I speak with Gabriel Sigmund, Assistant Professor at Wageningen University and Research, and board member of the International Panel on Chemical Pollution (IPCP).
We discuss:
- Gabriel’s background and research interests
- How the fate of charged organic compounds differs from neutral compounds
- The issue of mobility in the environment and the concern around persistent, mobile and toxic (PMT) substances
- Complex interactions controlling sorption and other fate processes in soil
- The ongoing importance of laboratory experiments in the age of AI
- Data availability and data quality challenges for persistence and mobility assessments
- Implications of the new PMT/vPvM hazard classes under the EU CLP regulation
- Simplification and essential use concepts for chemicals management
- The issue of extreme persistence and the concern around trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)
- Pesticides as a potential source of TFA to the environment
- How differences in worldviews influences the debate on chemicals
- Activities of the SETAC Persistence Science Interest Group
Apologies for some sound issues on this one.
Correction: During the discussion on TFA I commented that I had seen evidence in a presentation by Freeling that concentrations in plant samples had apparently increased four-fold between 2010 and 2020. Having revisited the published work (link below), the approximately four-fold increase was reported over the observation period 1989-2020.
Pesticides can be a substantial source of trifluoroacetate (TFA) to water resources - ScienceDirect
‘Alarming’ increase in levels of forever chemical TFA found in European wines | Pfas | The Guardian
Pollution is Colonialism - book by Max Liboiron (2021)
SETAC Persistence Science Interest Group
Webinar recording: Addressing Extreme Persistence – Identification, Behavior and Management of “Forever Chemicals” Beyond PFAS
Upcoming webinar: How to increase understanding of microbial inocula in biodegradation testing?
SETAC Europe 35th Annual Meeting
Themed collection: Transformation Products and Mixtures – Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts
Visit my website for more content and insights www.embarkchemical.com
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