R+D CSIC 30 years Nowadays, environmental monitoring involves the analysis of any sample (water, food, soil...) and has moved from analysing a limited number of pollutants to "non-target" analysis, in which almost everything in the sample is detected without restrictions. And at previously impossible levels: contaminants can now be detected at concentrations of less than 1 part per billion.

NEMO is an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that can reach 500 meters deep carrying various instruments for marine exploration. Its open architecture will allow carrying out tasks in different areas of marine science: marine resources, geological risks, underwater archaeology, conservation of marine habitats or monitoring natural reserves.

Scientists at the IDAEA-CSIC have developed the first method that allows double screening to detect the presence of six polymers and 29 additives from a single sample. This cutting-edge methodology has been validated in the Ebro Delta, where they have analysed water samples from the river and from the sea. They are now working to apply this method to other environmental and human samples.

Bioengineering techniques and plants contribute to clean waters, as scientific research developed in the Urban River Lab has demonstrated. The Urban River Lab (URL) focuses on improving management of highly modified rivers, whose waters come mainly from treatment plants.

To improve quality and ecological status of water coming from wastewater treatment plants and to contribute to a sustainable management of water resources are the main objectives of the Urban River Lab (URL), an experimental outdoor lab located at the Montornès wastewater treatment plant.

Scientists of the IDAEA-CSIC work to know the environmental impact of the new pollutants, like pyrethroid insecticides (of very common use, which are toxic and accumulative) or the new flame retardants, with similar toxic effects to the old flame retardants, already forbidden.

Pollen analysis allows scientists to characterize certify the botanical origin of honey. But also allows the reconstruction of past vegetation and landscape. This is what scientists do in the Laboratory of Palynology and Paleoecoclogy, at the Instituto Botánico de Barcelona.

This Service at the Botanic Institute of Barcelona identifies vegetal samples (plants, seeds or vegetal fragments). Through several molecular techniques, identifies which species or varieties compose any vegetal product or pack of seeds. They also offer assessment in environmental subjects such as impact studies, characteristics of invasive species or plans for recovering threatened species.