Speaker: Carsten Prasse, Johns Hopkins University

Topic: Using mass spectrometry to unravel the occurrence, fate and effects of organic contaminants in the environment

Date: Monday, October 15, 2018

Time: 6:15 pm Dinner, 7:15 pm Presentation

Location: Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, Inc. Training Center 7100 Riverwood Drive, Columbia, MD 21046 (Directions)

Dinner: Please RSVP to Yan Wang (yanwang@umd.edu) by Friday, October 12th if you will be attending the dinner.

Abstract: More than 80,000 chemicals are used in commercial products today and many of them eventually find their way into our environment. While modern analytical tools, such as liquid-chromatography mass spectrometry, are able to detect an increasing number of chemicals in environmental samples, little is known about the fate of these compounds in the natural and built environment. In addition, limited information is available about potential toxic effects of most chemicals.
New approaches are needed that link exposures and effects and that ultimately allow for a prioritization of chemicals that are of highest concern. The presentation will discuss how mass spectrometry-based approaches can be used for i) the detection of previously unknown chemicals, ii) the identification of the transformation products that are formed in the natural and built environment and iii) the determination of toxic effects on a molecular level.