IDAEA is a multidisciplinary research institute focused on the concept of One Health, where the health of humans, animals, plants, and the environment as a whole -including ecosystems- are closely interconnected and interdependent. We have the capacity and expertise to address interdisciplinary research challenges at both local and global scales.
IDAEA is distinguished by its cross-cutting approach, with research areas that include chemistry, biology, toxicology, hydrology, and geology.
Since its foundation a decade ago, IDAEA has worked consistently to deliver excellent environmental research, guided by the principle that our scientific understanding of current threats to global ecosystems is best addressed through a holistic, systems-based perspective.
We are also actively involved in providing expert advice in emergency situations, such as the pellet spill on the Galician coast or the flash flooding caused by the DANA in Valencia.
IDAEA is part of ACTRIS, a scientific platform for atmospheric research. The European Commission officially designated ACTRIS as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), strengthening its role in the study of aerosols, clouds, and trace gases.
With ACTRIS, scientists can better analyse the atmosphere, improving weather forecasts, health alerts, and climate change assessments.
A study by Julio Fernández Arribas, Teresa Moreno, and Ethel Eljarrat analysed the presence of organophosphate plasticisers in 75 samples of different beverages, including water, cola-type soft drinks, juices, wine, and hot drinks.
The results show that, on average, sugary beverages contain 100 times more of these plasticisers than water, which has the lowest levels. The study, published in Environment International, identified that plasticisers originate from both the packaging and the added sugar in the drinks.
After the Social Summit on Drought, in which IDAEA researchers Enric Vázquez-Suñé and Marc Teixidó participated, the organisations Aigua és Vida, Plataforma en Defensa de l’Ebre, Ecologistes en Acció, Ecologistes de Catalunya, and Grup de Defensa del Ter met with the President of the Generalitat at a National Water Board meeting to present their proposals to address drought and water scarcity in Catalonia.
Climate change projections indicate a reduction in water availability. According to these organisations, a new water management model is needed to change consumption patterns.
After five years as Director of the IDAEA, researcher Teresa Moreno stepped down and passed the role to Ethel Eljarrat. Under Moreno’s leadership, the centre achieved the Severo Ochoa Accreditation of Excellence, establishing it as one of the leading environmental research institutes, both nationally and internationally.
Ethel Eljarrat took the lead of IDAEA for the next four years, addressing two main goals: Scientific Excellence and Knowledge Transfer.
The IDAEA projects Ceramic Passive Samplers, developed by Sílvia Lacorte, and Recopps, led by Patricia Córdoba, have won the Pitch Competition session of the EBTon programme, a CSIC initiative aimed at fostering the creation of new spin-offs based on CSIC technologies. The award came with €20,000 in funding.
The Ceramic Passive Samplers, developed by IDAEA researcher Sílvia Lacorte, detects organic contaminants in water over time, allowing a comprehensive assessment and versatile in its application. The Recopps, led by the IDAEA researcher Patricia Córdoba, consists of a recovery process of critical raw material from the copper industry.
The MACE web application calculates mortality associated with moderate, extreme, and excessive heat in Spain between June and August, using official data from the Daily Mortality Monitoring System (MOMO) and temperature records from the Spanish State Meteorological Agency.
Developed by Aurelio Tobías (IDAEA-CSIC), alongside researchers from the University of Valencia, and the Foundation for Climate Research, MACE is accessible online via the browser of any computer or electronic device.
IDAEA organised an engaging Open Day as part of Science Week, featuring workshops led by researchers Juliette Bedrossiantz, Mercè Garí, Marta Via, Carmen Bedia, along with communication officers Ana Sotres and Alicia Arroyo.
Visitors explored various scientific topics, such as air pollution, human exposure to mercury, the use of model organisms for ecotoxicology, and green solutions for groundwater pollution. The event aimed to bring science closer to the public through hands-on activities and discussions, showcasing IDAEA’s research on environmental assessment and water quality.
There is a growing concern about the impact of micro- and nanoplastics on human health. The complexity of the materials, their small size, and limitations in methodology restrict their analysis and, consequently, regulation. A study led by Albert Vega-Herrera, Marta Llorca and Marinella Farré (IDAEA-CSIC), in collaboration with ISGlobal, developed a high-resolution methodology that allows the quantification of micro- and nanoplastics in plastic-bottled water.
Extremely small plastic particles, ranging from 0.7 to 20 micrometres (µm), as well as the chemical additives released into the water, were quantified. The results showed an average concentration of 359 nanograms of micro- and nanoplastics per litre of water, a quantity comparable to that found in tap water in a previous study conducted by the same group.
IDAEA researcher Tomás Aquino was awarded a prestigious ERC Starting Grant to understand the transport of water, pollutants, and nutrients through the most superficial layer of the subsoil: the unsaturated zone.
His project, Uplift, awarded €1.5 million over five years, aims to develop models that allow for very accurate prediction of the flow of water, pollutants and nutrients through the unsaturated zone. By combining laboratory experiments, fieldwork, and mathematical modelling, the research will help predict the spread of contaminants and develop better environmental management strategies.
The Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA) and the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA), both belonging to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), organised a new “Cicerón” event in Barcelona. The research centres presented some of their most relevant scientific research on environmental pollution and the effects of plastics on human health.
The “Cicerón” program, which aims to connect science with society to create synergies to address common challenges, opened the doors of the IDAEA labs to companies, journalists and public administrations. The event was also attended by Ethel Eljarrat, Director of IDAEA; José María Lagarrón, IATA researcher; Ana Castro, Vice President of Innovation and Transfer of CSIC; Luis Calvo, CSIC delegate in Catalonia; and renowned CSIC researchers.
Antibiotic pollution in urban and industrial wastewater is a growing problem, especially in southern Europe, where the high consumption of these drugs and water scarcity exacerbate the situation. In this context, a study by IDAEA revealed that nature-based solutions (NBS), such as constructed wetlands, are emerging as effective technologies for improving water quality and reducing emerging contaminants.
The study showed that surface-flow constructed wetlands removed an average of 88% of the antibiotics present, while horizontal subsurface-flow wetlands removed 69%, significantly outperforming conventional technologies that combine sand filtration, ultraviolet light disinfection, and chlorination.
Our consumption is toxic. With this strong statement, representatives of over 100 scientists and health professionals presented themselves this morning at the Spanish Congress and later at the Ministry of Health.
They are the signatories of the Future Without Toxics Declaration, an initiative led by the Rezero Foundation that calls for urgent measures to address the alarming exposure to toxic substances from plastics and other everyday products. Among them is Ethel Eljarrat, Director of IDAEA-CSIC, who supports stricter policies to protect public health and the environment.
Turning scientific evidence into actionable policies is central to IDAEA’s mission. Through active engagement with policymakers and public institutions, our researchers have contributed to reports, advisory documents and legislative processes at regional, national, and European level.
A selection of policy-related outputs:
Our scientific expertise has supported institutions such as the European Commission, the Spanish Ministry of Health, the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, the World Health Organization, among others.
Environmental emergencies demand rapid and informed responses. IDAEA has supported crisis management by providing expert analysis and data, drawing on our long-standing experience in incidents such as chemical spills, floods, and pollution disasters.
Photo by Sören Funk on Unsplash
Photo by IDAEA-CSIC
December 2023
IDAEA contributed to:
Photos by Alejandro Muñoz – IDAEA-CSIC | CSIC-FBBVA Scientific Communication Grant 2023
October 2024
Following the floods caused by the DANA (Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos) in Aragón, Castilla-La Mancha, Andalusia, Catalonia, and especially Valencia, IDAEA has contributed to:
IDAEA contributes to the CSIC’s Interdisciplinary Thematic Platforms (PTIs), collaborative initiatives designed to address complex societal challenges. These platforms connect research groups across disciplines and institutions, and promote innovation through partnerships with industry, administration and civil society.
IDAEA's global sampling record spans all continents and environmental media, including air, water, soil, biota, and human samples. Explore the map to discover where our research teams have collected data to understand and address environmental challenges worldwide.
Here are the 12 most impactful scientific papers published by IDAEA researchers during 2023 and 2024. Selected based on journal impact factor and citation count, these highlights reflect the diverse expertise and cutting-edge research of our teams across multiple environmental disciplines.
A large international study showed that both extreme heat and cold significantly raise the risk of dying from cardiovascular conditions like heart attacks, strokes and heart failure. Analysing data from 567 cities in 27 countries, researchers found that cold days had the biggest impact, especially for heart failure.
Researcher Aurelio Tobías from IDAEA-CSIC was one of the authors of this study, which highlighted the growing health risks of temperature extremes in a changing climate.
The oldest human remains in Europe, found in the Iberian Peninsula, suggest that the first hominins arrived from southwest Asia 1.4 million years ago. The climate during this period was warm and humid, and it has been assumed that they survived in southern Europe by adapting to multiple climatic cycles, including the cold periods of the last 900,000 years.
However, a study conducted by an international team, including Joan Grimalt from IDAEA-CSIC, and published in Science, discovered the occurrence of previously unknown extreme glacial conditions around 1.12 million years ago. This challenges the idea of an early and permanent human occupation of Europe.
This review suggested that current climate models may underestimate natural temperature variability at regional scales over multidecadal to centennial timescales. While models and proxy data align globally, the study highlighted consistent mismatches at regional levels, where models showed less variability than historical reconstructions suggest.
The paper, which included contributions from IDAEA researcher Belén Martrat, underscored the need to enhance the simulation of long-term regional climate patterns and to refine how past temperature variations are reconstructed from natural archives.
Microplastics are in all environmental compartments, including atmosphere, terrestrial, and aquatic environments as well as in marine organisms, foods, drinking water, and indoor and outdoor environments. They can enter the human body through the food chain and contaminated environment. Ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact are the routes of their entry into the human body.
In this review article, which includes the contribution of IDAEA researcher Damià Barceló, the authors briefly summarised reports documenting the detection of microplastic in the human body, such as in stool, placenta, lungs, liver, sputum, breast milk, and blood. A concise overview of sample preparation and analysis methods for these human matrices was also provided. Finally, the article presented a summary of the effect of microplastics on human cell lines and health.
A study published in Nature revealed that some lakes and reservoirs around the world contain higher concentrations of plastic pollution than the so-called garbage patches in the oceans. These findings challenge the assumption that freshwater environments are less affected by plastic waste and highlight lakes as critical zones for monitoring global pollution.
The research was led by the University of Milano-Bicocca and involved nearly 80 scientists from across six continents. Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles, researcher at IDAEA, was one of the co-authors of the study, which included the Sau Reservoir in Catalonia among the sites with the highest levels of microplastics. The study underscored the urgent need to rethink pollution control strategies and protect freshwater ecosystems.
A study led by IDAEA and the IATA analysed the toxicity of compostable plastic bags, conventional plastic bags, and other recycled plastic bags in zebrafish cells.
Published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, the results showed a high level of toxicity in compostable plastic bags, which increased with photodegradation: the alteration of plastic material by ultraviolet light. Although this was a preliminary study involving a small number of bags, the results were representative of degradation processes.
This study highlighted how outdoor surfaces made from recycled rubber—commonly used in playgrounds and sports fields—can release micro- and nanoplastics and a wide array of plastic additives into the air and water after weathering and runoff events. Over two months, researchers monitored the materials under summer conditions, detecting airborne particles containing various plastic polymers and more than 50 additives, including flame retardants and UV filters.
Led by IDAEA researchers Katerina Savva and Teresa Moreno, and carried out entirely by IDAEA scientists, the study also found that leachates from these materials can have toxic effects on freshwater organisms like Daphnia magna and Chlorella vulgaris. While concentrations causing harm in the lab were higher than expected in real environments, the findings raise important concerns about human and ecological exposure to plastic-related pollutants from these common urban surfaces.
This study explored how hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), a highly toxic pollutant, is released and moves through soil contaminated by industrial waste. Through lab experiments, isotope analysis, and reactive transport modelling, the researchers identified the chemical forms of Cr(VI) in the soil and showed how it leaches into groundwater from specific industrial residues.
With contributions from Jordi Cama and Josep M. Soler, the work provided a detailed understanding of the geochemical processes driving Cr(VI) contamination.
A total of 59 micropollutants were detected in 140 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) across Spain. These sites, identified by BirdLife International as having special protection status, were found to contain pharmaceuticals, pesticides, perfluorinated compounds, nicotine, and caffeine, among other chemicals, in the water samples analysed. The results indicate that agricultural activity and densely populated urban areas are the primary sources of pollution. The areas most significantly affected include La Campiña de Carmona (Seville), Los Saladares del Guadalentín (Murcia), and Las Hoces del Turia y Los Serranos (Valencia).
The research was carried out by Marta Dulsat-Masvidal and Sílvia Lacorte, from IDAEA-CSIC, in collaboration with IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, and the Spanish Ornithological Society (SEO/BirdLife). The study shed light on the environmental risks posed by chemical pollution in ecologically valuable wetlands.
This study showed that enhanced Soil Aquifer Treatment (SAT) systems can significawntly reduce the toxic effects of contaminants found in wastewater treatment plant effluents. By using bioassays with zebrafish embryos and human liver cells, researchers found that SAT systems—with or without reactive barriers—lowered biological toxicity by over 70%, alongside reducing emerging contaminants.
The paper was led by Claudia Sanz and Laia Navarro-Martín and involved numerous researchers from different IDAEA groups. Their findings support the potential of SAT as a sustainable method to improve water quality and protect both ecosystems and human health in water reuse scenarios.
This international study led by IDAEA researchers Olga Gómez-Navarro and Sandra Pérez explored how wastewater effluents affect the health of intermittent rivers in the Mediterranean—watercourses that don’t flow year-round. By analysing twenty rivers across Spain, France, Italy, Algeria and Tunisia, the research team used a combination of chemical, ecological and hydrological indicators to evaluate anthropogenic stress.
Pharmaceuticals served as key markers of pollution, and the results revealed a consistent degradation of river health downstream. Particularly concerning were findings from Tunisia and Algeria, where water quality indicators showed the most compromised conditions, including exceedances of safety thresholds for several compounds.
Awareness of air pollution is growing, and in recent years, policy reports have been published to recommend best practices, methods, data, and scientifically validated models. However, despite decades of research and advocacy, most countries still lack legally binding indoor air quality standards. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the crucial role of indoor air quality in human health.
In an article published in Science, in which IDAEA researcher Xavier Querol participated, scientists proposed that indoor air quality standards should be mandatory for public spaces, and homes should be designed and equipped to comply with these standards.
Here are the key figures illustrating IDAEA's performance in 2024. Explore data on our community, research output, projects, funding,innovation, outreach activities, training, and scientific events.
Women
Men| Total | Women | Men | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Principal Investigators | 13 | 3 | 10 |
| Senior researchers | 44 | 21 | 23 |
| Postdoctoral researchers | 38 | 24 | 14 |
| Predoctoral researchers | 101 | 55 | 46 |
| Technicians | 82 | 50 | 32 |
| Administrative staff | 32 | 22 | 10 |
1
1%
1%
European or
1%
National
Top 10 clients
1
1
1
1
| Activitiy | Total | Attendees |
|---|---|---|
| Conferences | 8 | 301 |
| Exhibitions | 1 | 60 |
| Guided Tours | 4 | 120 |
| Round tables / Debates | 4 | 182 |
| Trainings | 1 | 21 |
| Workshops | 13 | 531 |
| Total | 28 | 1,215 |
Women
Men| Total | Women | Men | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Principal Investigators | 12 | 3 | 9 |
| Senior researchers | 40 | 18 | 22 |
| Postdoctoral researchers | 33 | 17 | 16 |
| Predoctoral researchers | 92 | 50 | 42 |
| Technicians | 59 | 34 | 25 |
| Administrative staff | 27 | 19 | 8 |
1
1%
1%
European or
1%
National
Top 10 clients
1
1
1
| Activitiy | Total | Attendees |
|---|---|---|
| Conferences | 19 | 809 |
| Exhibitions | 1 | 400 |
| Fairs | 1 | 61 |
| Guided Tours | 2 | 73 |
| Open Days | 1 | 33 |
| Round tables / Debates | 6 | 460 |
| Workshops | 14 | 520 |
| Total | 46 | 2,436 |
