Adlershofer Kolloquium Analytik
-
BAM Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung
Richard-Willstätter-Straße 11,
12489 Berlin
Room 201 or online via Webex
Beyond Concentrations: Understanding the Environmental and Biological Fate of PFAS and Mercury through Advanced Analytical Chemistry
Prof. Dr. Jörg Feldmann
(Universität Graz, Austria | TESLA – Analytical Chemistry Institute of Chemistry)
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and mercury are persistent environmental contaminants with very different chemical properties but a common challenge: their environmental behaviour, bioavailability and toxicity cannot be understood from total concentrations alone. Chemical speciation, transformation processes, interactions with biological molecules and transport across environmental and biological interfaces determine their ultimate fate and effects.
Using examples from our research on PFAS and mercury, this lecture will demonstrate how these contaminants are transformed, transported, accumulated and, in some cases, detoxified in environmental and biological systems. Particular attention will be given to PFAS transformation and accumulation, as well as mercury demethylation and its interaction with selenium in marine mammals.
A central theme is the need to develop new analytical approaches that go beyond conventional targeted analysis. By combining molecular and elemental mass spectrometry, including novel plasma-based ionisation techniques, single-particle analysis and spatially resolved chemical imaging, we can identify previously overlooked chemical species and investigate processes at the molecular, cellular and tissue levels.
The lecture will illustrate how advances in analytical chemistry not only improve contaminant detection but also enable a mechanistic understanding of why contaminants behave as they do—an essential step towards more meaningful environmental and human health risk assessment.