Food Resources Lifecycle Integrated Science Team
The Team Studies Toxicants and Pathogens
Associated with raising, processing, and manufacturing of animal products
The Team Studies Toxicants and Pathogens
Associated with growing, processing, and manufacturing of plant products
The Team Studies Microbial Contaminants
Associated with Production and Processing of Plant and Animal Products
The team studies the movement of toxicants and pathogens that could originate from the growing, raising, and processing/manufacturing of plant and animal products through the environment where exposure can occur. This information is used to understand if there are adverse effects upon exposure and to develop decision tools to protect health.
Access to an adequate, safe, and sustainable supply of plant and animal products is one of the highest priorities for our society. During the growing and raising of such products requires the management of pests, diseases, and other threats by using a variety of tools such as organic and inorganic nutrients, pesticides, and veterinary pharmaceuticals. These tools often have the added advantage of improving crop yields and increasing livestock weight gain. Best management practices, manufacturer's guidance on safe use, and chemical registration and approval processes administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Food and Drug Administration help farmers minimize health threats. Public concerns, however, regarding potential health threats to fish, wildlife, livestock, and humans posed by use of these tools and management practices are common,and are often based on perceptions rather than scientific information. The Food Resources Lifecycle Science Team designs and implements interdisciplinary research needed to help understand whether these concerns are warranted, and provides objective, unbiased information that decision makers need to address legitimate concerns.
Scientific Focus
The Food Resources Lifecycle Integrated Science Team, part of the Environmental Health Program in the Ecosystems Mission Area, focuses on hazards to the environment and humans associated with complex chemical and biological contaminant mixtures (i.e., antibiotic resistance bacteria/genes, viruses, pesticides, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances [PFAS], pharmaceuticals, microplastics, etc.) that could originate from the growing, raising, and processing/manufacturing of plant and animal products. The team conducts research in both field and laboratory settings to collectively deliver science to document contaminant sources, fate/transport through the environment to points of exposure, and whether such contaminant exposures pose a health hazard either individually or as complex mixtures.
Research Trajectory
The Team's research consists of multi-year/multi-phased/multidisciplinary efforts conducted to answer questions of national and global significance. These studies build on the knowledge gained from previous research that identified chemical, microbial, and zoonotic environmental contaminants translating to wildlife and human exposures and potential effects. This research often employs a One Health (where human, plant, animal, and environmental interactions are characterized) combined with a source-to-receptor approach to understand chemical and biological contaminants in the environment from their sources through to aquatic and/or terrestrial organisms.
Priority Research Examples
Infectious avian Influenza (AIV) in environmental waters. AIV maintained in wild bird hosts is episodically spread to domestic poultry, which can lead to economically disastrous outbreaks. The Team is determining if the environment is a medium for maintenance and spread of AIV, which has important implications for the economy, food security, and human/animal health.
Environmental source and distribution of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antibiotic genes (ARG). Antimicrobial resistance poses a major threat to human health globally. The Team is determining the role of environmental sources and transfer plays in the development and distribution of AMR and ARG using a One-Health approach that acknowledges the connection between the physical environment and the health of humans and wildlife.
Fate and effects of process wastewaters from food, beverage, and feedstock processing plants. Municipal wastewater treatment plants and urban storm water runoff are well documented sources of environmental contaminants. This Team is providing a comparable understanding of chemical and biological contaminants from food-related plant discharges and their potential effects on humans and wildlife.
Environmental exposures and effects of recycled waste reuse on farmland. The demand for treated effluent reuse (as a beneficial source of water) and recycling of solid waste (as a beneficial source of nutrients) is growing and this Team is examining the potential effects and consequences of such reuse and recycling of liquid and solid waste onto farmland.
Effects of agricultural management practices on insect pollinators. Insect pollinators (both domestic and wild) provide a critical role through the maintenance of global plant diversity and pollination of food and fiber crops. Research is underway to better understand the effects of pesticides and other agricultural management practices on insect pollinators.
Environmental exposures to neonicotinoid insecticides. Neonicotinoid pesticides have quickly become the most widely used insecticide globally. Previous research has documented widespread environmental and human exposures and toxicity to selected organisms upon exposure. Consequently, additional research is underway to better understand human and wildlife environmental exposures to neonicotinoid pesticides and effects on humans and wildlife.
Related science products listed below.
The following are the data releases from this science team’s research activities.
Toxicokinetics of imidacloprid-coated wheat seeds in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix) and an assessment of risk
Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination of seed-treatment pesticides following the dosing of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)
Herbicide safeners and associated stream flow for water samples collected across Iowa and Illinois (2016-2017).
Below are publications associated with this science team.
Sex- and developmental stage-related differences in the hepatic transcriptome of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) exposed to 17β-Trenbolone
Cross-ecosystem fluxes of pesticides from prairie wetlands mediated by aquatic insect emergence: Implications for terrestrial insectivores
Trends in agricultural triazole fungicide sse in the United States, 1992–2016 and possible implications for antifungal-resistant fungi in human disease
Field-level exposure of bumble bees to fungicides applied to a commercial cherry orchard
Prevalence of neonicotinoids and sulfoxaflor in alluvial aquifers in a high corn and soybean producing region of the Midwestern United States
Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of contaminants in agricultural watersheds with implications for land management
Widespread use of the nitrification inhibitor nitrapyrin: Assessing benefits and costs to agriculture, ecosystems, and environmental health
Differences in neonicotinoid and metabolite sorption to activated carbon are driven by alterations to the insecticidal pharmacophore
Groundwater discharges as a source of phytoestrogens and other agriculturally derived contaminants to streams
Development of a suite of functional immune assays and initial assessment of their utility in wild smallmouth bass health assessments
Endocrine and physiological responses of hatchling American kestrels (Falco sparverius) following embryonic exposure to technical short-chain chlorinated paraffins (C10-13)
Poultry litter as potential source of pathogens and other contaminants in groundwater and surface water proximal to large-scale confined poultry feeding operations
The team studies the movement of toxicants and pathogens that could originate from the growing, raising, and processing/manufacturing of plant and animal products through the environment where exposure can occur. This information is used to understand if there are adverse effects upon exposure and to develop decision tools to protect health.
Access to an adequate, safe, and sustainable supply of plant and animal products is one of the highest priorities for our society. During the growing and raising of such products requires the management of pests, diseases, and other threats by using a variety of tools such as organic and inorganic nutrients, pesticides, and veterinary pharmaceuticals. These tools often have the added advantage of improving crop yields and increasing livestock weight gain. Best management practices, manufacturer's guidance on safe use, and chemical registration and approval processes administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Food and Drug Administration help farmers minimize health threats. Public concerns, however, regarding potential health threats to fish, wildlife, livestock, and humans posed by use of these tools and management practices are common,and are often based on perceptions rather than scientific information. The Food Resources Lifecycle Science Team designs and implements interdisciplinary research needed to help understand whether these concerns are warranted, and provides objective, unbiased information that decision makers need to address legitimate concerns.
Scientific Focus
The Food Resources Lifecycle Integrated Science Team, part of the Environmental Health Program in the Ecosystems Mission Area, focuses on hazards to the environment and humans associated with complex chemical and biological contaminant mixtures (i.e., antibiotic resistance bacteria/genes, viruses, pesticides, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances [PFAS], pharmaceuticals, microplastics, etc.) that could originate from the growing, raising, and processing/manufacturing of plant and animal products. The team conducts research in both field and laboratory settings to collectively deliver science to document contaminant sources, fate/transport through the environment to points of exposure, and whether such contaminant exposures pose a health hazard either individually or as complex mixtures.
Research Trajectory
The Team's research consists of multi-year/multi-phased/multidisciplinary efforts conducted to answer questions of national and global significance. These studies build on the knowledge gained from previous research that identified chemical, microbial, and zoonotic environmental contaminants translating to wildlife and human exposures and potential effects. This research often employs a One Health (where human, plant, animal, and environmental interactions are characterized) combined with a source-to-receptor approach to understand chemical and biological contaminants in the environment from their sources through to aquatic and/or terrestrial organisms.
Priority Research Examples
Infectious avian Influenza (AIV) in environmental waters. AIV maintained in wild bird hosts is episodically spread to domestic poultry, which can lead to economically disastrous outbreaks. The Team is determining if the environment is a medium for maintenance and spread of AIV, which has important implications for the economy, food security, and human/animal health.
Environmental source and distribution of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antibiotic genes (ARG). Antimicrobial resistance poses a major threat to human health globally. The Team is determining the role of environmental sources and transfer plays in the development and distribution of AMR and ARG using a One-Health approach that acknowledges the connection between the physical environment and the health of humans and wildlife.
Fate and effects of process wastewaters from food, beverage, and feedstock processing plants. Municipal wastewater treatment plants and urban storm water runoff are well documented sources of environmental contaminants. This Team is providing a comparable understanding of chemical and biological contaminants from food-related plant discharges and their potential effects on humans and wildlife.
Environmental exposures and effects of recycled waste reuse on farmland. The demand for treated effluent reuse (as a beneficial source of water) and recycling of solid waste (as a beneficial source of nutrients) is growing and this Team is examining the potential effects and consequences of such reuse and recycling of liquid and solid waste onto farmland.
Effects of agricultural management practices on insect pollinators. Insect pollinators (both domestic and wild) provide a critical role through the maintenance of global plant diversity and pollination of food and fiber crops. Research is underway to better understand the effects of pesticides and other agricultural management practices on insect pollinators.
Environmental exposures to neonicotinoid insecticides. Neonicotinoid pesticides have quickly become the most widely used insecticide globally. Previous research has documented widespread environmental and human exposures and toxicity to selected organisms upon exposure. Consequently, additional research is underway to better understand human and wildlife environmental exposures to neonicotinoid pesticides and effects on humans and wildlife.
Related science products listed below.
The following are the data releases from this science team’s research activities.
Toxicokinetics of imidacloprid-coated wheat seeds in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix) and an assessment of risk
Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination of seed-treatment pesticides following the dosing of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)
Herbicide safeners and associated stream flow for water samples collected across Iowa and Illinois (2016-2017).
Below are publications associated with this science team.