Seminar: Dr. Andrew Heyes (UMCES-CBL)

Title:  Something Old and Something New: Tracing the Fate of Contaminants in a Changing world

Speaker: Dr. Andrew Heyes (UMCES-CBL)

Host: Dr. Eric Schott

Contact imetdirectorsoffice@umces.edu for meeting information.

Abstract:  “Something Old” – Humans have a long history of releasing chemical contaminants into the environment. Some, such as mercury, are also naturally occurring but have been used in human activities for centuries. Combustion of fossil fuel increased mercury to levels of concern and legislation was enacted in the US to curb the release. What impact did this legislation have? Is anybody looking? New chemicals are being produced with little understanding of their environmental fate. Structural properties of these compounds vary greatly, with some being extremely stable while others rapidly degrade. “Something New” - One such group of chemicals are the UV filters. While commonly associated with sunscreens, these chemicals are impregnated into many products to protect them from UV degradation, thus there are multiple sources to the environment. While providing the same function, these compounds are structurally diverse and not surprisingly behave differently in the environment. With little published information about their chemical properties, UV filters have proved to be challenging to study. I will discuss our findings regarding the fate of some UV filters in the marine environment and where we go from here.