UEA expert contributes to global report on risks from water use in agrifood systems
By: Communications
An academic from UEA has contributed to a major global report on the chemical risks from water use in agrifood systems - with arsenic, lead and PFAS among those identified as posing a risk to human health.
Prof Kevin Hiscock was one of 11 experts from eight countries tasked with assisting the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in producing their joint report.
Reliable access to sufficient and safe water is essential for food security. However, water systems globally are under unprecedented pressure. Agriculture accounts for over 70 per cent of freshwater withdrawals, and growing challenges, such as climate change, population growth, and societal changes, are increasing water demand.
This often leads to the use of alternative water sources that may be of lower or unknown quality. While progress has been made in identifying microbial risks in agrifood water sources, guidance on chemical hazards remains limited.
To address this FAO/WHO released their report, Prioritizing food safety issues related to chemical water quality in agrifood systems, highlighting approaches for identifying and prioritising food safety risks from waterborne chemical hazards.
It aims to support national and regional authorities, along with stakeholders in the water and agrifood sectors, in assessing chemical hazards, as well as characterising and managing food safety risks in agrifood water use.
The expert group met in Rome in May 2025 to review the scientific content, before publication of the report last month. Prof Hiscock, from UEA’s School of Environmental Sciences, contributed expertise on the transport and fate of chemicals in the natural environment and the risk of chemical exposure in water sources.
“The report shows that chemicals in water used to grow and prepare food can pose a risk to human health,” said Prof Hiscock. “As part of the work of the expert review group, we identified high-priority contaminants including arsenic, cadmium, lead, thallium and fluoride, as well as emerging pollutants such as PFAS, often called ‘forever chemicals’.
“These substances can enter food through irrigation, washing and processing, increasing long-term risks to human health. It is anticipated the report will provide governments with improved tools to assess and manage these risks, helping to protect consumers and ensure food safety worldwide.”
The report highlights that many chemical contaminants in agrifood water sources lack food safety risk management guidelines, a gap that requires urgent attention. Emerging challenges, such as climate change, advances in chemistry, the use of alternative water sources, new food production systems, chemical mixtures, antimicrobial resistance, and growing digital technologies further influence water use and recycling, raising additional food safety concerns.
Magdalena Niegowska Conforti, FAO Food Safety Consultant, said: “With water playing a critical role in the agrifood sector, assessing chemical hazards in water used for agrifood production is essential to ensure safe food. In our joint FAO/WHO report, we focus on the food safety considerations for agricultural water use, emphasizing the crucial role of food safety foresight in identifying and addressing emerging food safety issues.”
“Conducting a comprehensive assessment of a wide range of chemicals in water for agrifood system was the first attempt in the world,” added Akio Hasegawa, WHO Technical Officer. “I am honoured to have been involved in this important project together with FAO and the world’s leading experts. I hope that our report will serve as a basis for making more effective safety measures in countries and support discussions at Codex Alimentarius.”
To improve understanding of potential risks, the report presents a three-stage prioritization exercise to identify and qualitatively assess key chemical hazards in agrifood water: firstly, compiling examples of reported chemical hazards in water sources; secondly, qualitatively assessing their potential uptake into different food production systems; and thirdly, compiling reported exposures from waterborne sources entering the diet.
The publication also outlines that addressing waterborne chemical contaminant risks requires improved and standardized assessment of dietary exposure, while recognizing the interconnections between water scarcity, food security, animal, crop, environmental and human health.
Risk management measures should also follow the unifying One Health approach, which aims to sustainably balance and optimise the health of people, animals and ecosystems. Collaboration across sectors and disciplines helps to protect health, address health challenges such as the emergence of infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and food safety and promote the health and integrity of ecosystems.
This work was made possible with the support of the Government of Canada.
The publication is available to download on the FAO website and the WHO website.
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