EESS talk on "New insights into the biogeochemical cycle of selenium"
Event details
| Date | 17.05.2016 |
| Hour | 12:15 › 13:15 |
| Speaker | Dr Lenny Winkel, professor, head, Environmental Inorganic Geochemistry, EAWAG and ETHZ, CH |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Abstract:
Selenium (Se) is an important micronutrient as it is present in the essential amino acid selenocysteine. This amino acid is incorporated in selenoproteins that serve a wide range of biological functions. Due to the central role of selenium in these proteins and the structural similarity of selenocysteine to the sulfur analogue cysteine, selenium only has a narrow range of safe concentrations for humans, i.e. 30 - 900 μg/day. In environmental systems, including agricultural soils, selenium is characterized by an uneven distribution, which, in combination with a narrow optimal intake range and low plant bioavailability has resulted in environmental health issues, of which selenium deficiency is most prevalent. Atmospheric deposition is believed to be an important source of selenium to soils and could therefore be an important factor in explaining environmental selenium distributions. This talk will give new insights in the atmospheric sources, sinks and fluxes of selenium and how these are linked. Furthermore, it will show how information on the processes that control selenium distributions in soils can be used to establish large-scale geospatial predictions of selenium contents in soils using statistical models. The use of statistical models helps in advancing our understanding of the processes driving large-scale distributions of selenium. In addition, resulting predictions will help in the prevention of future health hazards related to unsafe levels of Se in soils.
Short biography:
Prof. Lenny Winkel is an environmental geochemist at ETH Zurich and Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. Her research focuses on biogeochemical trace element cycling from molecular to global scales. In her research, Prof. Winkel aims at achieving a better understanding of the environmental cycling and distribution of trace elements with important health impacts, such as selenium and arsenic. A further aim is to predict wide-scale trace element distributions in the present and in the future. To achieve these goals, Prof. Winkel and her research group link geochemical processes to biological and climatic processes using innovative and interdisciplinary approaches.
Selenium (Se) is an important micronutrient as it is present in the essential amino acid selenocysteine. This amino acid is incorporated in selenoproteins that serve a wide range of biological functions. Due to the central role of selenium in these proteins and the structural similarity of selenocysteine to the sulfur analogue cysteine, selenium only has a narrow range of safe concentrations for humans, i.e. 30 - 900 μg/day. In environmental systems, including agricultural soils, selenium is characterized by an uneven distribution, which, in combination with a narrow optimal intake range and low plant bioavailability has resulted in environmental health issues, of which selenium deficiency is most prevalent. Atmospheric deposition is believed to be an important source of selenium to soils and could therefore be an important factor in explaining environmental selenium distributions. This talk will give new insights in the atmospheric sources, sinks and fluxes of selenium and how these are linked. Furthermore, it will show how information on the processes that control selenium distributions in soils can be used to establish large-scale geospatial predictions of selenium contents in soils using statistical models. The use of statistical models helps in advancing our understanding of the processes driving large-scale distributions of selenium. In addition, resulting predictions will help in the prevention of future health hazards related to unsafe levels of Se in soils.
Short biography:
Prof. Lenny Winkel is an environmental geochemist at ETH Zurich and Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. Her research focuses on biogeochemical trace element cycling from molecular to global scales. In her research, Prof. Winkel aims at achieving a better understanding of the environmental cycling and distribution of trace elements with important health impacts, such as selenium and arsenic. A further aim is to predict wide-scale trace element distributions in the present and in the future. To achieve these goals, Prof. Winkel and her research group link geochemical processes to biological and climatic processes using innovative and interdisciplinary approaches.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
- This event is internal
Organizer
- EESS - IIE
Contact
- Prof. Samuel Arey - EESS coordinator