The Geochemistry and Pollution group studies natural organic matter and contaminants as a source of knowledge of the evolution of ecosystems, including climate change and transport processes, distribution, transformation and effects of organic pollution in organisms, including humans. These approaches also include the study of molecules of viral activity, and, in the present times, contributing to understanding the environmental occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
The overall goal includes the development of analytical methods to study the concentrations of deleterious molecules, their transfer flows between environmental compartments and their incorporation into organisms. It also covers the investigation of how organic compounds can provide geochemical information on past and present ecosystems and molecules that are useful to describe the health status of organisms.
• Analysis of trace organic compounds in environmental samples
• Pollutants in the atmosphere
• Pollution processes in terrestrial and coastal ecosystems
• Paleoclimatology
• Pollutants and human health
Permanent Researchers
Abad Holgado, Esteban
934006185 - int: 437872
Fernández Ramón, Pilar
437791
Grimalt Obrador, Joan
934006118 - int: 437789
López Fernández, Jordi
437802
Martrat, Belen
437794
van Drooge, Barend L.
437794
Postdoc Researchers
Bravo Villarraso, Natalia
437800
Cortina Guerra, Aleix
437778
Herrera Hernández, Eva María
437869
Martínez Prats, Raimon
437793
PhD Students
Aretaki, Μarianda
437801
Díez Palet, Isabel
437793
Jaén Fló, Clara
437793
Nogués Freixas, Martí
437800
Technical
Ábalos Navarro, Manuela
437868
Adrados León, Miguel Ángel
437873
Bartolomé Rodríguez, Arancha
437869
Casado Núñez, Marta
437792
González Quinteiro, Yolanda
437792
Paraian, Alexandra
437869
Parera Costa, Jordi
437877
Planas Pastor, Carles
437870
Administration
Communication and Outreach
Projects and Fundraising
CIRCULATE
Ciència ciutadana per conèixer l’exposició humana a additius del cautxú dels pneumàtics
CIRCULATE aims to monitor the environmental fate of tire wear particles in an urban environment and elucidate the routes of exposure in humans, while creating a research community with the public that will co-design and implement the study in the city of Barcelona. The project will elaborate a first participative and structured diagnosis of the presence of these chemical compounds in Barcelona using citizens science and social innovation with a planetary health approach that aims to raise community awareness of an environmental pollution problem not associated with the use of fossil fuels.
Funding: Ajuntament de Barcelona – Fundació “la Caixa”: Convocatòries per a l’atorgament de subvencions de recerca, creació artística i transferència de coneixement en el camp de la ciencia 2023
Reference: 23S06161-001
Start Date: 10/11/2023 – End Date: 10/05/2025
Project Leader: Mercè Garí de Barbarà , Nicola Montemurro
Support: Francesca De Angelis
Funding: Regional Project
TRANSIT
Tire Rubber Additives on the environment and wildlife and implications for the human health
TRANSIT is aimed to perform a broad environmental and human exposure assessment to Tire Wear Particles (TWPs) and related chemical compounds by the collection and analysis of air, water, biota and human samples from the Llobregat River Delta and surroundings. This is a unique area comprising the second biggest Spanish airport surrounded by urban, agricultural, industrial and natural protected spaces to study the fate of TWPs in the environment and their impact on the human health.
Funding: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
Reference: PID2022-138623OA-100
Partners: Agència Catalana de l’Aigua (ACA); Consorci del Delta del Llobregat; Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona (ASPB); Generalitat de Catalunya.
Start Date: 01/09/2023 – End Date: 31/08/2026
Project Leader: Mercè Garí de Barbarà , Nicola Montemurro
Researchers: Carolina Muñoz Bustamante , Diana Manjarrés López
Support: Natalia Bravo Villarraso , Xavier Borrell Díaz , Francesca De Angelis
Funding: National Project
DINAMIQS
Development of Integrated New Approach Methodologies in Air Quality Studies: deciphering the implications on lung and brain toxicity
DINAMIQS project aims to shed light on the relationship between the chemical composition of air pollution and its effects on human lung and brain health. This is carried out by using an integrated strategy that combines advanced analytical chemistry methods, new approach methodologies and chemometrics. The particulate matter samples for this project are collected in contrasting outdoor ambient air, from urban traffic to rural background sites.
Funding: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
Reference: PID2022-140392OB-I00
Partners: Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona (ASPB); Generalitat de Catalunya, Dr. Ana Sevilla (University of Barcelona)
Start Date: 01/09/2023 – End Date: 31/08/2026
Project Leader: Barend L. van Drooge , Carmen Bedia Girbés
Support: Inmaculada Fernández Escobar , Maryam Pyambri Pramani
Funding: National Project
An Integrated and Comparative Health Risk Assessment of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals across European Populations
The project aims to enhance the quality, scope and efficiency of the assessment of human health risks posed by the use and presence of endocrine disrupting chemicals in the environment. For that purpose, the project will design and employ an innovative analytical methodology, based on a new generation of instruments (HRMS), compare the exposure levels across different population groups from Eastern, Central and Southern Europe, and assess the health risks related to these toxic compounds. This proposal is therefore in line with the EU strategy for Human Biomonitoring in Europe.
Funding: AGAUR. Beatriu de Pinós Programme. 2021_BP_00152
Start Date: 01/04/2023 – End Date: 31/03/2026
Project Leader: Mercè Garí de Barbarà
Funding: Regional Project
InChildHealth
Identifying determinants for indoor air quality and their health impact in environments for children: Measures to improve indoor air quality and reduce disease burdens.
3. InChildHealth will integrate health, environmental, technical and social sciences research to identify determinants for Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and evaluate their impact in environments occupied by school children. We will focus on chemicals, particle concentrations, microorganisms and physical parameters in schools, homes, sports halls and transport. The IAQ of these environments determines the dose received by the children and may directly influence their health and well-being. An environmental epidemiological study and controlled interventions conducted in schools in three European cities will assess the health effects of multipollutant airborne exposures on respiratory infections, allergies, and neurological and cognitional symptoms. In addition, dose-response Will be evaluated with a novel cytotoxicity testing pipeline using in-vitro approaches. The InChildHealth consortium will cover an impressive variety of geographical and cultural diversity, with targeted exposure measurement campaigns and citizen involvement in seven European countries from Northern, Central and Southern Europe and interventions in Australia.
Horizon Europe, ref.: HORIZON-HLTH-2021-ENVHLTH-02-02
Start Date: 01/06/2022 – End Date: 31/05/2026
Researchers: Mar Viana Rodríguez , Ethel Eljarrat Esebag , Barend L. van Drooge , Lara Cioni
Support: Judith Desmet , Maria Antonia Aretaki (Μarianda)
Funding: European Project
PARC
Partnership for the Assessment of Risk from Chemicals
The European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (#EU_PARC) aims to advance research, share knowledge, and improve skills in chemical risk assessment. By doing so, it will help support the European Union's Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, paving the way for the "zero pollution" ambition announced in the European Green Deal.
Main objectives:
- Develop the scientific skills needed to address current and future challenges in chemical safety
- Provide new data, methods, and innovative tools to those responsible for assessing and managing the risks of chemical exposure
- Strengthen the networks which bring together actors specialised in the different scientific fields contributing to risk assessment
PARC represents a campaign of unprecedented scale, since it brings together 200 partners from 28 countries, as well as three EU agencies (the European Environment Agency – EEA, the European Chemicals Agency – ECHA, and the European Food Safety Authority – EFSA). The partnership encompasses all aspects of chemical risk assessment, aiming in particular to: better anticipate emerging risks, better account for combined risks, and underpin the concrete implementation of new orientations in European public policies to safeguard the health and the environment in response to important issues for health, the ecology and citizens' expectations.
The Spanish coordination was assigned to the IDAEA's Geochemistry and Pollution group (Joan Grimalt) and the Instituto Carlos III.
HORIZON-HLTH-2021-ENVHLTH-03: 101057014
Start Date: 01/05/2022 – End Date: 30/04/2029
Project Leader: Joan Grimalt Obrador
Researchers: Sandra Pérez Solsona , Marinella Farré Urgell , Marta Llorca Casamayor , Nicola Montemurro , Mercè Garí de Barbarà
Support: Arianna Bautista Gea (Ari) , Julen Segura Abarrategui
Funding: European Project
https://www.eu-parc.eu/
LIFE RESQUE ALPYR
Restoration of aquatic ecosystems of protected areas from the Alps and Pyrenees
LIFE RESQUE ALPYR aims at recovering mountain aquatic habitats improving conservation of several target habitats/species in four Nature 2000 sites from the alpine biogeographical regions of the Pyrenees (NE Spain) and the Alps (NW Italy).
In the Alps and the Pyrenees, specific aquatic and water-related species and habitats (lakes, bogs, mires and meadows) of mountain areas have an ‘unfavourable/inadequate’ conservation status or a decreasing status trend. This is because they have been subjected to long-standing and significant anthropogenic alterations, such as the proliferation of invasive fish species, overgrazing and trampling by livestock. More recently, mires afforestation and land abandonment have emerged as additional conservation issues in mountain areas.
LIFE programme (LIFE20 NAT/ES/000369)
Coordinator: Ventura Oller, Marc (CEAB-CSIC)
Start Date: 01/01/2022 – End Date: 31/12/2026
Researchers: Joan Grimalt Obrador , Raimon Martínez Prats , Pilar Fernández Ramón , Barend L. van Drooge
Funding: European Project
FIRE-RES
Innovative technologies and socio-ecological-economic solutions for fire resilient territories in Europe
Extreme wildfire events (EWE) are becoming a major environmental, economic and social threat in Southern Europe and increasingly gaining importance elsewhere in Europe. As the limits of fire suppression-centered strategies become evident, practitioners, researchers and policymakers increasingly recognise the need to develop novel approaches that shift emphasis to the root causes and impacts of EWE, moving towards preventive landscape and community management for greater resilience. FIRE-RES integrates existing research, technology, civil protection, policy and governance spheres related to wildfires to innovate processes, methods and tools to effectively promote the implementation of a more holistic fire management approach and support the transition towards more resilient landscapes and communities to EWE.
Grant agreement ID: 101037419
Funding: EU H2020
Start Date: 01/12/2021 – End Date: 30/11/2025
Researchers: Mar Viana Rodríguez , Barend L. van Drooge , Stefan Platikanov , Aurelio Tobías Garces , Andrés Alastuey Urós , Jordina Gili Ciurana
Support: Aina Maín Nadal
Funding: European Project
https://fire-res.eu/
RI-URBANS
Research Infrastructures Services Reinforcing Air Quality Monitoring Capacities in European Urban & Industrial AreaS
The project aims to demonstrate how service tools from atmospheric research infrastructures can be adapted and enhanced to better address the challenges and societal needs concerning air quality in European cities and industrial hotspots. RI-URBANS responds to urgent needs to substantially reduce air pollution across the European Union by providing enhanced air quality observations in support of advanced air quality policy assessment.
We develop and enhance synergies between Air Quality Monitoring Networks (AQMNs) and research infrastructures in the atmospheric domain and combine advanced scientific knowledge and innovative technologies to develop pilot service tools. These will enhance the AQMNs capacity to evaluate, predict and support policies for abating urban air pollution. RI-URBANS deploys tools and information systems in the hands of citizens and communities to support decision-making by AQ managers and regulators. The focus is on ambient nanoparticles and atmospheric particulate matter, their sizes, constituents, source contributions, and gaseous precursors. RI-URBANS will evaluate novel air quality parameters, source contributions, and their associated health effects to demonstrate the European added value of implementing such service tools.
Funded by the European Commission’s call “European Research Infrastructures capacities and services to address European Green Deal challenges (LC-GD-9-1-2020)”
Start Date: 01/10/2021 – End Date: 30/09/2025
Project Leader: Xavier Querol Carceller
Researchers: Teresa Moreno Pérez , Fulvio Amato , Andrés Alastuey Urós , Angeliki Karanasiou , María Cruz Minguillón , Mar Viana Rodríguez , Marco Pandolfi , Joan Grimalt Obrador , Barend L. van Drooge , Meritxell Garcia i Marlès , Marjan Savadkoohi , Xiansheng Liu
Support: Alicia Arroyo , Ana Sotres Fernández , Alejandro Rodríguez Bermejo , Mercè Ratera Bastardas , Sergio de Campos Paus
Funding: European Project
https://riurbans.eu/
FOREWARN
Development a smart forewarning system to assess the occurrence, fate and behaviour of contaminants of emerging concern and pathogens, in waters
FOREWARN will assess the occurrence, fate and behaviour of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and pathogens, and develop machine-learning methods to model their transfer and behaviour and build a decision support system (DSS) for predicting risks and propose mitigation strategies. FOREWARN will be focussed on CECs such as antibiotics and pathogens such as antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) and emerging viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2. The project will consider 2 types of case studies: 1) In-silico case studies will be selected from previous results, and dataset obtained in past or ongoing EU projects. Data will be used to develop the models and algorithms to feed and develop the DSS system to better understanding the sources, transport, degradation of CECs and pathogens and modelling their behaviour. 2) The adaptive DSS system will be refined and tested under real environmental conditions (6 months) to achieve TRL5 in real environment case studies.
Reference: ID400 (Aquatic Pollutants)