Professional summary
Alex is an Environmental Research Chemist working in the Analytical Chemistry group at UKCEH Lancaster. His research focuses on the occurrence and fate of a wide range of contaminants in the environment, such as PFASs, PBDEs, PCBs, PAHs, pesticides, microplastics, and plastic additives such as phthalate and emerging non-phthalate plasticisers.
He has developed targeted methods to measure the concentrations of a range of organic contaminants in the matrices such as soil, sediment, water, and biota. Recent work includes the development and application of protocols to determine the concentration of fluorinated pyrethroid pesticides as part of the National Honey Monitoring Scheme. Alex also works on the analysis of a number of persistent organic pollutants, such as PBDEs, PCBs, organochlorine pesticides, and PAHs. He contributes to the delivery of projects for the Environment Agency, Defra, and UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR).
He is experienced in the operation, maintenance and troubleshooting of analytical instrumentation including liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS; QTOF-based), gas spectrometry-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), GC-MS/MS, and size-exclusion liquid chromatography.
Alex has a PhD in Environmental Science from Lancaster University with UKCEH. His thesis was entitled Plasticisers in terrestrial and estuarine environments: sources, occurrence and fate. During his PhD, Alex used a range of analytical techniques, including µ-FTIR and ATR-FTIR spectroscopies, and GC-MS, to investigate the sources, occurrence and environmental fate of “old” (legacy) and “new” (emerging) plasticisers, and plastic contamination, with a particular focus on their levels in UK soils and sediments.