How should we simulate human exposure to chlorinated paraffins?

February 27, 2024

Chengkang’s latest paper in ES&T explores the “chemical resolution” that is required to reliably simulate exposure to complex chlorinated paraffin mixtures. Do we have to perform thousands of simulations for individual isomers or can we simplify the procedure by simulating congeners or homologue groups?

Remembering Don Mackay

February 22, 2024

The SETAC Globe published a memorial piece on Don Mackay today, in which Frank, Jon, and Frank are highlighting defining elements of Don’s “scientific character” and are recalling some of the many contributions by this founding pioneer in the field of environmental organic chemistry.

Will’s paper on the importance of multiphase chemical reactions in the indoor environment published

February 21, 2024

Will Fahy from the Abbatt group has used a simple indoor fate model to explore the question “When Does Multiphase Chemistry Influence Indoor Chemical Fate?” You can read all about the answer in his paper in ES&T.

3rd paper on the XAD-PAS calibration published in final form in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques

January 29, 2024

The results of the calibration of our passive air sampler for polycyclic aromatic compounds are described in Yuening’s latest paper in AMT. We also included results from another calibration study Yushan completed 20 years ago, but had never published. Collaborating with Zilin and Jon allowed us to test for the possibility that PACs react with ozone while being sorbed to the XAD resin.

Tracking complex mixtures of chemicals in the human and eco-exposome

November 16, 2023

Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts has published a Themed Issue on the topic of “tracking complex mixtures of chemicals in the human and eco-exposome” this month. Our group has contributed with Zhizhen’s work on prioritizing chemical features in house dust and through a collaboration with Beate Escher on mixture effects in traditional food made from beluga whale blubber.

3rd manuscript on XAD-PAS Calibration Open for Peer Review

November 3, 2023

Yuening’s third manuscript on the calibration of the XAD-based passive air sampler is now open for peer review with Atmospheric Measurement Techniques. This one describes the results for the polycyclic aromatic compounds and our attempt to make sense of them.

Mechanistic Exposure Modelling for Molecular Formulae

October 16, 2023

Can we use mechanistic exposure simulations to prioritize molecular formulae of chemical features identified by non-target analysis? By performing high-throughput calculations on assemblies of plausible isomers for each formula, Zhizhen tested this idea on data generated during the analysis of house dust by Hui’s group. Read all about it in ESPI.

 

Naturally produced halogenated methoxylated benzenes are ubiquitous in the Canadian atmosphere

October 13, 2023

Measuring various brominated and chlorinated methoxybenzenes of both natural and anthropogenic origin in hundreds of atmospheric samples, we find them to be ubiquitous within Canada. Faqiang’s analysis of these data and what it means for the sources and environmental pathways of this group of compounds is described in a new paper that was just published in Science Advances.

Introducing the bioaccumulation module of NEM

October 9, 2023

Ingjerd has added the calculation of food chain bioaccumulation to the Nested Exposure Model and put it to the test with data on PCB contamination in fish and wildlife from Norwegian marine waters. This work has just been published in Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts.

Using the passive sampler to probe mercury emissions at e-waste handling sites in Pakistan

September 18, 2023

Mureed and Jabir, together with their colleagues, have used the passive air sampler to investigate whether different informal e-waste handling sites contribute to gaseous elemental mercury in the atmosphere. GEM was prevalent across several urban areas in Pakistan. Read more in Waste Management.