Not only does she ensure that treated water meets the appropriate quality criteria, but she also researches how to improve the health of the water to give it a longer and better life. Biologist Cristina González Martín (Icod de los Vinos, Tenerife, 1982) works at the Water and Environment Laboratory of the University Institute of Tropical Diseases and Public Health of the Canary Islands. From there, she and her team are in charge of analysing this quality at the microbiological and parasitological level, once their colleagues from another research group, the Water Treatment and Reuse Group of the University of La Laguna, led by Luisa Vera, have fine-tuned it in the laboratory and in pilot studies. Her team then evaluates other parameters not included in the legislation.
And what are the most innovative methods currently used to measure water quality? “The parameters that indicate the basic quality that water should possess have changed little in recent decades, with the detection of Escherichia coli bacteria remaining the universal standard,” explains the researcher. “And the traditional methodology is still valid. We use culture media and quantify the number of colonies to know whether or not they comply with current regulations.”
“However, it is true that new methodologies have been developed that increasingly allow the identification and quantification of parameters in a shorter time and with greater precision,” she points out. “These methodologies can be carried out in real time using molecular biology, or even biosensors able to detect certain pathogenic microorganisms.”
“We use culture media and quantify the number of colonies to know whether or not they comply with current regulations”
González Martín is also part of an aeromicrobiology research group that is analysing how Saharan dust affects the Canary Islands. “We are trying to characterise the composition of the air, paying particular attention to the Saharan air intrusions that so often affect the archipelago. We want to unravel how these microbial communities vary in the atmosphere depending on different factors, including the origin of the air masses.”
This working group is collaborating with their counterparts doing the same research in American ecosystems to jointly assess how the microbial community changes during the long journey from the Sahara Desert to the east coast of the United States. Their goal is to analyse how this microbial community changes as it travels through the air and its potential impact on the environment and human health.
“Aeromicrobiology has been, and in some respects still is, an ambiguous field,” she notes. “Although no one now questions the fact that microorganisms are transported and dispersed through the air, considering it as an ecosystem in every sense of the word still generates unease in the scientific community,” says González Martín.
“Many consider air as a mere transport vehicle operating in adverse conditions, and that those micro-organisms that are able to resist can colonise new niches,” she explains. “Others believe that it should be considered as an ecosystem in its own right, where there can be active metabolism and interactions between microorganisms during transport, affecting not only their ability to survive, but also more physico-chemical aspects of the atmosphere.”
Much work is focused on understanding the latter, “using proteomics techniques (i.e. the large-scale study of proteins) and gene expression analysis, to see if there is indeed activation of genes related to metabolism in micro-organisms isolated from air samples after long periods of transport,” she concludes. Proteins perform many essential functions in the development of our bodies, such as shaping the immune system or transporting substances such as fats and oxygen. Their study can also be applied to medicine, aiding clinical diagnosis.
“Both nationally and internationally, it is important to emphasise that we work in multidisciplinary groups that include biologists with different specialities (marine, molecular, environmental), but also environmentalists, physicists, mathematicians and computer scientists,” says the environmental expert.
“Water treatment must be a reality in all environments, whether there is a water deficit or not. This requires policies with high investment costs, but with the necessary long-term results”
As for the main human diseases that have been scientifically linked to poor air quality, Cristina González Martín says that they are mainly related to the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. “But if we talk about illnesses caused by the inhalation of particles in general, the problems range from chronic respiratory diseases to cerebrovascular accidents or some types of cancer,” she adds.
And she recalls some data: “The World Health Organisation puts the number of annual deaths worldwide related to exposure to poor air quality at approximately 7 million. In fact, data from 2019 indicated that 99% of the world’s population was exposed to air that did not meet the quality standards defined by the international organisation.”
“The main human diseases due to inhalation of particulate matter range from chronic respiratory diseases to strokes and some types of cancer”
“Public awareness is one of the most powerful tools and goes hand in hand with education,” says the biologist. And she calls on everyone to get involved: “We must not shirk our obligations as inhabitants of this planet that we are suffocating. No matter how small a gesture it may seem, if we all did our part, we would notice the change. Every time we choose to recycle, use public transport or walk, turn off the lights or the heating more often, or buy local products, we are taking pollution away from the planet.”
“The WHO puts the number of annual deaths worldwide related to exposure to poor air quality at around 7 million”
González Martín also believes that “water treatment must be a reality in all environments, whether or not there is a water deficit.” “This requires policies with high investment costs (installation of treatment plants, sewerage projects, etc.), but with the long-term results needed to maintain both the primary and tertiary sectors,” she says. And with regard to measures to improve air quality, she emphasises that it is necessary to insist on “long-term investments to reduce emissions, especially in urban and industrial areas.”
This environmental quality researcher still has her sights set high. She believes that the most rewarding professional experiences are had “when you get out of your comfort zone,” something she has already done in spades. She is now focused on deepening her lines of research, “to continue contributing to the sustainability and reuse of water resources and the monitoring of air quality.”
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