Thomas Berkemeier

Atmospheric scientist | Research group leader at MPI for Chemistry. I study the kinetics of aerosol particles in the air and your body | Triathlete | He/him.

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

🥳@EnvSciRSC just published our most recent study on the health effects of air pollutants, which we pursued during @DovrouE's postdoc in my group! #AtmosChem #AirPollution
https://t.co/9ffSGAEZ81
I am particularly proud and excited about this project 😊 Why? Read the🧵below! ⬇️

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

This one is coming in 🔥hot🔥: My group has started to look into the high-temperature chemistry and kinetics of carbon particles. The first part of our work has just been accepted in Angewandte Chemie (@angew_chem)!

https://t.co/K5JZwQBV0l

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

The package was developed by a PhD student in my group, Matteo Krüger, and can be applied and specifically tailored to various systems and models. To optimize your own experiments, you only need a model and our 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠 Julia package: https://t.co/mr4QEAD0PJ

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

What are the ideal conditions for my next lab experiment? 🤔 We asked ourselves this question and developed the "Numerical Compass", which was just published in J Cheminformatics! 🤓 The method allows a low-level entry to the design of optimal experiments: https://t.co/dWohH6Iqsk

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

Why are people with inflammatory disorders more susceptible to #airpollution? We investigated chemical pathways involving the inflammation marker nitric oxide in our new paper in @EnvSciTech and find increased production of OH radicals in the lung https://t.co/Rbl8Qgq9uV

[Athanasios Nenes @LAPI_epfl]

We use chemical assays & models to study lung ROS formation for Canadian #aerosol. pH & oxalate enhance metal solubility, O2 & OH production.@environmentca @TrentUniversity @EPFL_en @cstacc @FORTH_ITE @pyrotrach @ERC_Research @t_berkemeier @StevenLelieveld
https://t.co/RnKPN9bkrl

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

@FabianMahrt @Chemistry_AU @AarhusUni_int @ChemOfClouds @MereBil @MGlasius @elm_jonas @MTobiasWeidner Awesome, belated congratulations!

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

On the way to the University of Eastern Finland to give a seminar! 🤓

Unfortunately, it is almost midnight and my train has not been moving since 90 mins, so this might become a long night 😬

This interaction with my girlfriend via text made me laugh, though:

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

#EAC2023 is slowly nearing its end. It was quite a productive week as the group gave a total of 6 presentations (talks+poster).
If we haven't spoken yet, please find me to say hi!

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

The first contribution from our group at #EAC2023 came from Matteo Krüger today. If you have questions or want to use his "Kinetic Compass" method for planning laboratory experiments, please reach out! Matteo will also present a poster tomorrow (2.05-13)
#AtmosChem

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

Splendid key note by @jljcolorado at #eac2023 on airborne disease transmission.

#CovidIsAirborne

Simple measures to prevent disease:

* room ventilation & mask fit are critical
* need: public displays of CO2 levels
* "air cleaners" can do more harm than good

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

(2/2) We also found that ozone is a strong burden on the antioxidant defense system, but may not lead to substantial protein damage #AtmosChem

https://t.co/bJSJzuLWd3

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

📢New paper from the group, @Ashmi98 Mishra et al. in @EnvSciTech!🥳

(1/2) We expanded our model KM-SUB-ELF 2.0 to investigate the chemical pathways by which #AirPollution modifies proteins in the lungs 🫁. We found that PM2.5 and NO2 act synergistically to form nitrotyrosine.

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

@coletteheald @ETH_en @MIT_CEE @usys_ethzh Big congratulations and all the best for a great start at ETH!

[Environmental Science Journals of the RSC @EnvSciRSC]

Inhalation of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) produces H2O2 and free radicals in the lungs, but how does this production compare to other sources?

Check out the new #OpenAccess study from @t_berkemeier, @DovrouE, et al in #ESATMOS ➡ https://t.co/cedl0ly0YW

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

@AkiPajunoja Spinning our ideas in the paper further, we must ask though: Are the H2O2 concentrations in the ALI assay as high as those in the lung?
If not: do particles also have to "act as the fuel" of Fenton-Chemistry in these assays?

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

"PM2.5 is not so much the fuel, but rather the catalyst of the chemical reactions that cause damage to cells and tissues”

https://t.co/XKFRwlMpdN

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

@AkiPajunoja Thanks, also for sharing the paper, and good question! I think it makes a lot of sense that smaller particles are more toxic: photo-aging of the surface leads to more highly oxidized organics, more accessible surface area might be important for insoluble particles.

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

@ManabuShiraiwa But what about the reduced drag of fastballs in warmer air before they get to the batter (good for pitchers)!? 😋

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

@DomenicoTarabo2 Many thanks, Domenico! You can find a full list of the chemical reactions (sorted by model compartment) in Table S1 in the ESI: https://t.co/8cGzEWwh8f

[Thomas Berkemeier @t_berkemeier]

🥳@EnvSciRSC just published our most recent study on the health effects of air pollutants, which we pursued during @DovrouE's postdoc in my group! #AtmosChem #AirPollution
https://t.co/9ffSGAEZ81
I am particularly proud and excited about this project 😊 Why? Read the🧵below! ⬇️