Carmen Losasso

IZSVe

Head of the Microbial Ecology and Microorganism Genomics Laboratory at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, with expertise in food safety, microbial genomics, and antimicrobial resistance.

Presentation:
From circular economy to food safety: emerging biological risks ssociated with gricultural use of biosolids

Key Points:
• Soil conditioners from circular economy streams host highly heterogeneous microbial communities, with markedly different biological risk profiles depending on their origin and processing.
• Biowaste- and sludge-derived materials show a higher load of antimicrobial resistance genes and potential pathogens, raising concerns for environmental and food-chain safety.
• Conventional safety indicators (e.g. Salmonella detection) are insufficient to describe the real biological hazard associated with soil conditioner reuse.
• Integrating metagenomics with cultivation-based and phenotypic approaches enables a more realistic assessment of biological risks and resistance dissemination.
• Advanced molecular monitoring tools are needed to support safer circular economy practices and evidence-based risk management in agriculture.