Environmental Metallomics

We combine HPLC and GC separations with elemental and molecular mass spectrometry to investigate the quantitative profiles of elemental species of toxic as well as essential trace elements (e.g. As, Se). Our research shows large differences in the way organisms react to different trace element species. These are of far-reaching importance with regard to environmental aspects and health effects.

In collaboration with toxicologists, we investigate the metabolism and toxicity of selenium species in cell culture and living organisms by developing the analytical methods that are essential for the identification and determination of the species. In an FWF DACH Lead Agency project (I 2262) in cooperation with the University of Potsdam (Prof. Tanja Schwerdtle), the metabolism and toxicity of various selenium species were uncovered in cell models of the intestinal barrier and the blood-brain barrier as well as in the nematode C. elegans.

We cooperate with epidemiologists to investigate the relationship between the selenium species pattern in human urine and health aspects. In 2015, for example, in collaboration with the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm (Prof. Marie Vahter), we were able to show that genetic polymorphisms have an influence on the selenium metabolite pattern in human ur ine. We are currently working with researchers at Columbia University, New York (Prof. Ana Navas-Acien) to investigate the relationship between the selenium metabolite pattern in urine and health outcomes in the MESA (Multy Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis) study.

We are collaborating with the Auckland University of Technology to elucidate the uptake and metabolism of water-soluble arsenic compounds in marine organisms.

We are researching the isolation, purification, analytical identification and quantification of lipid-soluble arsenic compounds in environmentally relevant samples. These compounds appear to have a relatively high toxicity and are widely distributed in the marine environment. In collaboration with other universities, we are also investigating the metabolism of these compounds in the body.

The working group also focuses on water and moor investigations in accordance with the Austrian Healing Resources and Health Resorts Act.