PhD candidate Emiliano wins top metals research honour 

The $5,000 (USD) international award acknowledges research related to the fate and/or effects of metals in the environment. Emiliano is the first Southern Cross University recipient of the award – which is sponsored by the International Copper Association – and only the third in Australia.  

 SETAC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry) recognised Emiliano’s research around improving understanding of iron toxicity in freshwater systems, thereby informing methodology and assessment of iron bioavailability.  

 From an environmental perspective, bioavailability refers to the specific fraction of a substance present in the environment, in this case iron, which is able to cause effects on natural systems and/or organisms. Iron is present in many forms in the environment, but not all these can be accessed by organisms or in equal ways. 

Last November, Emiliano’s paper, Improving the Measurement of Iron(III) Bioavailability in Freshwater Samples: Methods and Performance, was published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry journal. In it, he explains that current water quality guidelines for iron are based on filterable or total iron measurements which misrepresent iron bioavailability depending on environmental conditions.  

“If we used some of these methods to measure iron in pristine natural waters of Australia, we would find that many would not comply with the water quality guideline value,” he said. 

“What is needed is an analytical measurement technique that permits the determination of a bioavailable iron fraction, one that avoids false-negative and false-positive results, and which can be readily applied by commercial laboratories and field sampling personnel.”  

Emiliano’s research involves the development of a methodology to assess iron bioavailability in freshwater samples, including a validation phase with toxicity tests.  

“The objective is to show how the method is able to measure the fraction of iron which corresponds to the observed toxic effect on microcrustaceans without the interference of non-bioavailable iron species present in the test.” 

A method is currently demanded internationally and is particularly relevant to tropical regions of Australia where freshwater bodies carry iron oxides of low bioavailability as part of the suspended material coming from ancient landscapes. 

“This is particularly relevant for the assessment of water quality associated with mining sites in the Northern Territory and the Pilbara region of Western Australia,” said Emiliano. 

Emiliano’s findings provided evidence to support the methodology needed for implementation of improved guideline values for iron in fresh waters as part of the Australian and New Zealand fresh and marine water quality regulation framework. 

Argentinian-born Emiliano graduated from the National University of La Plata in 2014 and joined Southern Cross University‘s Faculty of Science and Engineering in 2020. His PhD project is under the supervision of Professors Amanda Reichelt-Brushett and Andrew Rose, former SETAC World Council President Dr Ross Smith (adjunct) and former CSIRO chief research scientist Dr Graeme Batley AM.  

 Professor Reichelt-Brushett said the SETAC award was a major achievement. 

“SETAC was founded in North America and is a highly influential group with about 5,000 members and geographic units across the world, including the Asia-Pacific,” she said. 

“It has also played a huge part in attuning the assessment processes to understand and measure toxicity and has clearly recognised the complexity of Emiliano’s project and the inroads to understanding that he has made.”  

 Emiliano will receive his prize at SETAC Australasia’s conference in Townsville in August. The event will also celebrate the recent release of Professor Reichelt-Brushett’s new book, Marine Pollution: Monitoring, Management and Mitigation.