Isabel Costa-Gómez

• Doctor of Engineering
• Assistant Professor at Technical University of Cartagena

In Central Europe the most common allergies are provoked by grass or birch pollen allergens. We determined the intra-daily behavior of airborne pollen grains of grasses (Poaceae) and birch (Betula ssp.) in Central Europe, based on data obtained from a network of automatic pollen monitors over Europe (www.pollenscience.eu). Our aim was to determine...

There are certain spatial configurations in cities that generate areas with reduced ventilation where, consequently, air pollution can reach hazardous levels. Although urban forms have already been flagged as a factor affecting air pollution, its role in the accumulation of volatile organic compounds has not been extensively evaluated with field me...

Microplastics have appeared as emerging pollutants due to the diverse applications of plastics in today's world. Growing evidence points to the negative impacts that airborne microplastics have on human health, as they can enter the human body through respiration. Our aim was to quantify polystyrene airborne microplastics in smaller fractions, thor...

The evolution of the behaviour of the Cannabis taxon in the Region of Murcia, Spain, has been analysed (in the cities of Cartagena, 1993–2020; Murcia, 2010–2020; and Lorca, 2010–2020). An attempt has been made to establish the origin of Cannabis pollen in this region to determine whether it is transported locally or from long distances based on air...

The rationale of this paper was to investigate whether earthquakes impact airborne pollen concentrations, considering some meteorological parameters. Atmospheric pollen concentrations in the Region of Murcia Aerobiological Network (Spain) were studied in relation to the occurrence of earthquakes of moment magnitude (up to Mw = 5.1) and intensity (i...

The global consumption of plastic is increasing year by year. The usage of plastic materials may generate small plastic fragments known as microplastics (MPs) which affect the quality of the air we breathe. In this study, a procedure based on thermogravimetry coupled to mass spectrometry (TGA-MS) has been developed to quantify polystyrene (PS) micr...

Olea pollen concentrations have been studied in relation to the typology of air masses, pollen grain sources and marine nature during advections in a coastal enclave in the south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Since Spain is the world's leading olive producer, and olive growing extends throughout the Mediterranean basin, this location is ideal for the...

Air quality management is underpinned by continuous measurements of concentrations of target air pollutants in monitoring stations. Although many approaches for optimizing the number and location of air quality monitoring stations are described in the literature, these are usually focused on dense networks. However, there are small and medium-size...

Personal exposure to particulate matter (PM) is associated with a variety of adverse health effects and cardiopulmonary diseases. As a mitigating measure to improve air quality, policymakers should select street cleaning tools according to their potential environmental impact, but there is little information about their actual effect on particle po...

Pollen allergens are one of the most important causes of respiratory allergies in industrialized countries. Aerobiological studies, including pollen and spore concentrations, allow for the defining of different palynomorph concentrations throughout the year. Pollen calendars summarize the aerobiological information of a locality in a single figure....