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This research project aims to develop and conduct a sampling and analytical programme for soil and vegetation including crops around crematoria to determine the impact of mercury emissions on food safety.
<p>Levels of mercury in soil and crops from around crematoria will be investigated in order to confirm current opinion that mercury emissions do not pose a localised risk to food safety.
<p>These data could provide a baseline against which the effects of changes in future emissions (increased or decreased) can be measured.
<p>On completion of the chemical analysis, the data from the main field study will then be used, in conjunction with the pilot study data, to conduct an assessment of the risk to human health from the consumption of produce grown in the vicinity of crematoria.
National and international strategies are being developed to reduce environmental contamination with mercury. As major sources become subject to control other sources may become more important. Crematoria are a source of mercury emissions derived principally from dental amalgam.
<p>Find more about this project and other FSA food safety-related projects at the <a href="http://www.food.gov.uk/science/research/" target="_blank">Food Standards Agency Research webpage</a>.