RESEARCH TEAMS
There are 6 research teams at HydroSciences Montpellier
ContEm : Emerging Contaminents
Responsable : Elena GOMEZ
Keywords Emerging organic contaminants, aquatic environment, environmental metabolomics, exposure assessment,
wastewater reuse, risk assessment, solid-solution interface, organisms-solution
interface, bioavailability of organic contaminants
(figure1) :
Research topics
Emerging organic contaminants include a large number of substances with various physico-chemical characteristics. Understanding the behaviour of these substances in aquatic environments, particularly those with biological activity (drug residues, endocrine disruptors, etc.), requires approaches currently developed in the laboratory at fine mechanical scales.
The team’s activities are structured around the following scientific orientations:
– Understand the bioavailability of emerging organic contaminants for organisms and their effects, considering interaction processes in complex environments,
– Characterize the mechanisms of transformation these contaminants in the treatment processes and in the environment and identify those that lead to a change in biological activity,
– Survey emerging molecules: their occurrence, transfer, interactions, exposure patterns and effects ,
– Acquire knowledge on the metabolome in our species of interest to describe, understand and predict exposure and effect of toxic substances through a metabolomic approach
The approach by family is preferred, taking into account transformation products and metabolites of targeted substances for a more comprehensive and accurate assessment of exposure of organisms. In order to relate exposure measurement to individual and population effects, targeted and non-targeted analytical approaches using separative methods hyphenated to mass spectrometry are developed. They allow us to benefit from the sensitivity and specificity required to work on complex matrices. The metabolomic approach allows us to study the exposure and effects of contaminants on aquatic organisms by determining both xenometabolome (parent compounds and biotransformation products) and endometabolome (indirect markers within endogenous metabolites which concentrations may differ from physiological levels following a chemical exposure).
The use of treated wastewater for irrigation of agricultural fields also deserves the team attention. Reuse poses the problem of introducing organic contaminants like pharmaceuticals occurring in the wastewater into the terrestrial environment. Beside their accumulation and leaching into the subsoil, potentially harmful contaminants can be taken up by agricultural crops and further biotransformed by the plant’s metabolic enzymes. The current research topic aims to further clarify the processes taking place after irrigation of fields with wastewater with regard to wastewater-borne contaminants degradation and ecotoxicological impact. The fate and effects on crops of an array of pharmaceuticals is evaluated in controlled and real scale experiments (i) assessing the microbial degradation of pharmaceuticals in the rhizoshere, (ii) examining uptake and metabolism of targeted contaminants in plants, (iii) estimating their impact on nitrogen cycling in soil and in plant development (iv) estimating the efficiency of innovative decentralized solar-based wastewater treatment systems for the removal of the most harmful contaminants
Ongoing projects
- ANR (Research National Agency) AWARE Project: Assessing the fate of pesticides and wastewater contaminants in agricultural crops and their environmental risks (2017-2020) Scientific leader: Serge Chiron.
- ANR IMAP Project: Investigating of the potential of the metabolic approach to identify markers of exposure and effect on pharmaceuticals in aquatic organisms (2016-2021) Scientific leader: Frédérique Courant.
- SUDOE (South West Europe) Project 4KET4Reuse: KETs for the disposal of emerging contaminants in recycled water from SUDOE space (2016-2019) Scientific leader: Serge Chiron.
- Program UNESCO-sida : Contaminants of emerging concerns in Oued Souhil area, Nabeul, Tunisia : Occurrence in irrigation water and implications (2015-2018).
- ANSES (The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety) Project: Feasibility of the Metabolomics Approach for Identifying Exposure Markers for Emerging Contaminants (2016-2017) Scientific leader: Elena Gomez.
- AERMC (Regional Water Agency) Project Experimental platform for the reuse of treated wastewater in irrigation (2017-2020) Scientific leader: Serge Chiron.
Projects completed
- Chair Hydrosciences-Veolia: Risk Analysis of Emerging Contaminants in Aquatic Environments (2011-2016) Scientific leader: Claude Casellas.
- ANR Clarence: « Cellular, Molecular and Genomic Exploration of Chronic Exposure and Low Dose Environmental Molecules in a Breast Cancer Tumour Progression Model (2011-2014) Scientific leader: P. Cohen.
- National Project EC2CO: Modulation of micropollutant bioavailability through the use of vectors MOBIVEC (2012-2014) Scientific leader : Elena Gomez.
- CEDRE project for Franco-Lebanese cooperation ” Lebanese estuary bio-monitoring and health risk assessment Scientific leaders : E. Gomez (France) Jalal Halwani (Lebanon).
- ANR CES : PEPSEA Project Transformation and transfer of PPCPs and their metabolites in Mediterranean coastal waters Scientific leader: Elena Gomez.
- Exchanges of CNRS-CSIC researchers Contamination of agricultural soils by organic micro-pollutants from treated wastewater in irrigation practice Coordinators E. Gomez (France), MJ. Martin-Sanchez (Spain).
- HydroSciences-Sanofi Collaboration Presence and Fate of Pharmaceutical Substances in Coastal Waters Scientific leader: Claude Casellas.
- IB/2.1/049 ENPI CBC MED Grant No. 7/1997 NANOWAT Diffusion of nanotechnology based devices for water treatment and recycling Coordinator Basilicata University.
- Structuring Initiative EC2CO: Risk assessment of the spread of antibiotics and their impact on soil ecological functions in the Katari watershed (Lac Titicaca, Bolivia) 2015-2016 Scientific leader: Céline Duwig.
- IRD Maturation Project (ISOTE): Solar installation for water treatment. Scientific leader Serge Chiron.
- Cost Action ES1403 Nereus: New emerging challenges and opportunities in wastewater reuse.
PUBLICATIONS
2018
Bonnefille, B., Gomez, E., Alali, M., Rosain, D., Fenet, H., Courant, F., 2018. Metabolomics assessment of the effects of diclofenac exposure on Mytilus galloprovincialis: Potential effects on osmoregulation and reproduction. Sci. Total Environ. 613–614, 611–618. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.09.146
2017
Archundia D., Duwig C., Lehembre F., Chiron S., Morel M.C., Prado B., Bourdat-Deschamps M., Vince E., Flores Aviles G., Martins J.M.F. 2017. Antibiotic pollution in the Katari subcatchment of the Titicaca Lake : Major transformation products and occurrence of resistance genes. Science of the Total Environment 576, 671-682. Doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.10.129.
Bonnefille B., Arpin-Pont L., Gomez E., Fenet H., Courant F. 2017. Metabolic profiling identification of metabolites formed in Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) after diclofenac exposure. Science of The Total Environment 583, 257–268. Doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.01.063.
Brienza M., Duwig C., Pérez S., Chiron S. 2017. 4-nitroso-sulfamethoxazole generation in soil under denitrifying conditions: Field observations versus laboratory results. J. Hazard. Mater. 2017, 334, 185-192.(IF 4.8).
Brienza M., Chiron S. 2017. Enantioselective reductive transformation of climbazole: A concept towards quantitative biodegradation assessment in anaerobic biological treatment processes. Water Res., 116, 203-210.(IF 6.0).
CourantF, Arpin-Pont L, BonnefilleB, Vacher S, Picot-Groz M, Gomez E, Fenet H, Exploring new effects of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac on the marine mussel M. galloprovincialis, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, in press, doi: 10.1007/s11356-017-9228-6.
Mahdi Ahmed M., Doumenq P., Osman Awaleh M., Dhamar Syakti A., Asia L., Chiron S. 2017. Levels and sources of heavy metals and PAHs in sediment of Djibouti-city (Republic of Djibouti). Mar. Pollut. Bull., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.05.055 (IF 3.1).
Matta R., Chiron S. 2017. Oxidative degradation of pentachlorophenol by permanganate for ISCO application. Environ. Technol. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09593330.2017.1309077 (IF 2.1).
2016
Arpin-Pont L., Martinez Bueno M.J., Gomez E., Fenet H. 2016. Occurrence of PPCPs in the marine environment: a review. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 23, 4978-4991. Doi : 10.1007/s11356-014-3617-x.
Brienza M., Mahdi Ahmed M., Bufo S.A., Goetz V. 2016. Use of solar advanced oxidation processes for wastewater treatment : Follow-up on degradation products, acute toxicity, genotoxicity and estrogenicity. Chemosphere 148, 473-480. Doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.01.070.
Chiron S., Duwig C. 2016. Biotic nitrosation of diclofenac in a soil aquifer system (Katari watershed, Bolivia) Science of the Total Environment 565, 473-480. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.05.048.
Halm-Lemeille M.P., Gomez E. 2016. Pharmaceuticals in the environment. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 23, 4961-4963. Doi : 10.1007/s11356-016-6248-6.
Margerit A., Gilbin R., Gomez E. 2016. Dynamic energy-based modeling of uranium and cadmium joint toxicity to Caenorhabditis elegans. Chemosphere 146, 405-412.
Martínez Bueno M.J., Herrera S., Munaron D., Boillot C., Fenet H., Chiron S., Gomez E. 2016. POCIS passive samplers as monitoring tool for pharmaceuticals residues and their transformation products in marine environment. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 23, 5019-5029. Doi : 10.1007/s11356-014-3796-5.
Souchier M., Benali-Raclot D., Casellas C., Ingrand V., Chiron S. 2016. Enantiomeric fractionation as a tool for quantitative assessment of biodegradation: The case of metoprolol. Water Research 95, 19-26.
Souchier M., Casellas C., Ingrand V., Chiron S. 2016. Insights into reductive dechlorination of triclocarban in river sediments: Field measurements and in vitro mechanism investigations. Chemosphere 144, 425-432.
2015
Boillot C., Martinez Bueno M.J., Munaron D, Le Dreau M., David A., Mathieu O., Fenet H., Casellas C., Gomez E. 2015. In vivo exposure of marine mussels to carbamazepine and 10-hydroxy-10,11-dihydro carbamazepine: bioconcentration and metabolization. Science of the Total Environment 532, 564-570
Margerit A., Lecomte-Pradines C., Svendsen C., Frelon S., Gomez E., Gilbin R. 2015. Nested Interactions in the Combined Toxicity of Uranium and Cadmium to the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 118, 139-148.
Souchier M., Benali-Raclot D., Benanou D., Boireau V., Gomez E., Casellas E., Chiron S. 2015. Screening triclocarban and its transformation products in river sediment using liquid chromatography and high resolution mass spectrometry. Sci. Tot. Environ. 2015, 502,199-205
HEC : hydrology, ecohydrology and climate
Responsables : Nanée CHAHINIAN, Jérome DEMARTY
Keywords : Hydrology, Eco-hydrology, Climate, Extreme events, Drought, Soil-Plant-Vegetation-Atmosphere continuum, Modelling
Présentation :
The HEC (Hydrology, Eco-hydrology, Climate) team is involved in the issues inherent in major environmental and societal challenges, such as climate change, the evolution of hydrological and plant resources, and land use planning under demographic pressure.
It aims to :
- Improving understanding and characterization of interactions between hydrological, ecohydrological and atmospheric phenomena and processes in tropical, subtropical and Mediterranean environments.
- Promoting the translation of knowledge into statistical, conceptual and/or physically-based models applicable over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales.
Objectives :
HEC’s research focuses on five areas:
Interaction between the water cycle and rural eco(hydro)systems (temporal dynamics, land use);
Isotopic composition of precipitation and water vapor (atmospheric processes);
Surface-atmosphere interactions through energy and matter exchange and water isotope tracing (soil – vegetation – atmosphere);
Impacts of variations in climatic and anthropogenic conditions on the functioning of eco-hydro-systems and their components; ;
Analysis of hydrological extremes and their impact on water and matter flows (soil-vegetation-atmosphere).
Its study sites are part of accredited observatories in the North (SO MEDYCYSS, OHM-CV) and South (SNO AMMA-CATCH, SNO OPAR), as well as ZABR and “Mediterranean coastal basins” workshop zones.
Current projects:
ANR TypHic (2021-2024) : Leader: C. Peugeot (UMR HSM), collaboration UMRs HSM, GET, IGE, iEES, INRAe/DEPE, U. Utrecht, U. Niamey, U. Bamako, U. Cotonou.
ANR HILIAISE (2020-2023) : Leader A. Boone (CNRM), collaborations CNRM, LMD, CESBIO, LA, UMRs HSM, Ebro Obsevatory, UB (University of Barcelona), UKMO, U. Wageningen.
HYdroThiem (2017-2023) : P. Genthon, collaboration with Province Nord de Nouvelle Calédonie, Univ. Nouvelle Calédonie, CAAM, UMR HSM.
IRD AFD project: Participation in the “drought” and “resources” themes.
KIM WATERS (2020-2022): ActNAO project, “Aridification in Mediterranean piedmont and plain areas: Impacts on agroecosystems, interactions, sustainability and adaptation measures” project.
HYTAKE : HYdrogeology and Transfers in Karstic and Heterogeneous Aquifers
Responsable : Christelle BATIOT-GUILHE
Keywords : Hydrogeology, Karst, Heterogeneous aquifers, Hydrodynamics, Hydrogeochemistry, Reactive transport in heterogeneous media, Multi-scale approach, River-aquifer interactions, groundwater resources
Présentation :
The HYTAKE team is made up of 15 permanent members (≈10 FTE), mostly teacher-researchers, attached to the University of Montpellier and IMT Mines Alès, as well as CNRS and IRD researchers and two associate researchers from the NRE team at BRGM in Montpellier. The team is heavily involved in local, national and international observation structures and networks (OSU OREME, SNO KARST and IR OZCAR, pôle de données Theia and eLTER; ZABR “Cévennes rivers” workshop site, LMI CocysMed). In addition to a network of academic partners in France and abroad, the HYTAKE team has also forged long-standing collaborations with private companies and local authorities in the field of water resources and relations between groundwater and surface water, as well as industrial partnerships (Danone, TOTAL, ORANO, etc.). The team is also heavily involved in the administration and management of training programs in France, including the Earth Water Environment Bachelor’s degree program, the Water Sciences Master’s program at the University of Montpellier, the Engineering program at IMT Mines Alès, and international programs such as the WISE International Master’s program.
Objectives :
The HYTAKE team’s work focuses on improving knowledge and modeling the structure of heterogeneous aquifers (sedimentary, volcanic, basement, karstic, peridotitic/thermal multilayers) and associated transfer processes (flow, transport), on different time and space scales.
The sites studied are spread across a wide range of climatic, geological and physiographic environments, in mainland France and the French overseas territories, as well as in Africa, the Maghreb, Indonesia, New Caledonia and South America, enabling the development of robust tools and methodologies that can be generalized to other aquifers with comparable characteristics.
Field observation is one of the pillars of the approaches implemented. Several in situ “laboratories” have been set up for multi-scale analysis of transfers and flow properties in heterogeneous environments: the MEDYCYSS regional-scale observatory (OSU OREME/SNO KARST: https://sokarst.org/), as well as small-scale experimental sites (Terrieu, Rieu-Coulon and Sussargues sites, in partnership with TOTAL).
The varied and complementary expertise of the various team members enables the implementation of coupled approaches integrating geological, hydrodynamic, hydro(bio)geochemical information and machine learning approaches (in particular neural networks), with the aim of developing original characterization and modeling methodologies.
The team’s research focuses on :
– study recharge dynamics (event-driven, seasonal, multiannual),
– characterize relationships between geological structures and hydrodynamic/hydrodispersive properties of heterogeneous aquifers, particularly in carbonate environments,
– characterize and model exchanges between groundwater and surface water, with a particular focus on the role of karst in flooding in Mediterranean watersheds,
– characterize and estimate the impacts of climate change and anthropogenic pressures on water resources, in terms of both quantity and quality, and the resilience of hydrosystems.
The HYTAKE team works on processes at surface-ground interfaces, and plays an active role in the UMR’s cross-disciplinary theme “Characterization and Modeling of the Ecohydro(geo)logical Functioning of the Critical Zone”, one of whose aims is to improve understanding and integrated modeling of transfer processes in a continuum between the various compartments of the Critical Zone.
H2U : Urban Hydrology and Hydraulics
Responsable: Christian SALLES
Keywords: runoff and flooding, transfers, hydrological hazards, coastal cities, African metropolises, modelling, metrology and sampling, remote sensing and geomatics, non-parametric and extreme value statistics, artificial intelligence and data mining, aggregation/disaggregation
Presentation:
In the urban environment, waterproofing and the artificialization of surfaces accentuate rainwater runoff and leaching processes. The flow of water through the urban environment is facilitated by networks such as roads, storm drainage systems and watercourses; but it is also diverted or slowed down by buildings, urban infrastructures and the soft management of rainwater. The dynamics of water and matter transfers in an urban watershed depend on the spatio-temporal distribution of rainfall, combined with the hydrological connectivity of the urban fabric and facilities. The H2U team’s research focuses on urban runoff, with the aim of improving understanding and management of hydrological hazards, flooding and associated transfers of matter and pollutants.
The questions raised in this context concern the characterization of forcings and the parameterization of the environment, and the identification and development of robust and rapid hydrological, hydraulic and coupled hydrology/water quality models for crisis management and the evaluation of development and change scenarios. Methodologies are based on metrology and non-parametric and extreme value statistics, remote sensing and geomatics, and modeling of flows and associated transfers in heterogeneous environments.
This involves: (1) developing statistical and disaggregation methods to better define the spatio-temporal precipitation fields at the scale of the urban agglomeration by following two paths: observation and statistical characterization of structural properties of rainfall based on scaling laws and the development of rain field disaggregation methods towards hectometric scales. (2) to apply data mining and textual analysis techniques on documents and open databases to refine the configuration of models. (3) to continue the development of hydrological (ATHYS platform) and hydraulic (SW2D) models by following two avenues: the regionalization of the parameters of conceptual models and macroscopic porosity models using the statistical properties of the urban fabric. (4) to implement coupled hydrology/quality modeling adapted to the time and space scales of urban processes with a view to evaluating the role of the combination of management works and studying the predictable changes in transfers on an integrated scale in a context of change.
PEnSTER : Pollution Environment Health Territories
Responsable : Corinne CASIOT
Keywords: (organo)metallic contaminants, metalloids, biogeochemical cycles, exposure, health, populations, impacts, bioremediation, microbial ecotoxicology, environmental genomics, circular economy, isotopic tracing, speciation, mining environments, watershed-littoral continuum
Presentation :
The development of low-carbon energies, the industrial catch-up of emerging countries and the explosion of new technologies have resulted in an intensification of metal use on a global scale. Their release into the environment raises crucial questions about their impact on water resources and health. Thus, controlling metal pollution remains a major challenge for sustainable development, an essential condition for improving health (ODD3), protecting ecosystems (ODD15), improving access to good quality water (ODD6) and promoting the transition to a circular economy (ODD12).
The PEnSTer team’s research focuses on metallic and organo-metallic pollution, from the study of transfer processes to the aquatic environment to the analysis of effects on microbial communities, the assessment of human exposure and the study of health impacts.
The PEnSTer team brings together geochemists, microbiologists, epidemiologists and circular economy specialists from CNRS, IRD, the University of Montpellier and IMT Mines Alès.
Objectives :
- decrypt the biogeochemical processes controlling the mobility of metals, metalloids and organometallics and the dynamics of microbial communities; exploit some of these processes in bioremediation.
- document environmental exposure to toxic metals and metalloids and assess their impact on the health of human populations using an epidemiological approach.
- develop methodologies for analyzing and assessing the pressures and impacts associated with pollution on a territorial scale.
develop tools and methods for knowledge transfer, enabling us to gather information on the representations and practices of contaminated areas, and to co-construct solutions to strengthen the ability of local stakeholders to tackle these issues.
Our research focuses on sites with specific challenges (mining environments, urban, industrial and port environments, coastal lagoons) spread across three major geographical areas: the Mediterranean, West Africa and South America.
Our projects rely on state-of-the-art analytical platforms for trace metal (bio)geochemistry (speciation and isotopy of metals and metalloids, environmental genomics) involved in the national RéGEF network (CNRS/INSU): the ABIHS platform (HSM) and the AETE-ISO platform (OSU OREME).
The team is involved in regional, national and international networks and observatories (OSU OREME, OHM LM, ZABR, LMI MINERWA, LMI COSYS-MED II, Micro-ToxBol Network, AMEDEE, IMGA, AFEM, Ecotoxicomic) and in two ITM chairs (Industrie Minérale et Territoires and ELSA PACT2). She works in collaboration with private companies and local authorities in the fields of bioremediation, coastal management and the circular economy.
PHySE : Hydric Patogens Health Environement
Responsables : Estelle JUMAS-BILAK, Patricia LICZNAR-FAJARDO
Keywords: Pathogens, diffusion, persistence, transmission, health risk, antibiotic resistance, water ecosystems, prevention, public health.
Vision and activities:
Water, as an integrating system, is a key element in the emergence, diffusion, persistence and transmission of pathogens. The anthropization and artificialization of hydrosystems generate and can increase new infectious risks. The PHySE team’s research aims to analyze the conditions affecting the transmission of waterborne pathogens to humans, which give rise to different levels of risk for public health, as well as the highly complex interactions between these two inseparable elements, pathogens and humans.
The diversity of pathogens and their vectors on a population and community scale remains the focus of PHySE’s scientific questions. The recent addition of virologists and a medical entomologist has broadened the scope of PHySE’s studies, which initially focused exclusively on bacteria.
PHySE’s fields of study can therefore be defined as water-related infectious systems (WIS), approached with an integrated approach combining activities around the vulnerability and artificialization of population ecosystems:
i) vulnerability of human populations (care, cystic fibrosis, dysimmunity, epidemics, South) and vulnerability of eco-hydrosystems, especially in Mediterranean and African regions (karst, watersheds, coastal systems) and;
ii) artificialization of living conditions and hydrosystems (urbanization, hospitals, homes).
These various contexts are studied through research projects in France and in the South (Africa, Asia), where training and capacity-building, teaching, workshops, observatories, monitoring networks, integration into health systems and follow-up of patient cohorts are implemented. The structuring around these particular contexts means that, in some cases, we can go as far as clinical-epidemiological studies, thus proposing a research strategy from the hydrosystem to human health, with the long-term aim of establishing causal links and thus being able to predict and prevent risks.
The phenomenon of resistance is one of PHySE’s main areas of research, covering resistance to biocides, resistance to vector control methods and antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance, in particular, is a major health issue, recognized as an obstacle to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 on human health. The connections between the challenges of resistance to anti-infectious agents, the quality of water resources, global health and the consequences in France and the South are clear priorities for global agencies and institutions.PHySE a multidisciplinary team
Although specialized in infectious systems, the PHySE team is multidisciplinary with long-standing and highly recognized expertise in microbial and viral ecology and evolution, microbiology, virology, immuno-physiopathology (dysimmunity), diagnostic methods and biosensors, medical entomology, epidemiology, prevention of infectious risk, vector control, clinical research, circular economy. This diversity, including health professionals, allows synergistic actions in particular to develop the common theme of “water-pathogens-human in various ecological contexts”.
Approaches:
The approach is essentially experimental, covering a wide spectrum of technologies, and is based on the resources of the MicrobiH2O-Homme-HSM and Bio-Campus platforms, as well as on complementary technologies provided by our partners including:
- i) optimized detection, identification and quantification of pathogens by culturomics and of vectors by molecular approaches;
- ii) studies of microbial populations and communities using genetic, genomic, (exo)-proteomic and phenotypic approaches;
iii) the evaluation of cellular and immune mechanisms in cellular and alternative models to provide diagnostic and therapeutic targets.
