Teresa Moreno Pérez
IDAEA Director
934006123 - 437601/437764
teresa.moreno@idaea.csic.es
ORCID:
0000-0003-3235-1027
Research group: Environmental Geochemistry and Atmospheric Research (EGAR)
Service: Atmospheric Monitoring Network
Teresa Moreno trained as a geologist (Universidad Complutense Madrid, 1992), working in the Spanish Geological Survey before completing her doctoral thesis on the geochemistry and micromineralogy of platinum group elements at Cardiff University (UK) in 1999. After a short Fulbright Scholarship in New York she worked in the UK as a postdoc researcher with toxicologists funded by the British Medical Research on the physical and chemical characterization of atmospheric particulate matter and its health effects. She has worked at CSIC research institutes as an atmospheric geoscientist since 2004, firstly as a Ramón y Cajal Researcher (2004-2007), then Tenured Scientist (2007-2010) and Senior Scientist (2010-present). In 2011 she won an award from the Japanese Society for the Advancement of Science to work in Japan. She has published over 130 articles in SCI journals and contributed to more than 30 books (4 as an editor, including the prestigious Geology of Spain (2002), Chile (2007) and Japan (2016) series published by the Geological Society of London). Teresa has participated in more than 50 competitive projects, 11 of them as main researcher at both national (Ministries of Environment, Science and Innovation and Economy and Competitiveness) and international (European Union, Framework Programs and LIFE) levels. In recent years she has co-ordinated and led the European IMPROVE LIFE project (2014-2018), and the nationally funded METRO and BUSAIR projects (2013-2015, 2016-2019) on the improvement of air quality in the rail subway and on public buses. She has been the Director of IDAEA since May 2018.
REPLAY
Rubber recycling and recreational surfaces: the chemistry of vulcanised microplastics used in childrens playgrounds
Despite their intrinsically toxic chemistry, particulate materials created from vulcanised elastomers, notably as crumb rubber from worn tyres, commonly end up in environmentally sensitive areas such as children’s playgrounds and sports venues. Wear and tear of these synthetic materials re-introduced to the built environment then results in a whole new cycle of pollution by a list of organic chemicals and metals that is as long as it is poorly understood.
The main challenge of REPLAY is to devise a new protocol to collect and fully characterise vulcanised rubbers used in playground settings, including their inhalable fraction. We will produce an inventory of chemicals of concern present in these materials, focussing our heavyweight analytical laboratories to analyse for the polymers and their many additives. Our experiments with outdoor exposure conditions will mimic real-world weathering of playground surfaces. Particularly relevant here is the fact that these elastomers may adsorb and release environmental contaminants as they deteriorate with atmospheric exposure, potentially changing their affinities for metals and organics.
Funding: PROYECTOS EUROPA EXCELENCIA 2022, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. EUR2022-134037
Start Date: 01/12/2022 – End Date: 30/11/2024
Project Leader: Teresa Moreno Pérez
Funding: National Project
AeroSolfd
Fast track to cleaner, healthier urban Aerosols by market ready Solutions of retrofit Filtration Devices for tailpipe, brake systems and closed environments
Emissions of the existing gasoline engines and brakes of the commercial vehicle fleets in Europe relate to health problems and death of annually >1,45 Mio. people. For the next decades, these vehicles will continue populating the roads, emitting PM/PN exhaust particles and toxic secondary emissions. For immediate reduction, retrofit solutions for tailpipe and brake emissions must be brought to TRL 8 and introduced to the market by 2025. Timing is crucial: Retrofits are transition technologies until full electrification of Europe’s transport fleet. Even beyond, brake retrofits play an important role in the electrified fleet. Quick wins in the reduction of the overall footprint of the existing fleets can be realised by using our 3 retrofits for tailpipe, brake and closed environments: 95% of PM2.5 and 80% of toxic secondary emissions using an innovative Gasoline Particle Filter, 60% of NOx exhaust emissions replacing the aged TWC by original equipment, 90% of the brake particles of long-lived road transport assets using a passive BDPF, 90% of particles in closed environments (bus stops, tunnels, metro stations) using a special designed and enhanced stationary air purifier.
To create credible key messages for clients, citizens and policy, we perform lighthouse demo activities:
1) tailpipe retrofit: 1.000 vehicles in 2 climate zones (Germany + Israel) for 4 representative engine type families,
2) brake retrofit: Define emission fingerprints for the public transport of the cities of Valladolid, Ancona, Fermo and Sofia and > 35000 km lab testing on dynamometer and > 8000 km real driving,
3) air purifier retrofit for closed environments: 3 underground stations (Sofia, 2x Lisbon) with > 130000 commuters and Valladolid central bus depot with > 150 buses. For market preparation we will reach >4.000 citizens and policy makers from EU KOM level and >8 EU countries. We unite world leading industry, renowned scientific institutes and lighthouse demo sites in 8 European countries
Funding: Horizon Europe, Horizon-CL5-2021-D5-01-15
Start Date: 01/05/2022 – End Date: 30/04/2025
Project Leader: Teresa Moreno Pérez
Researchers: Natalia Moreno Palmerola , Xavier Querol Carceller , Andrés Alastuey Urós
Funding: European Project
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/
Next4Mob
Next Generation Tools for advanced mobility solutions
The main goal of Next4Mob is to build the basis for the next generation of innovative methods and an opensource toolset that advances the state-of-the-art in urban transport modelling and prediction, with a high level of applicability for decision-making in the field of transport and urban planning.
IDAEA will lead differents workplans which main objective is: to collect and analyze mobility, demographics, socio-economics, and land use data; to improve our knowledge of air pollutants in the city, to help predict their likely reductions resulting from the implementation of different scenarios that will be considered in the case studies in Next4Mob (such as low emission zones, LEZ) and to calculate the emissions for the whole city of Valladolid and for the low emission zone (LEZ) for different implementation scenarios, with varying types of restrictions.
Priority Line: Smart urban and metropolitan mobility strategies
Participants: IFISC-CSIX; IDAEA-CSIC; IEGD-CSIC; Transyt – Universidad Politecnica de Madrid UPM; Universidad de Cantabria; Autobuses Urbanos de Valladolid.
Funding: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (reference: PLEC2021-007824)
Start Date: 01/06/2021 – End Date: 31/05/2024
Project Leader: Teresa Moreno Pérez
Researchers: Mar Viana Rodríguez , Andrés Alastuey Urós , Fulvio Amato , Inés González de Castro
Funding: European Project
nPETS
Nanoparticle Emissions from the Transport Sector: Health and Policy Impacts
Air pollution in European cities is still threatening human health, even though EU emission directives have been sharpened over the last 25 years. Adverse health effects of airborne particles are strongly linked to their size. A major fraction of outdoor ultrafine particles is traffic generated from road, rail, air, and sea transportation. The story that nPETS aims to communicate is the life of the sub 100 nm emissions from its creation to its potential path to human beings and animals. The nPETS consortium aims to improve the knowledge of transport generated exhaust and non-exhaust nanoparticle emissions and their impacts on health and new public policies.
It aims to monitor and sample with state-of-the-art particle instruments the sub 100 nm transport generated emissions from shipping, road, rail, and aviation both in field and controlled laboratory environments. Both aged and fresh aerosols will be considered, including primary and secondary volatile and non-volatile particles. Characterising the emissions will be done from shipping, road, rail, and aviation by linking their sizes, chemical compositions, and morphologies to its specific emission sources such as engines, brakes, clutches, and tyres to increase the understanding of the mechanisms behind adverse risks posed by different types and sources of the identified sub 100 nm particles. The effects of nanoparticles from various transport modes and fuels, as well as specific emission sources, will be compared with a focus on markers of relevance for carcinogenesis and inflammation. Living cells will be exposed to collected and real-world primary and aged aerosols as well as primary and aged aerosols generated in the laboratory.
Furthermore, it also aims to evaluate the possible future impact of new policies in this area on public health and linking the impacts with specific emission sources. This should lead to an understanding and quantification of the risks posed by different types and sources.
Start Date: 01/06/2021 – End Date: 31/05/2024
Researchers: Fulvio Amato , Benjamí Piña Capó , José Portugal Minguela , Barend L. van Drooge , Xavier Querol Carceller , Andrés Alastuey Urós , Teresa Moreno Pérez , Sharon Ridolfo
Funding: European Project
https://www.npets-project.eu/
LIFE REMY
Reducing Emission Modelling uncertaintY
REMY project, through a detailed quantitative modelling analysis in three EU critical areas (Po Valley -IT, Catalonia - E, Southern Poland - PL), investigates the impact of uncertainty in pollutants emission and air dispersion models that could negatively affect air quality plan, both on the regional and the local scale, leading to the identification of ineffective emission abatement strategies.
Entidad financiadora: European Commission (LIFE program)
Start Date: 01/05/2021 – End Date: 30/04/2024
Project Leader: Fulvio Amato
Researchers: Federica Ippolito , Teresa Moreno Pérez , Aurelio Tobías Garces , Marco Pandolfi
Funding: European Project
https://liferemy.eu/
EUROqCHARM
Plastic pollution has become a global environmental and societal concern in recent years. To develop long-term solutions to reduce plastic pollution, it is essential to establish harmonised methodologies.
Plastic pollution has become a global environmental and societal concern in recent years. To develop long-term solutions to reduce plastic pollution, it is essential to establish harmonised methodologies. EUROqCHARM recognises that harmonisation for large scale monitoring requires flexibility, comparability and reliability. We will identify Reproducible Analytical Pipelines (RAP), resulting in a catalogue of RAP procedures for nano-, micro- and macro-plastics for the four target matrices. Each RAP will be validated in terms of Technology Readiness Level to decide if further validation is needed (by ILC).
Code: H2020-CLIMATE/0775
Referencia: 101003805
Start Date: 01/11/2020 – End Date: 31/10/2023
Project Leader: Marinella Farré Urgell
Researchers: Teresa Moreno Pérez , Esteban Abad Holgado
Funding: European Project
https://www.euroqcharm.eu/en/
EXPOPLAS
Assessment of human exposure to chemical additives associated with plastics
The general objective of EXPOPLAS is to assess the human exposure to chemical additives associated with plastics and to identify:
i) chemical contaminants to which we are most exposed,
ii) main routes of exposure,
iii) most contaminated food items, the processes and treatments that lead to greater contamination of foodstuff,
iv) main sources of inhalable contaminants in indoor and outdoor environments.
Funding: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (CGL2016-79132-R)
Start Date: 01/06/2020 – End Date: 31/05/2023
Project Leader: Teresa Moreno Pérez , Ethel Eljarrat Esebag
Researchers: Aleix Balasch García , Julio Fernández Arribas
Funding: National Project
Excellence Centre “Severo Ochoa” SEV-2018
The “Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa” Award aims to fund and accredit public research centers and units on any areas that demonstrate scientific leadership and impact at global level, as well as active collaboration in their social and business environment. The Centers of Excellence Severo Ochoa and Units of Excellence Maria de Maeztu are organizational structures with highly competitive strategic research programmes in the frontiers of knowledge. They are among the best in the world in their respective scientific areas. The evaluation and selection process is carried out by an independent international committee of prestigious scientists with high impact.
Funding: : Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades