Cintia Flores Rubio

Cintia Flores obtained a degree in chemical sciences (2000), a master’s degree in experimental chemistry (2003), a master’s degree in advanced chemistry (2009) and a PhD in analytical chemistry of the environment and pollution (2016) from University of Barcelona. At present she is Tenured Scientist at the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Studies IDAEA-CSIC (Barcelona, Spain) and Scientific and Technical Supervisor of Service of advanced mass spectrometry analysis. Orbitrap from IDAEA-CSIC. She is a specialist in the research of toxins and persistent, priority, and emerging organic compounds in the environment and food by mass spectrometry with over 25 years of experience.
Member of the Spanish Society of Mass Spectrometry, the Iberian Cyanotoxin Network, the Iberian Network on Toxic Algae and Biotoxins, and the Consolidated Research Group on Natural and Anthropogenic Contaminants in Aquatic Ecosystems (AQUATOX). She serves as an advisor on the analysis and control of emerging compounds in water to the Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico (MITECO)—specifically regarding surface water watch lists—and to the Asociación Nacional de Empresas de Aguas de Bebida Envasadas (ANEABE) regarding the concept of original purity for natural mineral waters.
Her scientific focus is on the area of analytical and environmental chemistry, with the main objective of developing, updating and integrating analytical methodologies based on mass spectrometry (MS, HRMS and MS/MS) to study the presence, transport and degradability of organic pollutants and toxins in the environment and evaluate their impact, control water pollution and protect under scarcity. Another field of application is the study of the behavior of organic compounds in water treatment lines (WWTP, ETAP, ERA, desalinization), for the improvement and optimization of treatments. The chemical substances under study include organic compounds from different families of priority and emerging pollutants such as surfactants, polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pharmaceuticals, pesticides, phthalates, endocrine disruptors, alkylphenols, flame retardants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and toxins. Some of them are included in different national and international legislations (Real Decreto 2/2023 and 3/2023, Drinking Water Directive 2020/2184, Water Framework Directive, Watch List, etc …).