Short Abstract: Wastewater systems constitute the primary receiving environment for a vast number of anthropogenic chemicals including ingredients of pharmaceuticals and personal care products. We apply analytical chemical tools to study biotransformation reactions in chemical-receiving environments – with the goal to improve our understanding of the environmental fate and effect of organic chemicals such as antibiotics and polymers. The focus of this presentation will be on extracellular peptidases in wastewater systems and their potential to hydrolyze peptide bond-containing chemicals. For example, work on the activity and specificity of peptidases derived from different treatment stages of several wastewater treatment plants will be presented. Furthermore, biotransformation pathways and kinetics of commercially relevant antibiotics, as well as promising antimicrobial peptides, in wastewater extracts will be discussed. We anticipate research on the activity and specificity of environmental enzymes to inform the design of environmentally benign chemicals.

Short Abstract:

Last year, we concluded that the safe operating space of the planetary boundary of novel entities is exceeded. Annual production and releases are increasing at a pace that outstrips the global capacity for assessment and monitoring. The novel entities boundary in the planetary boundaries framework refers to entities that are novel in a geological sense and that could have large-scale impacts that threaten the integrity of Earth system processes. An impact pathway from production of novel entities to impacts on Earth system processes was used to define and apply three complementary control variables to capture the complexity of this boundary, while acknowledging major data limitations. Plastics are novel entities that have exceeded the planetary safe operating space due to extensive and resource-intensive production, uncontrolled environmental releases, and failure to control the chemicals within the materials.

During this talk, I will examine evidence and discuss how plastics pollution affects Earth-system processes along the impact pathway from production, to release, to environmental fate and impacts of plastics and their additives. Multiple lines of evidence are necessary to capture the complex reality of these substances and attempts to quantify a singular boundary would be detrimental to the global governance of plastics. A review of current science allows us to demonstrate causal links between plastics and other major environmental problems at the global scale, exacerbating the consequences of breaching other planetary boundaries, especially climate change and biodiversity loss. We propose ways to translate these assessments into control variables for the globally and biophysically defined planetary boundaries framework that can be utilized to tackle plastics pollution. Efforts should be oriented towards further developing and monitoring a set of control variables that describe the actual state of the system along the impact pathway. We call for experts and policymakers to take urgent action, considering plastics pollution not only as a waste management problem but as an integrative part of climate change, biodiversity and natural resource use policy.

Short Abstract:

Microplastics are ubiquitous contaminants in rivers, oceans, and soils. In recent years, it has become increasingly apparent that microplastics (and nanoplastics) are ubiquitous in the atmosphere. Due to their small size and low density, microplastics can be transported over large distances through the atmosphere. Recent evidence suggests that once deposited in the ocean, microplastics may be emitted back into the atmosphere when waves break, and bubbles burst. Atmosphere-ocean coupling, therefore, plays a complex role in the ‘plastic cycle.’ As well as being damaging to ecosystems and harmful to human health when inhaled, my group’s research shows that airborne microplastics may make a minor contribution to global radiative forcing, particularly in future as their abundance grows.

In this seminar, I will give an overview of how airborne microplastics could contribute to climate change in the 21^st century by known and yet-to-be-quantified pathways. I will also present research carried out by my group on sampling airborne microplastics in remote regions of the Southern Hemisphere – including the Southern Alps of New Zealand, the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. I will discuss challenges in airborne microplastic sampling and analysis, and lessons learned by my group in designing our first deposition collection experiment.

Wir laden Sie herzlich zur BonaRes-Konferenz 2023 "Boden als nachhaltige Ressource" ein, die vom 15. bis 17. Mai 2023 in Berlin stattfinden wird.

Eine nachhaltige Bioökonomie erfordert die Integration der Bodenproduktivität mit einer breiten Palette anderer Bodenfunktionen wie Nährstoffkreislauf, Kohlenstoffspeicherung, Wasserrückhalt und Filterung sowie als Lebensraum für eine Vielzahl von Organismen und als Grundlage für deren Aktivitäten. Die Konferenz wird Forscher aus verschiedenen Disziplinen der Boden- und Pflanzenwissenschaften und der Agronomie zusammenbringen, um Strategien für eine (Multi-)Funktionalität von Bodenökosystemen zu erörtern, die auch die Zwänge des Klimas und des globalen Wandels berücksichtigen. Ziel der Konferenz ist es, Lösungen für eine nachhaltige Bodenbewirtschaftung einschließlich der Anpassung an den Klimawandel zu finden, die ein Verständnis der Böden auf einer systemischen Ebene und eine Bewertung ihres Wertes in einem sozioökonomischen Rahmen erfordert.

Wir freuen uns darauf, interessierte Wissenschaftler und Akteure aus dem Bereich des Bodenmanagements zu anregenden Diskussionen begrüßen zu dürfen.

Die Organisatoren von BonaRes 2023

At the HIGRADE Conference, doctoral researchers in their final year present their work and there are many possibilities for scientific exchange and networking. All UFZ colleagues and our cooperation partners are invited to join the event!

www.higrade.de/conference

The EuroVis 2023 will be held in Leipzig, Germany in presence. This 25th edition of EuroVis will be hosted by the Leipzig University organized by the Image and Signal Processing Group – BSV in collaboration with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ. EuroVis is the annual Visualization Conference organized by the Eurographics Working Group on Data Visualization. It has been a Eurographics and IEEE co-supported international visualization symposium held in Europe annually since 1999, as a conference since 2012.

Seit der letzten Tagung der Deutschen Bodenkundlichen Gesellschaft (DGB) in Halle (Saale) im Jahr 1995 hat sich die Stadt zu einem lebendigen und modernen Zentrum für Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft entwickelt. An der Martin-Luther-Universität (MLU) und dem Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung (UFZ) ist die Bodenforschung mit einem breiten Spektrum fachlicher Expertise vertreten. Die Tagung wird daher in Kooperation beider Institutionen organisiert. Die Räumlichkeiten der MLU auf dem Weinberg Campus bieten gut arrondierte Hörsäle mit kurzen Wegen und viel Raum für entspannte Postersessions.

Halle (Saale) befindet sich wie damals in einer Phase des Um- oder besser Aufbruchs. Mit dem Kohleausstieg eröffnen sich neue Perspektiven und Wege mit deutlichen Veränderungen für die Region und ihr Landschaftsbild. Das Exkursionsprogramm mit Unterstützung der TU Dresden, der Uni Jena, dem Landesamt für Geologie und Bergwesen in Halle und der SKW Piesteritz wird an verschiedene, spannende Orte dieser im Umbruch befindlichen Region führen.

Vor der Jahrestagung organisieren Albrecht Bauriegel (LBGR) und Peter Schad (TUM) einen dreitägigen Workshop zu Bodenbeschreibung und Bodenklassifikation (KA6 und WRB), der mit einem Soil Contest abschließt.

Die Anmeldung von Beiträgen muss zusammen mit dem jeweiligen Abstract bis zum 15. Januar 2023 über die Webseite der Tagung in deutscher oder englischer Sprache erfolgen. Dabei sollte beachtet werden, dass der Vortrag bzw. das Poster in der gleichen Sprache präsentiert wird.