JESUS DAMIAN DE LA
ROSA DIAZ

The main line of research concerns the geochemistry of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) in the context of Andalusia and in comparison, with the national and international contexts. All his studies are directed towards deepening our knowledge of the amounts contributed by both natural and anthropogenic sources, the impact on health of industrial and traffic emissions, and the high-resolution modelling of airborne metals. To date, his scientific productivity encompasses some 137 papers in JCR-indexed journals with a total of 6.889 citations. His h-index is 46. Nevertheless, the chief impact of his work can be measured in the degree to which they have contributed towards the protection of the environment, in that they fill the gap between pure science and its application to society. The major milestones of this work are summarized below and most under collaborative work of the Associate Unit CSIC-UHU “Atmospheric Pollution”. Since 1999, we participate in the Plan for Environmental Quality of Huelva. Our function was to carry out scientific studies at the diagnostic stage and to propose measures to improve and monitor the situation to reduce the negative impact on the town of industrial emission to the air. Arsenic constituted the main anomaly of the air in Huelva compared to other towns in Spain and Europe. This led our group to initiate the monitoring of the total chemical composition of the air in Huelva, which it has continued to do uninterruptedly to today. Of great importance to the study of airborne As was the application of high resolution meteorological models, which made 24-hour forecasts of concentrations. Forecast modelling of metals is developed under the Agreement of ARL-NOAA and UHU. Since 2003, in response to the Andalusian Regional Government’s requirements, similar studies into sources of PM have been carried out in the Bay of Algeciras and Bailén and rest of Andalusia, creating maps of air pollution for 65 inorganic components around 21 locations. These studies represent baseline information for the regional and national governments to determine the most sensitive areas and create the Strategy of Air Quality of Andalusia presented in the Parliament in 2016. Actually, and for 3 years, we are assessing this Strategy. In 2018, the Associate Unit received the Prize of the Andalusia Government in Huelva for the innovation and environment implication. The development of analytical techniques for the detection of the particles most hazardous to health (ultrafine particles, UFPs) also played an important role in the study of air quality in Western Andalusia and its comparison with other areas in Europe. In this instance, in addition to sources from traffic, it was found that industry was also responsible for a high proportion of this kind of PM In comparison with studies from Italy, England and other areas of Spain, Huelva was found to have the highest concentrations of UFPs in Europe, because of industrial emission and the high degree of photochemical activity in the area. Today, we are ending the PULFIND project (State Research Agency), where UFP and metals anomalies continue in time. Regarding to environmental protection in mining areas, since 2009 the group has monitored 65 inorganic components in the air around the Iberian Pyrite Belt in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. While the mines were inactive, the air quality was comparable to other areas of ecological interest such as the Doñana National Park. However, since the recommencement of mining operations in Riotinto in 2015, serious instances of air pollution have occurred, above all in the mining towns around the main mines in operation. Since 2014, according to the register of air pollution in the town of Huelva compiled by the research group, the evaporation of the leachates in phosphogypsum ponds produce HF vapor