Anna Villalobos Santeli
PhD candidate, Duke University
Civil & Environmental Engineering; Integrated Toxicology & Environmental Health Program
She/Her/Hers
Description: This work is motivated by ubiquitous microplastic pollution and human lung exposure to microplastic fibers. Microplastics are not only a concern as a particulate pollutant, but they also carry a cocktail of unbound chemical additives that may leach into the surrounding environment. Given microplastics’ increasing occurrence in aquatic environments and human tissues, it is critical to determine the leachable, bioaccessible, and potentially toxic additive content of common plastics. My research uses high resolution mass spectrometry and non-targeted analysis suspect-screening to cast a wide net and investigate additive leaching behavior from several standardized polymers. Microplastic fibers are the dominant particle type found in outdoor and indoor environments and polymer-based textiles are almost exclusively dyed with disperse azobenzene dyes. These dyes are suspected immune sensitizers, and some are classified as carcinogenic. I will describe our ongoing research describing the bioaccessibility and toxicity of disperse azobenzene dyes associated with microplastic fibers.
About the speaker: Anna Villalobos Santeli is a PhD candidate in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department of Pratt School of Engineering at Duke, working in Dr. Lee Ferguson’s environmental analytical chemistry lab. She is also a student of the Integrated Health and Environmental Toxicology certificate program of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke. Anna received a M.S. in CEE from Duke and a B.S. in Biology from the College of William and Mary. With 7 years of microplastic research experience, Anna’s expertise spans microplastic particle generation, characterization, and isolation in environmental samples, chemical analysis of plastic additives (e.g. PFAS, bisphenol A, phthalates, etc.), and plastic pollution policy. Her dissertation research uses high resolution mass spectrometry, in both targeted and non-targeted analysis, to measure water-leachable, bioaccessible, and toxic microplastic additives.
Friday, October 25, 2024, 12:00-1:15pm Eastern
Love auditorium, LSRC B101, (308 Research Drive, Durham, NC)
This seminar will also be presented live via Panopto. Click HERE for the livestream.