Environmental pollution

Environmental pollution is one of the main causes of the deterioration of our planet and a consequence of the inefficient use of resources by human beings.

Environmental pollution consists of the direct or indirect introduction into the different environmental spheres (atmosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere) of substances, materials or forms of energy, generally anthropogenic, that are not part of or are in abnormal concentrations in those environments and that produce an immediate or future harmful effect on one or more components of those environments.

Since all environmental spheres are interrelated through chemical and biological processes, understanding them inevitably requires applying a holistic view, also in the field of pollution.

BIOMA researchers develop several lines of work to characterize and evaluate the effect of different pollutants generated by human activities on ecosystems and health. This work involves both the employment of physicochemical techniques and the use of biological methods (bioindicators). Among the programs of study carried out in this line of work it is worth mentioning:

• Quantification of heavy metal deposition in ecosystems.

• Analysis of air quality in different environments and its effects.

• Effects of tropospheric ozone on vegetation and health.

• Characterization and analysis of contaminants.

• programs of study of source contribution.

• Impact of contaminants on biodiversity.

• Application of environmental contamination models.

It is intended that these programs of study contribute to provide scientific evidence to help establish whether the environmental conditions present in the study sites are adequate and do not represent a significant risk to the health of the ecosystems and the species that inhabit them.