Do you consider it important to focus on the fight against plastic pollution?

Of course, I consider it essential to focus on the fight against plastic pollution. It is one of the most persistent, complex and global environmental problems. The presence of plastics, and especially microplastics, is altering multiple spheres of the environment: it affects aquatic ecosystems, where it endangers marine biodiversity; soils, where it modifies their physicochemical and biological properties; and even the atmosphere, where the presence of plastic particles in suspension has already been detected. All this has serious implications not only for the balance of ecosystems, but also for human health, since these materials can enter the trophic chains and accumulate in organisms, including ourselves.
 

How can this problem be addressed from your research area ?

From my research area , linked to the BIOMA Institute, a center with amultidisciplinary approach in biodiversity and environment, we believe that addressing this issue requires both the development of new technologies and a paradigm shift in the way we produce, use and manage plastics. From our laboratories, one of the most promising approaches is the analysis and monitoring of microplastics in different environmental matrices (water, soil, air, living organisms), also analyzing the potential toxicological effect of microplastics on health.
 

Are you participating in any project related to this issue? Tell us briefly! If not, what project or idea would you like to implement to tackle plastic pollution?

Currently, we have taken an important step in this line with the recent acquisition of specialized analytical equipment for the identification and quantification of microplastics. This allows us to begin a systematic work of analysis in different environmental matrices, with the intention of generating basic knowledge that will allow us to design more effective solutions. In the medium term, one of our objectives is to investigate the role of microplastics in air quality, an area still little explored, but with great scientific potential and health relevance. The idea is to study their presence in urban areas and their possible relationship with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, taking advantage of our experience in this area.

* Jesús Miguel Santamaría belongs to the School of Sciences. Learn more about his research.