Passedoble - partition equilibrium asks for a dance

We got granted a joint project on the investigation of Baltic Sea sediments for hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs). It is a collaboration with Gesine Witt of HAW in Hamburg, Germany, and funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

In the project we plan to use a novel PDMS hollow fibre multiwell plate passive dosing format for direct application with loaded fibres from the sediment passive samplers of Gesine deployed at the Baltic Sea. This means that we deploy PDMS hollow fibres as a sorptive phase in Baltic Sea to collect contaminants from the sediments. Afterwards we use the very same fibres to directly dose the complex mixture of sediment contaminants in small-scale bioassays. Such a combination of passive sampling and dosing is very promising as an approach towards a more reliable assessment of sediment pollution.

An overview of the work programme is shown by the mindmap below. It is a complex interrelation network of passive sampling and dosing, extract testing, chemical analysis, recreated mixtures and worms body residue measurement. The project will provide valuable insight into the state of pollution of sediments in the Baltic Sea.

And once again I got to design a logo.

Work programme of the Passedoble project

Be part of SCIRIC!

The new SETAC Europe advisory group on science and risk communication has a now a website in the setac.org universe. At http://www.setac.org/group/SEAGSCIRIC you will be introduced into the idea and concept behind SCIRIC, the work program, the strategy and some specific ideas.

All the information comes from the proposal for the SCIRIC group, but is optimized for reading fun and easy understanding. The page also lists the current members of the SCIRIC Steering Committee.
Most importantly: as a SETAC member you can join the group by the click of a button. We will keep you up-to-date about all SCIRIC matters via the group mailing feature.