damage done to the climate by human activity.