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Research

My work connects environmental questions with reliable measurement, quantitative analysis, and practical interpretation — developing analytical and computational approaches that make environmental evidence more reliable, transparent, and useful.

Profile

With a background in environmental chemistry, ecotoxicology, and soil science, I study pollutants from source to sink: how they enter agricultural systems, how they move and transform between land and water, and how this affects ecosystem functions. Answering these questions requires trustworthy evidence. I therefore integrate method development, validation, quality assurance, and reproducible data workflows throughout the research process.

Research themes

Anthropogenic pollutants in soils and agroecosystems

Sources, pathways, transformation, and fate of pollutants in agricultural soils and related environmental systems.

Plastic pollution and polymer characterization

Methods to identify and quantify synthetic polymers in heterogeneous environmental matrices, with a focus on plastic residues in soils.

Environmental analysis

Instrumental analysis, method development, validation, quality assurance, and interpretation of complex environmental samples.

Data-driven environmental science

Statistical analysis, automation, and reproducible computational workflows for processing and communicating environmental data.

Ecotoxicological and ecosystem perspectives

Linking chemical measurements with exposure, transformation, ecological effects, and ecosystem functions.

Projects

My research addresses anthropogenic pollutants in soils and agroecosystems — from plastics and other synthetic polymers to agricultural inputs. I combine environmental analytical chemistry with soil science and ecotoxicology to understand how these pollutants enter, move through, and transform in terrestrial environments, and what that means for ecosystem functions. The projects below span this range: method development and quality assurance for measuring synthetic polymers in soil, monitoring of background levels in agricultural systems, practice-oriented research on the use, reuse, and recycling of plastics in agriculture, and open-source tools for spectral classification and reproducible data analysis.

AgriRePlas — Reducing the Plastic Footprint in Agriculture

Featured2025 – 2029
Research question

How is plastic used, reused, and recycled in agriculture in the Upper Rhine region — and how can its plastic footprint be reduced without compromising productivity?

Role: Work-package lead, RPTU.

Outcomes and impact

Designed to inform the development of reusable systems, improved recycling strategies, and safe biodegradable alternatives in the Upper Rhine region — a model for reducing the plastic footprint of agriculture beyond the region.

Pyrolysis-GC/MSFTIR-ATRQuality assuranceSurvey researchAI-assisted classificationR

MIBAS — Microplastic Background Levels in German Soils

Featured2024 – 2027
Research question

What are representative background levels of microplastics in German arable and grassland soils — and which site characteristics and land uses drive their spatial distribution?

Role: Principal investigator.

Outcomes and impact

The results provide the empirical basis for assessing and managing microplastic pollution in agricultural soils in Germany.

Pyrolysis-GC/MSQuality assuranceGeostatisticsReporting for authorities

Synthetic Hydrophilic Polymers in the Environment

2022 – present
Research question

Beyond particulate plastics: what is the fate and effect of water-soluble synthetic polymers such as polyacrylates and polyethylene glycols?

Role: Scientific advisor and doctoral co-supervisor.

Outcomes and impact

This work develops the analytical basis for studying hydrophilic synthetic polymers and evaluating their environmental relevance.

Pyrolysis-GC/MSSize-exclusion chromatographySoil incubationEcotoxicological endpoints

envalysis — R Package for Environmental Data Analysis

2018 – present
Research question

How can recurring steps of environmental data analysis become transparent and reproducible?

Role: Lead developer and maintainer.

Outcomes and impact

An open-source toolbox that facilitates environmental data analyses and chemometrics in R.

RStatisticsChemometricsOpen source

Open Specy — Open-Source Spectral Analysis

2020 – present
Research question

How can the identification of microplastics by infrared and Raman spectroscopy become open, reproducible, and community-driven?

Role: Co-developer.

Outcomes and impact

Open Specy is an open-source platform for processing, identifying, and sharing infrared and Raman spectra, supported by a community reference library of more than 40,000 spectra.

RShinyFTIRRamanMachine learningOpen science

Publications

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3903 Citationsh-index 23Data from OpenAlexUpdated November 9, 2026

Selected publications illustrating my contributions to environmental polymer research, analytical method development, and open-source data tools. Browse the complete, searchable publication record.

Featured publications

  1. [1]Zacharias Steinmetz*, Christian Plicht, Christian Buchmann, Mathilde Knott, Maximilian Meyer, Stefanie Müller-Schüssele, Dorina Strieth, Marc H. Prosenc, Heidrun Steinmetz, Hermann F. Jungkunst, Werner R. Thiel, Mirco Bundschuh · 2024. Plastic Problem Solved? Environmental Implications of Synthetic Hydrophilic Polymers across Ecosystem Boundaries. TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry., 181, 118000

    doi:10.1016/j.trac.2024.118000 (opens in new tab)Cited by 14

  2. [2]Zacharias Steinmetz, Paul Löffler, Silvia Eichhöfer, Jan David, Katherine Muñoz, Gabriele E. Schaumann* · 2022. Are agricultural plastic covers a source of plastic debris in soil? A first screening study. SOIL., 8(1), 31–47

    doi:10.5194/soil-8-31-2022 (opens in new tab)Cited by 56

  3. [3]Win Cowger*, Zacharias Steinmetz, Andrew Gray, Keenan Munno, Jennifer Lynch, Hannah Hapich, Sebastian Primpke, Hannah De Frond, Chelsea Rochman, Orestis Herodotou · 2021. Microplastic Spectral Classification Needs an Open Source Community: Open Specy to the Rescue!. Analytical Chemistry., 93(21), 7543–7548

    doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.1c00123 (opens in new tab)Cited by 609

  4. [4]Zacharias Steinmetz, Aaron Kintzi, Katherine Muñoz, Gabriele E. Schaumann* · 2020. A simple method for the selective quantification of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene plastic debris in soil by pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis., 147, 104803

    doi:10.1016/j.jaap.2020.104803 (opens in new tab)Cited by 188

  5. [5]Zacharias Steinmetz, Claudia Wollmann, Miriam Schaefer, Christian Buchmann, Jan David, Josephine Tröger, Katherine Muñoz, Oliver Frör, Gabriele E. Schaumann* · 2016. Plastic mulching in agriculture. Trading short-term agronomic benefits for long-term soil degradation?. Science of The Total Environment., 550, 690–705

    doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.153 (opens in new tab)Cited by 1646