Professional summary

Dr Elma Lahive received her PhD in the field of ecotoxicology from University College Cork, Ireland in 2011. She joined the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in the same year and is currently a senior ecotoxicologist in the Ecotoxicology and Chemical Risk group. Elma's research focusses primarily on interactions between organisms and emerging contaminants in terrestrial ecosystems, particularly the study of particulates (engineered nanomaterials and solid polymers), gaining understanding of fate, bioavailability and mechanisms of toxicity.

She has worked on national and EU-funded projects investigating the effects of metals, pesticides, nanomaterials and microplastics on terrestrial environments at both lab and mesocosm scales, exploring how their fate and transformations affect their ultimate availability and toxicity to plants and soil invertebrates.

Selected publications

Rendell-Bhatti Flora et al. , (2023), From the environment into the biomass: microplastic uptake in a protected lamprey species. Environmental Pollution, 323, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121267

Lahive E. et al. , (2023), Soil properties influence the toxicity and availability of Zn from ZnO nanoparticles to earthworms. Environmental Pollution, 319, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120907

Bart Sylvain et al. , (2022), How to analyse and account for interactions in mixture toxicity with toxicokinetic-toxicodynamic models. Science of the Total Environment, 843, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157048

Palacio-Cortés Angela Maria et al. , (2022), Accumulation of nylon microplastics and polybrominated diphenyl ethers and effects on gut microbial community of Chironomus sancticaroli. Science of the Total Environment, 832, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155089

Lahive Elma et al. , (2022), Earthworms ingest microplastic fibres and nanoplastics with effects on egestion rate and long-term retention. Science of the Total Environment, 807, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151022

Short Stephen et al. , (2021), Off-target stoichiometric binding identified from toxicogenomics explains why some species are more sensitive than others to a widely used neonicotinoid. Environmental Science & Technology, 55, 3059-3069, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c05125

Lahive E. et al. , (2021), A kinetic approach for assessing the uptake of Ag from pristine and sulfidised Ag nanomaterials to plants. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/etc.5031

Heinze Wiebke Mareile et al. , (2021), Nanoplastic transport in soil via bioturbation by Lumbricus terrestris. Environmental Science & Technology, 55, 16423-16433, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c05614