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The concentration and location of specific molecules, elements and/or micropollutants act as indicators of the health of biological and ecological systems and help predict adverse effects. The accurate identification and quantification of these trace-level molecules and elements is challenging but highly rewarding, as it provides critical insight into toxicological mechanisms and the impact of environmental contaminants. Novel imaging techniques and advanced analytical approaches are gradually improving our understanding of disease mechanisms, adverse biological responses and the behaviour of critical elements, molecules and particulate micropollutants in organisms and environmental systems. Tracing these analytes requires methods with high sensitivity and selectivity to detect low concentrations in often complex matrices.
Recent advances in sample preparation, separation methodologies and mass spectrometry, supported by modern data-processing tools, significantly enhance detection and quantification capabilities. The aim of this study is the identification and quantification of bioindicative and eco-toxicological marker elements, molecules and micropollutants across diverse biological and environmental systems. To achieve this, novel approaches integrating recent technological developments in sample preparation and analyte separation will be applied using elemental mass spectrometry.
Shotr BIO:
Raquel Gonzalez de Vega is an analytical chemist and received her PhD in 2017 from the University of Oviedo (Spain), which included two research stays at the University of Münster (Germany). Following her doctorate, she joined the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) (Australia) as a postdoctoral researcher, where she worked as a lecturer from 2020. Since 2021 she is University Assistant at the University of Graz (Austria). Her research is focused on the development and application of new methodologies based on mass spectrometry detection, including trace elements and speciation analysis, nanotechnology and bioimaging techniques combined with labelling protocols and immunohistochemical assays for elemental and molecular studies in life science. She has advanced ICP-MS methodologies for nano- and microscale analysis, including single-event detection strategies that enhance the characterisation of nanomaterials and microplastics in complex matrices.
