Elvio Amato

Background

About Elvio Amato

I am an environmental scientist with a background in chemistry and ecotoxicology. My broad research interests focus on investigating the behavior of contaminants in the environment and how they interact with biological systems. In particular, I am interested in assessing the bioavailability of contaminants in water and sediment, with the aim of improving environmental quality assessment and decision making. Currently, my work focuses on the development of a field device for monitoring concentrations and assessing the bioavailability of a wide range of contamiants (metals and organic compounds) in water. Previous projects also included the synthesis and characterisation of biomimetically functionalised silver nanoparticles and on the characterization of the interaction of these nanomaterials with biological systems (bacteria). Expertise • Sediment quality assessment • Development and applications of in-situ tools for monitoring metals in sediments • Toxicological effects of metal contaminants to aquatic invertebrates • Metal bioaccumulation in benthic organisms • Review and development of sediment quality guidelines • Metal speciation and bioavailability in aquatic ecosystems • Water quality assessment • Passive sampling techniques for measuring metal and organic contaminants in water • Synthesis and characterisation of nanoparticles