This web site, established and hosted by the State General Laboratory of Cyprus, is dedicated to the EMTOX project, which studies the effects of climate change on emerging natural toxins in plant and seafood production. It is one of the SAFEFOODERA programs under the 6th Framework Program of the EU. Here you will find general information about the project, news and contact details.
Climate change has become one of the most critical issues for the future of our planet. It involves significant changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere, such as related to temperature, precipitation and/or wind patterns, over durations ranging from decades to millions of years.
The effects of climate change will have implications for food production, food security and food safety. In particular, the safety of feed and food products arising from plant and marine production systems is expected to be affected by climate change, specifically by increased occurrence of natural toxins, including mycotoxins and phycotoxins (marine biotoxins).
The overall objective of the current research is to project the impact of climate change on the occurrence of (possible) feed and food safety hazards in both terrestrial plant production systems and marine seafood systems in Europe. The project particularly focuses on natural toxins in cereal and shellfish production that are harmful to animal and human health, including several key mycotoxins and phycotoxins. It includes both anticipated effects on known (re-emerging) toxins as well as an indication to the potential occurrence of new emerging toxins. As a second objective, the project aims to quantify (as much as possible) the relationship between climate change, shifts in primary plant and marine production systems, and the occurrence of (re-)emerging natural toxins. Hereby, currently available predictive models will be used as well as reliable databases.
The project will communicate its objectives and results to various groups of stakeholders, and the wider public as well. Target groups include: national and international authorities dealing with management of feed and food safety, EFSA, feed and food business organizations and companies, especially related to cereal production and shellfish, scientific public, consumer organizations.
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