Professor Iseult Lynch PhD, MBA

Professor Iseult Lynch

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Professor of Environmental Nanosciences
Theme lead for Environmental Sciences
Director of Research for Environmental Research and Justice (CERJ)

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 5532
Email
i.lynch@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Iseult Lynch is an environmental chemist working at the interface of chemical (and materials) pollution and environmental policy.  She is the Director for Research of the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Environmental Research and Justice (CERJ), an affiliate of the Birmingham Institute of Sustainability and Climate Action, Chair of DEFRA’s Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee (HSAC) advising the UK government on all aspect of chemicals in the environment, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistryand an Editorial Board member of Environmental Science: Nano.

Iseult has a very broad overview of all aspects of nanomaterials and chemical safety assessment and plays a leading role in making toxicology research data and models Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable (FAIR).  She co-leads the workpackage on FAIR Research data for the EU Horizon Europe funded Partnership for Assessment of the Risks of Chemicals (PARC) and is the Chemical Lead for nanomaterials.

Iseult’s research focuses on the environmental interactions of nanoparticles and nanostructured surfaces with biological entities from macromolecules to organisms, and the interactions of nanoscale materials with other co-pollutants as part of mixture toxicity.  She collaborates with a wide range of colleagues internationally, to develop predictive modes of nanomaterials toxicity, to develop safe and sustainable by design materials and chemicals, and to apply nanoscale and advanced materials in a range of applications to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including for precision agriculture, for water purification and for clean energy.

Iseult is part of the Birmingham Plastics Network, an interdisciplinary team of more than 40 academics working together to shape the fate and sustainable future of plastics.  This unique team brings together chemists, environmental scientists, philosophers, linguists, economists, and experts in many other fields, to holistically address the global plastics problem.

Qualifications

BSc. (Hons) Chemistry (1995)

PhD (Chemistry, 2000)

MBA (2012)

Teaching

Professor Lynch is the undergraduate admissions tutor for Environmental Science.

Leads and contributes to undergraduate modules on the following topics:

  • molecules and materials
  • environmental protection
  • environmental pollution

Deputy director of the MRes in Biological and Environmental Nanoscience, and module leader for the MRes module 'Biological and Environmental Nanoscience'.

Postgraduate supervision

Dr Lynch’s research interests include:

Synthesis of novel materials for environmental applications - remediation, agriculture, solar desalination and more.
Nanoparticle interactions with biomolecules in the environment (natural organic matter, secreted proteins, organic pollutants, etc.) - the “eco-corona” and secondary pollutant effects
Determination of the fate and behavior of nanomaterials in the environment
Development of high throughput screening applications: nano(eco)toxicology, bionanointeractions and assessment of environmental fate of nanomaterials.
Nanoinformatics approaches for safe and sustainable by design chemicals and materials.
FAIR data and data management workflows and tools. Ontology and metadata schema.

Research

Understanding the role of the bio-nano interface, and interactions with biomolecules, in determining nanoparticle fate and behaviour in the environment and for human health.

FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable) data and approaches and tools to suppport FAIR data

Interactions between pollution, hydrology and climate change

Other activities

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Zhao, L, Cheng, S, Xing, S, Elgarahy, AM, Elwakeel, KZ, Yang, Z, Guo, Z, Li, Z, Graham, NJD & Lynch, I 2026, 'Amoeba-inspired nano-robots for trace low-molecular-weight emerging contaminant removal from water', Water Research, vol. 293, 125443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2026.125443

Junqué, E, Llorca, M, Bautista, A, Barber, J, Dondero, F, Farré, M & Lynch, I 2026, 'Assessment of PFAS pollution in fish and water from the United Kingdom and Spain and implications for human exposure', Environmental Pollution, vol. 390, 127515. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2025.127515

Shi, J, Lyu, Y, Dang, X, Wang, X, Liu, P, Zhu, H, Wei, X, Zhang, P, Bol, R & Lynch, I 2026, 'Combined toxic effects of arsenic and molybdenum disulfide nanomaterials on earthworms (Eisenia fetida)', Environmental Science: Nano, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 549-562. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5en00603a

Reilly, K & Lynch, I 2026, 'Daphnia Detectives: the case of the pillowcase, pegs and pink particles', Research for All, vol. 10, no. 1, 7. https://doi.org/10.14324/RFA.10.1.7

Davies, G, Kernchen, S, Löder, MGJ, Brenninkmeijer, L, Laforsch, C, Krause, S & Lynch, I 2026, 'Determining the impact of common microplastic extraction methods from soil matrices on the biodegradable polymers polylactic acid and polyhydroxybutyrate', Microplastics and Nanoplastics, vol. 6, no. 1, 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43591-025-00167-0

Han, R, Wang, X, Ning, P & Lynch, I 2026, 'Dual impetus of Cu and N vacancy for acceleration of reaction kinetics in nZVI/peroxymonosulfate system over a wide pH range', Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 530, 173594. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2026.173594

Chen, H, Kang, M, Xie, C, Song, Z, Zhang, J, Wu, X, Song, Y, Zhao, J, Zhang, P, Xia, P, Zhang, Z, Lynch, I & Guo, Z 2026, 'Electrostatic Adsorption-Driven Reorganization of Phycosphere Eco-Corona as a Toxicity Mechanism of Cationic Nanoplastics', Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 60, no. 23, pp. 16472-16485. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6c00547

Zhang, J, Jiang, X, Yang, Z, Cheng, S, Guo, Z, Nolasco, MA, Etchepare, RG, Bian, B, Qian, J, Li, Z, Graham, NJD & Lynch, I 2026, 'Enhanced removal of pharmaceuticals in a 3D electrochemical reactor with scalable-produced tri-functional cyanobacterial-bloom-waste-derived single-Fe-atom particle electrodes', Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 543, 178471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2026.178471

Ellis (Bradford), L-JA, Chetwynd, AJ, Hadfield-Hill, S, Menzel, A, Till, R, Lynch, I & Kraftl, P 2026, 'Everyday exposures: feasibility of community-based trace metal monitoring using non-invasive bio-sampling in children’s environments, a pilot study', Environmental Research: Health, vol. 4, no. 1, 015005. https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/ae4260

Chakraborty, S, Mikulska, I, Boseley, R, Pham, S, Bhadane, P, Dhumal, P, Majumder, S, Mandal, J, Geraki, T, Misra, SK, Pfrang, C & Lynch, I 2026, 'Hierarchical Environmental Exposure Transforms Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 and Increases Toxicity in Daphnia magna', ACS Nano. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.6c01107

Henrion, M, Martin-Closas, L, Lynch, I & Pelacho, AM 2026, 'Incubation Time and Size Effects of Biodegradable Mulch Microplastics on Lettuce Plantlets In Vitro', Plants, vol. 15, no. 5, 849. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15050849

Wang, X, Su, W, Ning, P & Lynch, I 2026, 'In-situ green steam-assisted synthesis of Fe0/SCOF-PAN and acidic microenvironment fabrication for anti-passivation and efficient Cr(VI) reduction', Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 395, no. Part 3, 137843. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2026.137843

Sun, K, White, JC, Lynch, I, Zhang, P, He, E, Peijnenburg, WJGM & Qiu, H 2026, 'Irreversible Immune Dysfunction in Earthworms from MoS2 Nanosheet Exposure: Implications for Nanoenabled Agricultural Sustainability', Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 60, no. 4, pp. 3093-3106. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c14710

Comment/debate

Dhumal, P, Chakraborty, S & Lynch, I 2026, 'Biomolecular coronas govern the environmental fate of metal–organic frameworks', Nature Reviews Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-025-00789-1

Review article

Papathanasiou, M, Tzoupis, H, Papavasileiou, KD, Dondero, F, Greco, D, Lynch, I, Afantitis, A & Melagraki, G 2026, 'A scoping literature review of toxicological studies on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)', Environmental Science: Advances, vol. 5, no. 6, pp. 1527-1555. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5va00328h

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

Nanomaterials in the environment (as well as food, cosmetics, consumer products, nanomedicines, nanopesticides etc.); nanomaterials transformations; nanomaterials fate and behaviour; nanomaterials eco/toxicology; Nanosafety assessment; nanoregulation; nanogovernance; Microplastics; nanoplastics; Open data