Professional Activities/Interests

Mercury in Aquatic Systems

• Development of methods to analyze environmental samples for their contents of Hg species
• Methylmercury bioaccumulation and trophic transfer in freshwater foodwebs
  

• Human exposure assessment to mercury and other contaminants

• Biogeochemical cycling of trace metals/metalloids in lakes, rivers, & aquatic systems

• Biogeochemical processes controlling the distribution, speciation, mobility, and bioavailability of metals using a combination of traditional and emerging analytical techniques, integrated laboratory and field studies.

• Evaluation of chemical speciation using a new in-situ technique called Diffusive Gradients in Thin Films (DGT)

Contamination in Marine Ecosystems

1. Organic (PAHs, PCBs) and Organometallic (Organotin) pollution in ports and marinas
2. Accidental spills in the marine ecosystems

• Chemical characterization of spilled products
• Origin & determination of residues that reach the littoral through molecular tracers
• Characterization of weathering processes (i.e. evaporation, photooxidation and biodegradation)
• Bioremediation of the coastal zones through lipophilic nutrient treatment
• Techniques for retrieval of spilled products