Sick of 'toxic black mould'? Quantifying mycotoxins in New Zealand's leaky buildings An introduction to deep eutectic solvents A review of ...
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ISSN 0110-5566 (Print) ISSN 2624-1161 (Online) Volume 85, No. 1, January 2021 Sick of ‘toxic black mould’? Quantifying mycotoxins in New Zealand’s leaky buildings An introduction to deep eutectic solvents A review of COVID-19: origin, transmission epidemiology, virology and treatment options
Published on behalf of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry in January, April, July and October.
The New Zealand Institute of Chemistry Printed by Graphic Press Disclaimer
Incorporated The views and opinions expressed in Chemistry in
PO Box 33124 New Zealand are those of the individual authors and
Barrington are not necessarily those of the publisher, the
Christchurch 8244
Email: nzic.office@gmail.com Editorial Board or the New Zealand Institute of
Chemistry. Whilst the publisher has taken every
Editor precaution to ensure the total accuracy of material
Dr Catherine Nicholson contained in Chemistry in New Zealand, no
C/- BRANZ, Private Bag 50 908 responsibility for errors or omissions will be
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The contents of Chemistry in New Zealand are subject
Publishing Editor to copyright and must not be reproduced in any
Raoul Solomon form, wholly or in part, without the permission of
Email: r.solomon@massey.ac.nz the Publisher and the Editorial Board.
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Volume 85, No.1, January 2021
Articles and features
18 Book review: Some Forgotten Chemists
Brian Halton
19 Sick of ‘toxic black mould’? Quantifying mycotoxins in New Zealand’s
leaky buildings
Benjamin Clarke, Joanne Harvey, Julian Crane, Caroline Shorter, Nick Waipara and Simon
Hinkley
31 An introduction to deep eutectic solvents
Patricia A. Hunt
39 A review of COVID-19: origin, transmission epidemiology, virology and
treatment options
Sidra Munir and Sarah L. Masters
Other Columns
3 Comment from the President
5 January News
17 Welcome to Samantha Eason
Comment from the President Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
happened to leave the country prior to our
borders being closed were also denied entry
Kia ora and greetings! back in, effectively putting their degree
programmes into limbo. This impact of
I bid you all a hearty welcome to the restricted human movement has taken a big
beginning of a new year and to the first issue hit on many secondary and tertiary
of Chemistry in New Zealand for 2021. In institution budgets with obvious
writing this first column as the incoming consequences on employment. Although the
President, it is fitting that we acknowledge border closures are an effective and necessary
the tireless efforts of our past president, tool in keeping COVID-19 at bathere will
Associate Professor Sarah Masters, over the always be that inevitable sense of limbo as we
past two years in promoting the discipline of wait for a return to some sense of “pre-
chemistry in her role during 2019 and 2020 COVID” normality.
and in spite of the COVID-19 challenge
presented to us in 2020. I look forward to In terms of the New Zealand Institute of
further working with her this year on the Chemistry, COVID-19 restricted many of our
Executive as I take up this role and hope to activities branch-wise and “globally”. We had
benefit from her experience and advice. It was to Zoom meet for our Council and Executive
also the first time we had a president serving meetings after the late March/April
a two-year term, a change advocated by a lockdown. Any social activities within
past NZIC President (Professor Penny branches, especially during lockdown, had to
Brothers) approximately 3 years ago. be cancelled, drastically curtailed or
postponed. The most significant effect for us
It would be completely remiss of me not to perhaps was the postponement of the
mention how 2020 has been a harrowing year Hawaii-hosted Pacifichem conference that
for all of us in regard to the far-reaching would have taken place in December 2020 but
impacts of COVID-19 and the associated is now planned for December 2021 and where
lockdown in New Zealand (and overseas) on the assumption is being made that borders
all of our lives, on businesses, research and travel might become a little freer to
institutes as well as all branches of education facilitate travel overseas. If it transpires that
and many other aspects of life.
Looking back to that year (and especially in
the lockdown), it all seemed somewhat
surreal. Many of us working in education had
to adapt to a new way of teaching which
shunned personal face-to-face contact and
instead embraced online learning. In the
secondary school sector, I have heard that
schools across the country experienced mixed
impacts in terms of their decile rating and the
variable experience of staff in using any
supplied electronic devices to teach students.
In universities, we needed to engage entirely
with online teaching methods or blended
ones when the alert levels subsequently went
down. As well as forcing us to learn new skills,
it also increased workloads and made us more
aware of some of the perils posed to
academic integrity when conducting exams
“online”. For chemistry students pursuing
degrees which contained some research
element, the lockdown meant a complete
denial of access to the all-important
laboratory or instruments which are
necessary for generating research results.
Some of our international PhD students who
3
Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
we do have a return to pre-COVID normality Biographical Note
for travel, it would be worthwhile for
Michael Mucalo is an Associate Professor at the
members to consider sending in an abstract to University of Waikato. He obtained his Bachelors,
this. As a participating chemical society, we Masters and PhD degrees in chemistry from the
derive some partial financial benefit from the University of Auckland under the supervision of
registration fees paid and of course it would Professor Ralph Cooney (1989-1991) where he
be extremely nice to attend a face-to-face carried out spectroscopic and microscopic studies
conference again! of surface processes/adsorption on colloids and
electrodes. In 1991 he was one of the first
Of course with Pacifichem scheduled for the recipients of the Foundation for Research, Science
end of 2021, we also had to make the decision and Technology (FRST) post-doctoral fellowships
to push the NZIC National Conference out to which he held in the former Inorganic and
2022 to avoid competing events being on at Materials Chemistry Division at Department of
the same time. This will be hosted by Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR)
Auckland branch. Chemistry at Gracefield, Lower Hutt where he
studied ceramic coatings formed from preceramic
What do we have planned for 2021? There was polymer pyrolysis. During that time he witnessed
much discussion in 2020 meetings about the birth of the Crown Research Institutes in New
seeing the Chemistry in New Zealand journal Zealand as “DSIR Chemistry” became “Industrial
go to a more digital format, certainly as we Research Limited”. Subsequently he was fortunate
move headlong into an increasingly digital to get a Japanese Science and Technology Agency
age. Of course there are still some who prefer (STA) postdoctoral fellowship that was held in the
the hard copy form of the journal. The National Industrial Research Institute of Nagoya
appointment of Raoul Solomon as our new where he became interested in calcium phosphate
chemistry from a biomaterials viewpoint. He was
publishing editor is to go a long way into offered a lectureship in the then Chemistry
achieving that digital future for the journal. Department at the University of Waikato in 1995
Already we have seen some interesting design where he has been since, becoming an Associate
changes that may come our way soon in the Professor in 2015. His research interests have
journal. I would also like to acknowledge the spanned broad areas such as colloid chemistry,
fantastic efforts of our present Editor, Dr biomedical materials, IR spectroelectrochemistry,
Catherine Nicholson, in preparing our controlled release drug delivery, and repurposing
quarterly editions of the journal. of waste materials. He has also had extensive
collaborations with industry. Michael has been on
I would also like to acknowledge the fine the NZIC Waikato branch committee since 1997 as
efforts of Joanna Dowle who, as Sarah treasurer and has also had stints as branch
mentioned in her last column, resigned from president.
her role as administrator last year. Her help in
bringing me up to speed with the timetable of
events for NZIC has been invaluable and I wish
her well in her new role. I am pleased to
announce the appointment of Samantha
Eason as our new administrator. Samantha
started with NZIC in November and you can
read a little about her in this issue. I am also
grateful to Hamish McDonald for keeping our
accounts in order.
I will close by saying that hopefully we will
return to normal activities in 2021 and I will
look forward to travelling to your branches
over the course of my two year period as
President to meet you all.
Noho ora mai
Michael Mucalo
NZIC President
4
January News Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
the NZIC Presidential Address entitled, Resilience
and opportunity in career pathways.
STAFF SUCCESSES
Hercus Fellow
AUCKLAND Dr Michel Nieuwoudt has been awarded a four-
year Sir Charles Hercus Fellowship for a project
The University of Auckland entitled, Photonic device for real-time
measurement of ischaemic tissue margins in
EVENTS surgery. Michel will undertake this project with a
team of researchers including Cather Simpson,
School of Chemical Sciences Research Hannah Holtkamp and Claude Aguergaray from
Innovation Showcase SCS, together with Professor John Windsor, Dr
In November the annual SCS Research Innovation Michelle Locke, Associate Professor Sanjay
Showcase was held, with a varied range of Pandanaboyana, Dr Thom Minnee and Dr Marco
research from the school on display. Bonesi.
Faculty of Science Poster Competition Michel intends to combine her expertise in
Also in November, the Faculty of Science held its developing photonic tools with the expertise of
Poster Competition: Show & Tell. her surgical collaborators to deliver a photonic
device that will enable surgeons to identify and
Royal Society Te Apārangi Video Competition remove mm-regions of any oxygen-starved
Sponsored by Royal Society Te Apārangi and MBIE, (ischaemic) tissue during surgery.
180 Seconds of Fascination is a film competition
for early career researchers to showcase their Maurice Wilkins Prize for Chemical Science
work. Dr Joel Rindelaub entered the contest, Geoff Waterhouse won the Maurice Wilkins Prize
submitting a video titled, In the air tonight: for Chemical Science. This is the top research
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO5VKxSFxEI
prize awarded by the New Zealand Institute of
Chemistry (NZIC), and the winner is selected on
the basis of the excellence and impact of their
chemistry.
Dr Leandro Dias Araujo has recently been
appointed as a lecturer in wine chemistry at
Lincoln University in Canterbury. Leandro
completed his PhD on Sauvignon blanc aroma
and harvesting issues at Auckland under the
A still shot from Joel Rindelaub’s entry into the 180
supervision of Professor Paul Kilmartin. Since
Seconds of Fascination video competition completing his PhD in 2017, Leandro has worked
in the School on further wine projects as a
School of Chemical Sciences Seminars research fellow. The most notable has been the
NZ Winegrowers/MBIE-funded Pinot noir
Inaugural lecture programme over the past two and a half years,
Professor Bob Anderson presented on, A radical where he has developed new methods to
chemist’s ventures into preclinical cyclic research. characterise tannins in New Zealand’s leading red
Professor Anderson established the Free Radical wine.
Research Facility for teaching and research, which
has become a regional resource within the Jakob Gaar and Margaret Brimble published a
Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and review on Enzymatic and non-enzymatic
Engineering (AINSE). His major research crosslinks in collagen and elastin and their
continues in the study of fast radical reactions chemical synthesis (http://xlink.rsc.org/?DOI=
underlying mechanistic aspects in the D0QO00624F), written in collaboration with
development of bioreductive anticancer drugs at Rafea Naffa from the New Zealand Leather &
the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre. Shoe Research Association (LASRA) in Organic
Chemistry Frontiers and featured on the cover.
Sarah Hillary (Principal Conservator, Auckland
Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki) gave a talk entitled, Dr Alan Cameron had his first senior author paper
Beneath the surface: painting conservation accepted for publication in Angewandte Chemie.
research. The paper was co-authored with Margaret Brimble
and Paul Harris. The paper reports a novel method
NZIC Auckland Branch Seminars of preparing allenamide-modified peptides – an
The NZIC Auckland Branch Seminar was delivered unexplored functionality for peptides that
by Associate Professor Sarah Masters. Sarah gave provides a versatile chemical tool for effecting
chemo-selective inter- or intramolecular bridging
5
Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
reactions with thiols. This new method is a
valuable tool that can be used to constrain
peptides to adopt a defined secondary structure –
a technique that chemists can use to improve the
biological activity of potential new drug targets.
FUNDING
Marsden Grant
Jadranka Travas-Sejdic, Tilo Söhnel, and Alan
Cameron were all successful as PIs in the Marsden
Fund. Tilo received his grant for Skyrmion
systems: new opportunities for Information
technologies. Jadranka and Eddie Chan have a
project entitled, A new approach to transient
organic electronics. Alan Cameron received a Fast
The SCS Research Innovation Showcase featured a
wide range of engaging presentations
6
Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
Start grant for his project, A “self-bridging” in the pipeline. Naasson will be moving to
approach to antimicrobial peptides: disulfide Wellington for his postdoctoral research soon.
replacement and peptide stapling.
PhD Student Prizes
Ivan Leung is an AI on a Marsden grant awarded to Thuy Trang Pham was named on the Dean’s List.
Naresh Singhal in the Faculty of Engineering for This is an excellent achievement, with fewer than
the project, Exploiting the ancient microbial 30 PhD graduates from all of the University being
response to reactive oxygen species to degrade named to the Dean’s List last year. Trang was
persistent emerging contaminants. supervised by Jon Sperry on the project, Synthetic
applications of the chitin-derived platform 3-
Science in Society Seed Funding acetamido-5-acetylfuran (3A5AF).
Dr Joel Rindelaub was awarded $5,000 seed
funding from the Science in society theme for a The SCS Research Innovation Showcase included
student-led investigation of airborne plastic student poster presentations and two-minute
pollution in conjunction with Manurewa High talks by selected PhD students. The two-minute
School. talks prize winners were Xuan Don (1st), Lewis
Green (2nd), and Kapish Gobindlal (3rd). The poster
MBIE platform grant prize winners were Sunandita Ghosh (1st),
A team lead by Margaret Brimble was awarded a Fearghal Walsh (2nd), Kapish Gonbindlal (3rd).
5-year $9.2M MBIE platform grant to study new
generation peptide antibiotics. The team includes Two members of the Brimble peptide group were
Paul Harris and Ghader Bashiri at UoA, together awarded prizes at the School of Biological
with colleagues throughout New Zealand Sciences Research Showcase last week: Oscar
including at VUW, University of Canterbury, and Shepperson was the winner of the student talks
University of Otago. Their aim is to combine and Juliana Tong was runner-up.
synthetic chemistry, chemoenzymatic synthesis,
genomics and synthetic biology to develop and
deliver niche lipopeptide antibiotics. Auckland University of Technology
NEW FACES
STUDENT SUCCESSES
Cailin Carmichael will be doing a summer
PhD Completions studentship under the supervision of Dr
Congratulations to the following students on Cassandra Fleming. Cailin will be working on
their successful PhD defences: Development of fluorescent caging groups with
improved aqueous solubility.
Martijn Wildervanck defended his thesis at his oral
exam on 13 October. Martijn’s thesis is entitled, Olivia Matich was also awarded a summer
Synthesis, characterisation and DFT calculations studentship and will be working with Dr Jack Chen
of saccharide-BODIPY conjugates. The project on a project entitled, Smart materials –
and Martijn’s stipend were supported by the nanoscale containers programmable by light.
Marsden Fund, and his work was supervised by
Penny Brothers and David Ware. EVENTS
Rasangi Sabaragamuwa defended her PhD thesis, Dr Jack Chen gave a virtual seminar entitled,
Phytochemical profiling and investigation of Applying concepts from nature for the design of
bioactivities of a New Zealand grown chemotype dynamic catalyst systems as part of the
of Centella asiatica (Gotukola) – a potential neu- MacDiarmid Institute Research Seminar series.
roprotective herb. Rasangi was supervised by
Professor Conrad Perera and co-supervised by As- Dr Cassandra Fleming gave a seminar at the
sociate Professor Bruno Fedrizzi. Coincidently, she University of Auckland entitled, Development of
was also appointed the Dean of the Faculty of Ap- light-responsive entities as molecular tools to
plied Sciences with a staff of over 100 academic probe dynamic biological functions.
and professionals at The University of Sabaraga-
muwa, Sri Lanka on the same day. AUT hosted the NZIC Auckland Branch AGM, an
event combined with the presidential lecture by
Naasson Mbenza defended his PhD thesis, Studies Associate Professor Sarah Masters entitled,
on the modulation of the enzymatic activity of Resilience and opportunity in career pathways.
hypoxia-inducible factor hydroxylases on 13 Thanks, Sarah, for the visit and braving us unruly
October. Naasson was supervised by Dr Ivanhoe Aucklanders (elbow bump).
Leung and co-supervised by Professor Christian
Hartinger. Naasson studied the inhibition and
activation of the human oxygen sensing enzyme
by gasotrasmitters, organic molecules and metal
ions. Naasson co-authored two
publications during his PhD, with a couple more
7
Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
CONGRATULATIONS application to oxygen reduction reaction, and she
was supervised by Alison Downard (senior
Dr Cassandra Fleming was awarded a Marden Fast supervisor) and Chris Fitchett (co-supervisor). The
Start for the project, Light-responsive drug viva voce exam took place over Zoom and Ting
delivery systems to probe dynamic biological was examined by Professor Penny Brothers (ANU).
functions. Cassandra will be developing new Professor Richard Webster (Nanyang
light-responsive drug delivery systems to control Technological University, Singapore) was the
when and where drugs activate their therapeutic external examiner.
activity. Congrats Cassi!
In Loving Memory: Russell Wayne Gillard
Professor Allan Blackman published an article in 26 March 1945 – 6 October 2020
Dalton Transactions entitled, Five-coordinate Russell Wayne Gillard was born in 1945. He lived in
complexes and the value of τ5. It also made the Rex Street, Riccarton, no more than 2 km from
inside back cover of the issue in which it was Ilam campus but at that time Blenheim Rd had
published. The illustration is yet another fantastic not been built and the Mall was paddocks! He
piece of art from Michael Crawford. attended Christchurch Technical College (now the
Polytech) and started making deliveries after
school. Russell’s first job after leaving school was
delivery work for Farmers and at about the same
time he started riding motor cycles.
On 15 May 1961, Russell started in the chemistry
department. At that time the mechanical
workshop was located in the attic of the old
Chemistry Building at Canterbury College (now
the Art Centre). The mechanical workshop staff at
that stage consisted of Dick Nokes and Russell.
When the Engineering School moved to the Ilam
campus, the workshop was moved to the other
side of the town site near the Worcester St
(lecture Theatre D).
Illustration from Allan Blackman’s article The department moved to Ilam in 1966 and the
The podcast Elemental is currently getting 300- number of technicians increased, as did the
450 downloads per day, nearly 2 years since the amount of equipment and floor space. Heavy
start of the International Year of the Periodic equipment was located on level 1, with the
Table, and has totalled 200,000 downloads. It can apparatus workshop occupied by Russell on the
be found at: west side of level 5 and the glassblowers and dark
https://www.radionz.co.nz/programmes/ room in the area now occupied from 530 to 536.
elemental
Russell ran the chemistry department liquid air
CANTERBURY plant which was located in the glassware store.
During this time Dick Nokes and Fred Downing
Professor Ian Shaw is UCSA’s Science Lecturer were always delighted to see Russell in one piece
of the Year 2020 on a Monday morning. Over the years of
Some of the most inspiring and dedicated staff motorcycle racing he suffered from broken ribs, a
from the University of Canterbury have received broken collar bone, broken fingers and a broken
awards in the UC Students’ Association 2020 toe (that was from working in our basement). He
Staff of the Year Awards celebration. Students managed to never break an arm or leg. When the
from all over campus voted on their most chemistry department library moved it freed up
enthusiastic and dedicated lecturers, as well as space on level 1 and the mechanical workshops
non-academic staff who have also gone above were combined into one on the east side of level 1.
and beyond their role as they support students. By this stage mechanical workshop numbers had
The nominator said, “Despite the pandemic, risen to 5 and electronics also had 5.
Professor Ian Shaw was lovely in every regard and
managed to create a wonderful sense of In 1985 Reg Dalley retired. Russell took over as
community among his students. He brought head of the workshop and gave up motor bicycle
enthusiasm to every lecture and empowered racing. Russell retired from UC in December 2008.
students with the hope for the future. He always
NZIC
replies quickly with a detailed answer to students’
Darren Saunders (Food Chemistry Laboratory, ESR
issues and then relays it to the rest of the class.”
Christchurch) gave a presentation on 7 October
PhD successfully defended entitled, Food forensics: taints to tails, mice to
Ting Wu successfully defended her PhD thesis on mould. This was a review of the
13 October. Ting’s thesis was titled, Covalent food forensics techniques used to investigate
carbon surface modification with iron porphyrin: safety, quality and aesthetic issues concerning our
8
Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
food. This presentation touched on the methods
used to investigate unwanted foreign matter,
apportion legal liability, hunt down the source of
taints, determine authenticity and appraise
aesthetic issues that affect the food we eat with
reference to specific (often gross) examples. The
seminar was well attended and generated many
questions.
MANAWATŪ
Mouse in frozen vegetables
for
t h eHuman hair
Mouse tail in toast
Leonie Etheridge successfully defended her PhD APOBEC3 International Translational Working
thesis entitled, The synthesis and chemistry of Group. This group was established last year by
[2.2]paracyclophane peptide derivatives. Leonie Professor Reuben S. Harris (University of
was supervised by Associate Professor Gareth Minnesota, USA) to translate discoveries made in
Rowlands and Professor Paul Plieger. She has since the APOBEC3 field into clinical reality.
started a position as a growth and innovation
chemist at Hexion, Tauranga. The Rowlands and The Massey-Victoria Chemistry Symposium was
Plieger group would like to wish her the best for held on 6 November at Victoria University of
her future endeavours. Wellington (VUW). Sidney Woodhouse of Massey
University, along with Tehreema Nawaz, Hellen
David Perl successfully defended his PhD thesis Nalumaga and Matt Brett from VUW served as
entitled, Hetero-interpenetrated metal-organic organisers. The event featured 8 presentations
frameworks: supramolecular interactions between from students covering a diverse range of
ligands in metal-organic framework formation. research. Tehreema Nawaz was awarded the Best
David was supervised by Professor Shane Telfer Talk Prize for her presentation entitled,
and Professor Geoff Jameson. He has since started Ferromagnetic Ni1-XFeX nanofibers produced by
a postdoctoral position at SOLEIL, located in electrospinning. Bernhard Auer of the Telfer group
Paris. David will be working on new approaches at Massey spoke on the Design of novel porous
for MOF crystallography. catalyst and was awarded the best PhD talk. Suraj
Patel of the Rowlands group received the prize for
Fareeda M. Barzak successfully defended her PhD the best 2nd year MSc presentation titled,
thesis entitled, Biophysical and biochemical Synthesis of a planar chiral foldamer from
characterisation of DNA-based inhibitors of the [2.2]paracyclophane. Georgia Richardson of VUW
cytosine-mutating APOBEC3 enzymes. Fareeda was awarded the top BSc Hons /1st year MSc /
was supervised by Associate Professor Vyacheslav PGDipSci presentation for her talk entitled,
Filichev, Dr Elena Harjes and Professor Geoff Catalytic nucleophilic alkylation of benzene.
Jameson.
Associate Professor Catherine Whitby was invited On 3 November, Associate Professor Sarah
to give a keynote seminar on Protein adsorption Masters visited Massey University to present the
at the oil-water interface: effect of complexation NZIC presidential talk. Sarah gave an
with polysaccharide, at the online Australia Japan inspirational talk on resilience and opportunity in
Colloids Symposium 2020. her career pathway, highlighting the challenges
she has had to overcome as well as the battles
On 22 October the APOBEC3 team consisting of she has won.
Associate Professor Vyacheslav V. Filichev, Dr
Elena Harjes and Professor Geoff Jameson During Sarah’s visit, we had the pleasure of
presented their recent work on powerful celebrating Barry Scott’s contribution to NZIC as
inhibitors of DNA-mutating APOBEC3 enzymes. he became an Honorary Fellow of NZIC for his
The work presented is part of a series of webinars meritorious service to the Manawatū branch.
9Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
Bernhard Auer (right) receives his award for the best
PhD talk from Associate Professor Vyacheslav Filichev
Georgia Richardson (left) receives her award from
Associate Professor Vyacheslav Filichev for the Best
Talk in the BSc Hons / 1st year MSc / PGDipSci category
Tehreema Nawaz (left) receives the Best Talk Prize from Suraj Patel (left) receives his award for the best 2nd year
Associate Professor Vyacheslav Filichev MSc talk from Associate Professor Vyacheslav Filichev
Barry has served as a key member of
our branch for 21 years, holding
several leadership roles including
chair of the Manawatū branch,
trustee, and trade representative on
the NZIC conference organising
committee. During his time, he has
made a vital contribution by
organising industry sponsorship for
NZIC awards, events, and sponsorship
for the annual student recruitment
events run by our branch. On behalf of
our branch, we would like to
congratulate and thank Barry for his
dedication and work for NZIC. A
dinner at Little Savannah was
attended by students, staff, and
branch members joining Sarah and
Barry to end the eventful day.
The Massey-Victoria Chemistry
Webinar series continued with Austin
Evans giving a presentation on 11 Associate Professor Sarah Masters (left) awards Barry Scott
September. Austin is a PhD student an Honorary Fellowship of the New Zealand Institute of
Chemistry
attending Northwestern University,
10Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
Students, staff and Manawatū NZIC members attending
dinner at Little Savanah after the NZIC presidential talk
USA, under the supervision of Professor William Courtney will represent users’ experience and
Dichtel. His talk titled, Controlled polymerization encourages any users (or potential users) of the
and emergent properties of 2D covalent organic synchrotron to contact him with any issues or if
frameworks discussed the synthesis of colloidal they are wondering whether the synchrotron
2D covalent organic frameworks and their might suit their research needs.
operative mechanisms, investigating a range of
emergency properties and first-generation Jaydee Cabral was an invited speaker at the
devices based on these materials. Bioengineering at Otago showcase where she
gave a talk entitled, Advanced scaffold fabrication
Elizabeth Chernysheva has joined the Filichev for regenerative tissue applications.
group as part of a summer scholarship and will be
working on a new generation of APOBEC3
inhibitors.
Braydon Nikolaison has joined the Whitby group
as part of a summer scholarship. He will be
investigating the interfacial properties of
proteins and polysaccharides.
Liam Mowbray has joined the Waterland group as
part of a summer research course and will be
working with Associate Professor Keren Dittmer
(School of Veterinary Sciences) on Raman
analysis of the effects of nutritional deficiencies
on bone disease in cattle.
OTAGO
University of Otago, Department of
Chemistry
PhD student Ioan Fuller and Nigel Perry attended
the East Otago Taiāpure 11th Annual Research
Evening at Puketeraki marae. This was a well-
attended outreach evening, communicating
research projects (mostly marine science) to the
community. Ioan outlined his planned work on
local kai mātaitai (shellfish) phospholipids.
Courtney Ennis has been selected to sit on Jaydee Cabral presenting at the Bioengineering at
Otago showcase
the ANSTO Australian Synchrotron User
Advisory Committee (UAC). In this role,
11Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
At the recent 2020 Blues and Golds awards
ceremony, Sriram Sundaresan, a final year PhD
student in Brookers Bunch, was awarded a
University of Otago OUSA Gold for “Outstanding
member of the Dunedin community”, in
recognition of his contributions and service to the
Dunedin Hindu and Tamil communities. There has
no doubt been a large amount of support needed
for many of our communities this year and
Sriram’s award is very much deserved. Well done,
Sriram!
Sandhya Singh, working in Brookers Bunch, has
just submitted her PhD thesis, Spin crossover in
iron(II) dinuclear helicates and tetranuclear cages,
so was given a chocolate fish, and the official
mallet to ring the ceremonial University bell.
Great job, Sandhya!
Sriram Sundaresan with his Gold award for services to the Dunedin Hindu
and Tamil communities at the recent OUSA Blues and Golds awards
Sandhya Singh, working in Brookers Bunch, has
just submitted her PhD thesis, Spin crossover in
iron(II) dinuclear helicates and tetranuclear cages, Sandhya ringing the ceremonial bell for PhD
submissions
so was given a chocolate fish, and the official
mallet to ring the ceremonial University bell.
Great job, Sandhya!
Sandhya Singh and other Brookers Bunch members
Anna Garden’s group recently travelled to
Sally Brooker has assembled, and is still growing, Whakapapa Village for the MacDiarmid
“team NZ” on green hydrogen as she looks to Institute’s Cluster Hui on Nanoclusters. After a
establish a NZ-Germany Green Hydrogen Alliance year of virtual meetings it was great for everyone
with activities ranging from fundamental to in the group to get a chance to give a talk and
applied and industrial with economic benefits to meet with researchers around the country.
NZ. She recently travelled to visit Robert Holt and Special mention goes to Frank Mackenzie, Ciaran
his team at Callaghan Innovation to check out a Ward and Sam McIntyre for their first (and very
household-sized electrolyser for producing green successful!) conference presentations. Thanks to
hydrogen from water. Elke Pahl (Auckland), Charlie Ruffman (Otago)
and Alex Smith (Auckland) for organising such a
great meeting!
12Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
and Sara Miller published several papers, most
notably a review article titled, “Recent advances
in low-frequency Raman spectroscopy for
pharmaceutical applications in the International
Journal of Pharmaceutics. Chima Robert published
two papers on Rapid discrimination of intact beef,
venison and lamb meat using Raman
spectroscopy” in Food Chemistry, and Diagnostics
of skin features through 3D skin mapping based on
electro-controlled deposition of conducting
polymers onto metal-sebum modified surfaces
and their possible applications in skin treatment in
Analytica Chimica Acta recently.
KCG group members have been busy presenting
and participating in different virtual conferences
and workshops. Sara Miller gave an invited
tutorial talk on Biophotonics and Fatema
Ahmmed, Samanali Garagoda Arachchige and
Kárlis Bērziṇš gave talks respectively titled,
Raman and infrared spectroscopic data fusion
Sally Brooker with the Hylink household-sized robust strategy for quantitative analysis of commercial
electrolyser which produces green hydrogen from water
and is powered by sun and wind. It was developed krill oil, Vibrational spectroscopic assessment of
by Robert Holt and his team at Callaghan Innovation and consolidated paru dyed harakeke fibres: does
provides instant hot water for showers, taps and radiators
as well as fuel for the BBQ (Photo: Robert Holt).
consolidation protect from further degradation?
and Qualitative and quantitative vibrational
Charlie Ruffman, Calum Gordon (now at VUW) spectroscopic analysis of macronutrients in breast
and Anna Garden published a paper on milk at the Dodd-Walls Virtual Symposium at the
understanding the mechanism of hydrogen end of the October.
evolution on MoS2 catalysts in the Journal of
Physical Chemistry C. Special congrats to Charlie The KCG group welcomed Peter Remoto, Sam
for leading this work and to Calum for his first Harris, Joshua Kirkham and Quintin Jane who
paper! joined the group as summer students. Peter will
be working with Fatema on the study of micro
From the group of Keith Gordon, Georgina Shillito plastics in fish, Joshua will be working with Sara
and Joe Mapley’s paper on Accessing a long-lived Miller to develop and test a multi-spectroscopic
3
LC state in a ruthenium(II) phenanthroline probe while Sam and Quintin will be working
complex with appended aromatic groups was with Joe to study a series of donor-acceptor dyes.
published in Inorganic Chemistry. Kárlis Bērziṇš
The Garden Group attendees at the 2020 MacDiarmid
Institute Cluster Hui on Nanoclusters
13Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
Sara Miller has funding for a one year MSc thesis The competition allowed enthusiastic Year 13
scholarship to work on a project developing a chemists to spend a day in the university
multi-spectroscopic probe for disease diagnosis. laboratories working on an experiment that
If you are interested please contact her would be beyond the resources of their schools.
(sara.miller@otago.ac.nz) or Keith Although competition was intense, the main
(keith.gordon@otago.ac.nz) for more details. emphasis was on enjoying the experience of
working in a chemistry laboratory at the
Keith Gordon was part of the team of researchers university and meeting students from other
led by Plant and Food Research who were schools. The winning team received $240 and a
successful in gaining an endeavour fund research trophy, with prize money also awarded to all
program titled, Cyber-physical seafood systems: other place-getters thanks to the generosity of
intelligent and optimised green manufacturing for the sponsors.
marine co-products. Keith and Sara are part of the
Dodd-Walls Centre CoRE which was recently The day involved many of the chemistry
refunded. Keith is also part of the Riddet Institutedepartment staff in setting up the competition
and MacDiarmid Institute CoREs which were also and supervising the labs. Bryant Hall and Student
successful in the 2020 funding round. Village provided excellent lunches (sponsored by
the Waikato Branch of the NZIC). Hill
Laboratories and the Waikato Branch of the NZIC
In other news from Plant and Food Research, John generously donated the prizes.
van Klink had a paper entitled, Taramea, a
treasured Māori perfume of Ngāi Tahu from Results were:
Aciphylla species of Aotearoa New Zealand: a
review of Mātauranga Māori and scientific research 1st Prize: Aquinas College
(Aaria Dobson-Waitere, Robin MacIntosh, (Janelle Danbar-Mair, Daniel Nirmalaraj, Elise
Matapura F. Ellison, Bruce M. Smallfield and John Oxenham, Put Suthisrisinlpa)
W. van Klink) accepted by the Journal of the Royal
Society of New Zealand. This is a collaborative 2nd Prize: Tauranga Boys’ College
effort between Plant and Food Research, summer (Lucas Cowley, Alex Hastie, Vijay Nirvaneshwar,
student Aaria, Robin at Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, Cohen Radich)
Christchurch, and Matapura at Kati Huirapa
Runaka ki Puketeraki, Karitane. John and Bruce 3rd Prize: Waihi College
are now working on the extraction and chemical (Trav Anderson, SJ Kleynhans, Madeline
analysis papers that supported commercial Midwinter, Brayden Shaw)
production by Ngāi Tahu: https://
meafragrance.co.nz 4th Prize: Tauranga Girls’ College 1
(Talia Ingham, Olive Pearce, Tania Simpson,
Courtney Smith)
WAIKATO
5th Prize: Waikato Diocesan School for Girls 1
NZIC Analytical Chemistry Competition 2020 (Caitlin Davison, Danielle Gordon, Harman Kaur,
Aliyah Thotahil)
This annual event was held on 1 September.
Schools in the wider Waikato/Bay of Plenty Sarah Masters gave her presidential address,
region were invited to send teams of four Resilience and opportunity in career pathways to
students to the university for the day to carry out the branch, which was well received and followed
an analysis. Due to postponement on account of by drinks and nibbles.
Covid-19 lockdown, fewer schools chose to
participate this year but there were still fifteen
teams from twelve schools in this year’s University of Waikato
competition. Running the competition under
Level 2 Covid-19 conditions presented some Nearly 150 students from 14 schools in the
additional challenges for staff and students but greater Waikato and Bay of Plenty region
all coped very well and the students clearly participated in the annual ChemQuest
enjoyed the day. competition, held at the university. This was a
fun-filled evening for students studying NCEA
The task was to analyse a sample of zinc sulfate level 2 chemistry and a hard-fought contest.
using a gravimetric procedure for SO42- and a Prizes were awarded as follows:
volumetric method for Zn2+ and to use these
values to determine how many water molecules 1st Place: Tauranga Boys’ College:
were associated with each zinc sulfate molecule. (Colby Butler, Peter Gedye, Grayson Moore)
“Students found the analysis particularly
challenging this year, but the winning team 2ⁿd Place: Hamilton Boys’ High School
produced results which were close to the actual (Robert Hoskins, Tebijan Kalarathan, Sankalp
values,” said competition judge and key organiser, Lanka)
Michèle Prinsep. 3rd Place: Waikato Diocesan School for Girls
14Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
(Jordana Bremner, Jaime Hayvice, Amelia
Le Comte)
4th Place: Hillcrest High School
(Jessica Chan, Janet Gui, Joy Guo)
5th Place: Hamilton Girls’ High School
(Alex Matai’a, Sophie Matai’a, Eden Miller)
The quiz was generously sponsored by the
Waikato Branch of NZIC (major sponsor), Hill
Laboratories and the School of Science,
University of Waikato. The question master was
Michèle Prinsep, ably assisted by numerous other
chemistry staff and students. Tauranga Boys’ College, first place winners in the
ChemQuest competition.
From left: Colby Butler, Peter Gedye, Grayson
Moore.
Aquinas College, first place winners in the NZIC
analytical chemistry competition.
From left: Janelle Danbar-Mair, Elise Oxenham, Put ChemQuest winners, Tauranga Boys’ College, with
Suthisrisinlpa, Daniel Nirmalaraj. competition sponsors
Geoff Tait who worked with Michael Mucalo
successfully defended his thesis on alumina gel grating fluorescence spectrometry which allows
vaccine adjuvants. Matthew Risi recently for measuring fluorescence spectra on
completed his Masters degree with Bill Henderson femtosecond timescales. The awards were
on the coordination chemistry of handed out during Associate Professor Sarah
sulfonylthioureas. Masters’ presidential address.
Rose Swears completed her Masters project with Professor Jim Johnston has won TWO KiwiNet
Merilyn Manley-Harris on carbohydrate Research Commercialisation Awards; the
composition of honeydew honeys and is now Baldwins Researcher Entrepreneur Award and
working in her dream job at RocketLab.
WELLINGTON
The third triennial Halton lecture in honour of the
late Professor Brian Halton was given by
Professor James Crowley from the University of
Otago. Professor Crowley gave a great talk on
Palladium(II) metallosupramolecular cages: self-
assembly and molecular recognition. Professor
Halton always admired the work of Professor
Crowley, thus this lecture was a perfect way to
honour the legacy of Professor Halton.
This was a season of well-deserved prizes
highlighting the research excellence of chemistry
at Victoria University of Wellington.
Congratulations to Professor Justin Hodgkiss and
Professor Jim Johnston
Dr Kai Chen on winning the NZIC Prize for
Industrial and Applied Chemistry. This was
awarded for their development of transient the BNZ Supreme Award, both for “a world-
15Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
renowned inorganic and materials chemist focused on commercial outcomes.” This is a superb award
highlighting Professor Johnston’s contribution to applied chemistry throughout his career at VUW.
The annual Massey-Victoria symposium was held at VUW on 6 November. Congratulations to
Tehreema Nawaz for winning the Best Overall Talk and Georgia Richardson for winning the Best Talk
in BSc category.
Associate Professor Sarah Masters presenting the NZIC Prize to Dr Kai
Chen and Professor Justin Hodgkiss (along with his helpers)
Joe Bracegirdle obtained his PhD under the guidance of Associate Professor Robert Keyzers. Dr
Bracegirdle’s thesis focused on the identification of bioactive natural products from NZ and Tongan
marine organisms, and resulted in the discovery of new members of four different classes of
metabolite. Congratulations, Joe!
Congratulations also to Dr Nate Davis for obtaining a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship for his
research on Pushing the limits on renewable energy technology through hybrid organic/inorganic
nanomaterials.
Congratulations to our Marsden Fund grant winners. Dr Luke Liu obtained Fast-Start funding for his
research on 3D covalent organic frameworks: potential materials to break the porosity record?
Professor Martyn Coles and Associate Professor J. Robin Fulton have been funded for their research on
Activating substrates for chemical synthesis with reactive aluminium reagents.
16Welcome! Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
A warm welcome to our new NZIC Administrator!
We are very pleased to have our new NZIC Administrator, Samantha Eason, on
board! Samantha joined us in November, replacing Joanna Dowle who has done
a fantastic job of keeping our organisation running smoothly during her time
with us.
Samantha is based in Christchurch where
she lives with her young daughter and
fiancé (who is a chemistry academic). She is
an arts graduate from the University of
Canterbury with a background in history,
mass communications and anthropology.
Samantha was the Senior Officer of
Records, Examinations, and Graduation at
UC for almost 10 years during which her
main role was organising all aspects of the
graduation ceremonies (approximately 70
events during her time in the role). Before
that she held roles in the Postgraduate
Office, Enrolments and the Library. She also
did a ‘Big OE’ in her early twenties where
she was based in Edinburgh and worked in
Customer Service for the City of Edinburgh Council. In her spare time she plays
the cello and is learning flamenco. Samantha is excited to have joined NZIC and
looks forward to learning more about chemistry in New Zealand.
17Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021 Book Review
Book review: Some Forgotten Chemists by Brian Halton
Part of Perspectives on the History of Chemistry series, edited by Seth C.
Rasmussen, Springer, Switzerland, 2020
Did you know that the scientist who de- The “forgotten chemists” are ordered in
veloped Bakelite had earlier made his for- this book by surname, alphabetically.
tune by selling his photographic paper Therefore, reading the book cover to cover
technology to Kodak? What about the fa- may be dissatisfying if the reader is ex-
mous Russian composer, known for the pecting chronological progression. None-
Polovtsian Dances and the opera Prince theless, the foreword specifically states
Igor, who was an organic chemist in his that each chapter is intended to be stand-
day job and at the forefront of chemical alone and I found that dipping in to read a
reaction discovery? Which chemist was chapter at a time was my preferred modus
seminally involved in the development of operandi. The inclusion of each chemist’s
both gas lighting and detecting adulter- name and lifetime dates in the header of
ation of food? These and many more fun every page is a helpful formatting feature
facts can be found in this new book, Some that immediately reminds the reader of
Forgotten Chemists, by my late colleague, the context and historical setting as they
Professor Brian Halton. go through. Informative illustrations of
chemical structures, schemes, portraits
Sixteen lesser-known chemists through and locations complement the text. The
the ages are featured in this book, which chapter lengths make reading one in a sin-
originated as a series of articles in Chem- gle sitting perfectly feasible. In this way
istry in New Zealand from 2013 to 2018 un- we are provided a pleasant and informa-
der the title Some Unremembered tive interlude that educates us on
Chemists. Each chapter provides fascinat- chemists who contributed many funda-
ing insights into their lives and their man- mentals of our science.
ner of working, as well as historical and
societal anecdotes. We also find several Joanne E. Harvey
chemists with links to New Zealand, School of Chemical and Physical Sci-
namely Thomas Easterfield, Joseph Mellor ences
and Philip Robertson. By definition, the Victoria University of Wellington
great names of chemistry are not specifi-
cally featured here, but we see how the
“forgotten chemists” that grace the pages
were of eminent importance in shaping
the scientific environment that enabled
more famous discoveries, in training
chemists such as Markovnikov and Zait-
sev, and in discoveries and developments
of their own that greatly benefitted indus-
try, society and science.
18Article Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
Sick of ‘toxic black mould’? Quantifying mycotoxins in
New Zealand’s leaky buildings
Benjamin Clarke,1,2, Joanne Harvey,1 Julian Crane,3 Caroline Shorter,3 Nick
Waipara4 and Simon Hinkley2*
School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Centre for Biodiscovery, Victoria
1
University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington 6140
2
Ferrier Research Institute, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 33436,
Petone 5046
Wellington Asthma Research Group, Department of Medicine, University of
3
Otago, PO Box 7343, Wellington
Plant and Food Research, Mt Albert Research Centre, Private Bag 92169,
4
Auckland Mail Centre, Auckland 1142
Email: simon.hinkley@vuw.ac.nz
Keywords: mycotoxin, analytical chemistry, leaky building, house dust, black
mould
Health in New Zealand’s leaky buildings tion of buildings with weathertightness issues from
The quality of our indoor environment is a significant the 1990s through to the mid-2000s. Subsequent
determinant of our quality of life. As we spend around moisture ingress into timber framing and wallboard
90% of our lives indoors, these spaces naturally influ- resulted in widespread fungal growth, with many
ence our wellbeing, with warm, dry homes free of nox- anecdotal reports of respiratory & other illness that
ious agents being conducive to good health.1 Con- occupants believed to be linked to living in their now
versely, poor quality housing has been consistently damp and mouldy homes.1,12 The impacts of the result-
linked with poor health outcomes, with over thirty ing leaky building crisis range from the substantial
years of research evidencing a robust positive correla- economic losses, estimated to be over $11.3 billion to
tion between living in cold, damp, mouldy housing and date, through to mental health, with affected home-
the development of respiratory disorders.2-5 Such dis- owners being driven into suicide, marriage breakups,
orders result in 4 million premature deaths annually, anxiety and depression.1,12,13 It may seem clear that
yet despite widespread attention, the exact mecha- something in these houses is making people sick, but,
nism by which these environments give rise to respira- as with the thirty-plus years of research into damp,
tory illness remains to be elucidated.3-9 mouldy housing and respiratory illness in general, ex-
actly what agent or agents are responsible for such
New Zealand has notoriously poor housing stock with building-related illness (BRI) remains a mystery.
regards to damp and mould. Unsurprisingly, this corre-
lates with a high incidence of respiratory disorders, In studies of housing quality and respiratory health,
and in 2015 alone the wider cost of respiratory disease the strongest correlations to illness are the presence
in NZ was estimated to be $7.05 billion.1,10,11 Some of of active leaks and dampness, the presence of visible
the worst examples of this housing stock have been mould, and the presence of mould odour.2-5 It is unsur-
exemplified through our ‘leaky buildings’ (or ‘leaky prising then that fungi and the bioactive secondary
homes’) crisis, which developed through the construc- metabolites they produce – mycotoxins – continue to
19Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
be the one of the most often proposed and studied po- acute idiopathic pulmonary haemorrhage cases in in-
tential causal agents of BRI. In 2002, the landmark fants in Ohio around 1993.16,22 Initial investigations sug-
Hunn report commissioned by the NZ Government gested that a high level of S. chartarum in the water-
into the leaky homes crisis was published.14 With con- damaged homes of the infants may have been the
cern surrounding the potential health effects of mould, cause of illness. However, expert review later described
it recommended an investigation into the health risks significant methodological shortcomings in the inves-
associated with fungal decay in these buildings. tigation, concluding that no causal link between
mould infestation and the observed respiratory symp-
In a survey of wet rots in NZ’s water damaged build- toms could be established.16,19,20,22 Despite this critical
ings, the most commonly identified microorganism review, the case lead to a public health hysteria con-
was the notorious Stachybotrys chartarum, which pro- cerning ‘toxic black mould’, resulting in a significant
duces some of the most potent mycotoxins yet discov- controversy around mycotoxin-induced BRI that con-
ered – the macrocyclic trichothecenes (MCTs). Selected tinues to this day.16,19,22-27
MCTs [satratoxins G & H (SATG & SATH), roridin E
(ROE)] and the ‘pendant’ variant roridin L2 (ROL2) are Although space precludes an in-depth discussion of
shown in Fig. 1.1,15,16 Depending on sampling methods this controversy, a significant body of research has
and the source of data, S. chartarum in NZ’s leaky demonstrated both plausible routes of exposure via in-
buildings may be found in anywhere from 49% to 77% halation and established mechanisms of injury at
of water-damaged building materials, in 20–45% of air achievable doses for S. chartarum in a BRI context. For
samples from indoor locations with ‘elevated’ spore example, toxigenic particles from S. chartarum can be
counts (c.f. outdoor levels), and in 13% of tape-lift aerosolised, are found in air samples of infested build-
samples (targeted sampling of buildings with sus- ings, are respirable and contain mycotoxins.28-32 En-
pected mould contamination, although this is a poor zyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been
method for detecting S. chartarum).1,17 In light of the re- used to detect both S. chartarum mycotoxins and anti-
ports of illness, the particularly high potential toxicity bodies to these toxins in exposed people, suggesting
of this mould and its high prevalence, a second major that they do enter the body, and of particular concern
leaky homes inquiry commissioned by the NZ Govern- are the presence of these toxins on highly respirable
ment in 2003 specifically recommended an investiga- sub-micron particles.33-36 S. chartarum fungal frag-
tion into “the extent of the Stachybotrys problem”.18 ments – pieces smaller than spores – may reach air-
borne concentrations over 500 times that
of spores, and computer modelling sug-
gests that respiratory deposition of these
fragments may be over 200 times greater
than that of spores.29,37 Thus, finding
spores on air sampling may indicate expo-
Fig. 1. Key trichothecenes (KTCs) produced by S. chartarum, including the sure to a relatively larger concentration of
MCTs satratoxins G & H and roridin E, and the non-macrocyclic roridin L2
toxigenic particulates.
Toxic black mould
S. chartarum (historically S. atra) came to prominence While studies suggest that the most potent MCTs are
in the late 1980s, where it had been known as a con- rapidly absorbed, distributed and metabolised, they
taminant of animal feed and was subsequently recog- tend to concentrate in specific cell types such as alveo-
nised growing in water-damaged buildings.16,19-21 In agri- lar macrophages, and as the concentration of toxin at
culture the trichothecenes had earlier been established the site of deposition in the lungs will be greater locally
as the cause of stachybotryotoxicosis, an illness char- than systemically, the environmental exposure re-
acterised by radiation sickness-like symptoms and quired to cause local cellular injury will be lower than
sometimes leading to death in the animals and farm that required to achieve acute systemic toxicity.25,38-40
workers exposed to Stachybotrys contaminated hay.19 Inhalation of both S. chartarum spores and fungal frag-
The later notoriety of S. chartarum in a building con- ments induces pulmonary arterial remodelling in a
text stems largely from its connection to a cluster of murine model, while doses of MCTs based on toxin
20Chemistry in New Zealand January 2021
concentrations in the air of contaminated buildings observed high prevalence of S. chartarum in our leaky
were found to cause damage and inflammation in neu- buildings, low levels of respirable trichothecenes may
ral cells such as astrocytes, neurons and those of the be present with significant frequency, and in consider-
blood-brain barrier, which may further facilitate the ation of research demonstrating a plausible route of
infiltration of toxic substances generally into the cen- exposure and mechanism of injury, that low-level
tral nervous system.41-43 Intranasal installation of these chronic exposure to these mycotoxins may be con-
potent MCTs causes olfactory neuron loss in both mice tributing to the prevalence of respiratory disorders re-
and monkeys, with repeated smaller doses of the tox- ported by leaky building occupants. In order to con-
ins producing cumulative damage equal to or greater duct this study, a comprehensive measurement of the
than the sum given as a single larger dose.39,44 As it is mycotoxins present is required, for which three ana-
established that chronic exposure to sub-acute-effect lytical measures are proposed.
levels of mycotoxins via food can cause population-
level increases in illnesses, so this research highlights Firstly, the collected dust samples will be subject to a
the potential for harm from low-level chronic expo- semi-quantitative screen for over 300 microbial sec-
sure to S. chartarum trichothecenes in the built envi- ondary metabolites utilising high-performance liquid
ronment.45,46 chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-
MS/MS) to give information about general microbial
Despite this evidence, the effect of S. chartarum tri- toxin exposure.7 Secondly, the samples will be hydrol-
chothecenes on respiratory health remains equivocal. ysed to convert the majority of trichothecenes pro-
Some research finds no significant effect from S. char- duced by S. chartarum into the parent diol, verrucarol
tarum exposure, while trichothecenes are likely not (VER, Fig. 2) which will be quantified by an ultra-sensi-
the only component in S. chartarum, and fungi in gen- tive, isotope-assisted, gas chromatography-mass
eral, that may contribute to such disorders.47 For ex- spectrometry (GC-MS) method, giving a measure of
ample, research indicates that proteinaceous compo- ‘total’ trichothecene exposure. Thirdly, where tri-
nents may also cause or contribute to the observed bi- chothecenes are found, quantification of four key tri-
ological responses, and there may be a multi-factorial chothecenes (KTCs) – SATH, SATG, ROE and ROL2 (Fig.
aetiology as in many diseases.48,49 However the notori- 1) – will be completed by HPLC-MS/MS. These KTCs
ety of the trichothecenes and the unanswered ques- represent two of the most potent MCTs (SATH &
tions around their health effects demand more re- SATG) and two chromatographically useful proxies for
search in order to expose exactly what role they play in total trichothecene production (ROE & ROL2). While
the health of our leaky building occupants. the initial wider microbial toxin screen will be con-
ducted by collaborators in Vienna using established
Is toxic black mould making leaky building occu- methodology, the research currently proposed here
pants sick? focuses on the development of the ultra-sensitive GC-
In response to the recommendation of the Govern- MS method for quantification of total trichothecene
ment inquiry, the relationship between the prevalence
of S. chartarum mycotoxins in our 1)HPLC-MS/MS 300+microbial secondary
Swabbedhousedustsample metabolitesforwidertoxin
leaky buildings and the adverse respi- exposure
ratory symptoms reported by occu- 2)Hydrolysisthen
GC-MS
VERasproxyfor“total”
pants is being investigated.50 To this trichothecene exposure
3)VER +ve
end, a matched case-control study samplesonly
HPLC-MS/MS
will be conducted comparing the lev- KCTs:SATG,SATH,ROE, ROL2
els of trichothecenes in house dust
swabbed from surfaces and flooring
against measures of specific respira-
tory symptoms in 100 defined leaky
homes and 100 control homes. This
research hypothesises that with the Fig. 2. Proposed analytical approaches to measurement of mycotoxins
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