Post-doc UCLM - February 2020 - February 2023
Environmental assessment of Sb mineralization: mobility, leachability, availability and bioavailiability.
Mobility and availability of Sb in a mining context is of outmost importance since it represent a key factor to improve geochemical exploration techniques and to prevent pollution during mining operations. There are many factors to consider in these studies in a soil system, including pH, aerobic/anaerobic condition, mineral paragenesis and microbiological. Work planning has included the recognition and sampling of decommissioned Sb mining areas, located in South-Central Spain (regions of Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura), selected by their heterogeneity in terms of geochemistry of elements associated to antimony, which correspond mainly to Pb, As and Cu, but in very variable proportions in the different studied areas. The experimental work has included experiments carried out to assess the mobility of the elemental contents of Sb and rest of elements in different conditions, including aerobic and anaerobic ones, in different redox and reactivity (acidic/alkaline) conditions as well as applying both selective and sequential extractions. It is important to bear in mind that the soil is a bioreactor and for this reason the studies carried out in the soil system must be based on a multidisciplinary approach, involving not only geological or geochemical aspects, but also biological and more specifically microbiological aspects. Therefore, the general focus of the work is based on establishing synergies with other project groups and fostering collaborations with external researchers for the application of Sb speciation techniques (for example, using techniques based on synchrotron radiation) that provide relevant information on the biogeochemical cycle of Sb.
José María Esbrí Víctor Post Doc
Employment History
2020-present
Researcher in the project “Investigación de recursos metálicos Europeos (Sb, W), y previsión de afecciones medioambientales” (MICIU/AEI/REF.: PCI2019-103779)”, part of the Project AUREOLE
2001 – 2019
Researcher in the following projects:
“Biogeoquímica de suelos de Castilla-La Mancha - Elaboración de mapas temáticos y establecimiento de niveles de base y de referencia.”, funded by the government of Castilla-La Mancha (JCCM)
“Problemática de la presencia de metales pesados en suelos caracterización y análisis de consecuencias”, funded by the government of Spain
“Modelo de emisión de mercurio desde suelos contaminados. Implementación y aplicación práctica (ctm2012-33918)”, funded by the government of Spain
“Dinámica del sistema suelo-atmosfera para el vapor de mercurio. Bases para la resolución de los problemas implicados en la misma”, funded by the government of Spain
“Application of As And Hg XAS Speciation to risk assessment tools”, funded by European Union
“Design, construction and validation of a pilot installation for safe deposit of surplus mercury metal from the European industry”, funded by LIFE program
“Análisis de riesgos ambientales derivados de la contaminación por mercurio en el distrito minero de Almadén y estudio de alternativas de remediación de sus suelos”, funded by the government of Spain
“Inmovilización de metales pesados procedentes de actividades industriales mineras. Experiencia piloto para el caso del mercurio en el distrito de Almadén”, funded by the government of Spain
Education
February 2011
PhD in Mining Engineering (Universidad de Oviedo)
Mercurio en compartimentos ambientales del distrito minero de Almadén
September 1991
Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Geology
University of Granada, Spain
Publications
Pablo Higueras; Raimundo Jiménez-Ballesta; José María Esbrí; Rocio García-Giménez; Eva García-Noguero; Rodrigo Álvarez; Jesús Peco; Carolina García-Noguero; Juan Antonio Campos. (2021) Occurrence and environmental constraints of gray monazite in red soils from the Campo de Montiel area (SW Ciudad Real province, south central Spain). Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28 (4), 4573-4584
Sara Gallego; José María Esbrí; Juan Campos; Jesús Peco; Fabrice Martin-Laurent; Pablo Higueras. (2020) Microbial diversity and activity assessment in a 100-year-old lead mine. Journal of Hazardous Materials, Article number 124618.
Nicoló Barago; Federico Floreani; Alessandro Aquavita; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Stefano Covelli; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2020) Spatial and Temporal Trends of Gaseous Elemental Mercury Over a Highly Impacted Coastal Environment (Northern Adriatic, Italy). Atmosphere, 11, 935.
Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; Alba Martinez Coronado; Rocio Naharro Mimbrero. (2020) 4D dispersion of total gaseous mercury derived from a mining source: identification of criteria to assess risks related with high concentrations of atmospheric mercury. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 20, pp. 12995 - 13010.
Samantha Jimenez Oyola; Maria Jesus Garcia Martinez; Marcelo F Ortega; David Bolonio; Clara Martinez; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Juan Llamas Borrajo; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2020) Multi-pathway human exposure risk assessment using a Bayesian modelling at the historically largest mercury mining district. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. 201, pp. 110833.
Rocio Naharro Mimbrero; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Jose Angel Amoros Ortiz-Villajos; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2020) Experimental assessment of the atmospheric mercury daily interchange of Epipremnum aureum. Environmental Geochemistry and Health. 42, pp. 3185 - 3198.
Intissar Elmayel; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Efren Garcia Ordiales; Zaouir Elouaer; Eva Maria Garcia Noguero; Jaled Bouzid; Juan Antonio Campos Gallego; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2020) Biogeochemical assessment of affection by mining activity in the mining area of Jebal Trozza mine, Central Tunisia. Environmental Geochemistry and Health. 42, pp. 3529 - 3542.
Jose Ignacio Barquero Peralbo; Sofia Rojas; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Eva Maria Garcia Noguero; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2019) Factors influencing mercury uptake by leaves of stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) in Almadén (Central Spain). Environmental Science and Pollution Research.26, pp. 3129 - 3137.
Sandra Bravo Martin-Consuegra; Efren Garcia-Ordiales; Francisco Jesus Garcia Navarro; Jose angel Amoros Ortiz-Villajos; Caridad Perez de los Reyes; Raimundo Jimenez Ballesta; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Eva Maria Garcia Noguero; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2019) Geochemical distribution of major and trace elements in agricultural soils of Castilla-La Mancha (central Spain): finding criteria for baselines and delimiting regional anomalies. Environmental science and pollution research. 26, pp. 3100 – 3114
Rocio Naharro Mimbrero; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Jose Angel Amoros Ortiz-Villajos; Francisco Jesus Garcia Navarro; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2019) Assessment of mercury uptake routes at the soil-plant-atmosphere interface. Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis (GEEA). 19, pp. 146 - 154.
Efren Garcia Ordiales; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Nieves Roqueñí; Jorge Loredo Perez. (2019) Seasonal and spatial distribution of mercury in stream sediments from Almadén mining district. Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis (GEEA),. 19, pp. 121 – 128
Mari Luz Garcia Lorenzo; Elena Crespo Feo; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; Paula Grau; Isabel Crespo; Ramon Sanchez Donoso. (2019) Assessment of potentially toxic elements in technosols derived from Pb-Zn-Ag mining activities at San Quintín (Ciudad Real, Spain): Some insights into the importance of integral studies to evaluate metal contamination hazards. Minerals. 9, pp. 346 – 365
Rodolfo Fernandez-Martinez; Jose Maria Esbri; Pablo Leon Higueras; Isabel Rucandio. (2019) Comparison of mercury distribution and mobility in soils affected by anthropogenic pollution around chloralkali plants and ancient mining sites. Science of the Total Environment. 671, pp. 1066 – 1076
Jose Maria Esbri; Pablo Leon Higueras; Horea Cacovean. (2018) Usage proposal of a common urban decorative tree (Salix alba L.) to monitor the dispersion of gaseous mercury: a case study from Turda (Romania). Chemosphere. 193, pp. 74 – 81
Juan Antonio Campos Gallego; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Maria Mercedes Madrid Illescas; Rocio Naharro Mimbrero; Jesus Daniel Peco Palacios; Eva Maria Garcia Noguero; Jose Angel Amoros Ortiz-Villajos; Marta Maria Moreno Valencia; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2018) Does mercury presence in soils promote their microbial activity? The Almadenejos case (Almadén mercury mining district, Spain). Chemosphere. 201, pp. 799 – 806
Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Celia Izquierdo; Alba Martinez Coronado; Iva Miteva; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2018) Particulate matter and particulate-bound mercury in a heavily polluted site related to ancient mining and metallurgy. A proposal for dry deposition modelling based on micrometeorological conditions. Environmental Science and Pollution Research.25, pp. 35312 – 35321
Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Efren Garcia Ordiales; Beatriz Gonzalez Corrochano; Miguel Angel López Berdonces; Eva Maria Garcia Noguero; Jacinto Alonso Azcarate; Alba Martinez Coronado. (2017) Potentially harmful elements in soils and holm-oak trees (Quercus ilex L.) growing in mining sites at the Valle de Alcudia Pb-Zn district (Spain). Some clues on plant metal uptake. Journal of geochemical exploration. 182 Part B, pp. 166 – 179
Efren Garcia Ordiales; Jorge Loredo Perez; Stefano Covelli; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Rocio Millan Gomez; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2017) Trace metal pollution in freshwater sediments of the world’s largest mercury mining district: sources, spatial distribution, and environmental implications. Journal of soils and sediments. 17, pp. 1893 - 1904
Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Alba Martinez Coronado; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2016) Temporal variations in Gaseous Elemental Mercury at a contaminated site: Main factors affecting nocturnal maxima in daily cycles. Atmospheric environment. 125, pp. 8 – 14
Alba Martinez Coronado; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2016) Mercury in the atmosphere in a coal- and oil-contaminated city. Temporal cycles with marked variations. Atmospheric environment. 134, pp. 198 - 207
Efren Garcia Ordiales; Stefano Covelli; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Miguel Angel Lopez Berdonces; Jorge Loredo Perez; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2016) Sequential extraction procedure as a tool to investigate PTHE geochemistry and potential geoavailability of reservoir sediments (Almadén mining district, Spain). CATENA. 147, pp. 394 – 403
Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; Jose Angel Amoros Ortiz-Villajos; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Caridad Perez de los Reyes; Miguel Angel López Berdonces; Francisco Jesus Garcia Navarro. (2016) Mercury transfer from soil to olive trees. A comparison of three different contaminated sites. Environmental science and pollution research. 23, pp. 6055 – 6061
Efren Garcia Ordiales; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Stefano Covelli; Miguel Angel Lopez Berdonces; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; Jorge Loredo Perez. (2016) Heavy metal contamination in sediments of an artificial reservoir impacted by long-term mining activity in the Almadén mercury district (Spain). Environmental science and pollution research. 23, pp. 6024 – 6038
Jose Tejero Manzanares; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Ignacio Garrido Sáenz; Roberto Oyarzun Muñoz; Santiago Español Cano. (2015) An estimation of mercury concentrations in the local atmosphere of Almadén (Ciudad Real Province, South-Central Spain) during the 20th Century. Environmental science and pollution research. 22, pp. 4833 – 4841
Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Miguel Angel Lopez Berdonces; Sergio Fernandez Calderón; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; Sergi Diez. (2015) Atmospheric mercury pollution around a chlor-alkali plant in Flix (NE Spain): an integrated analysis. Environmental science and pollution research. 22, pp. 4842 – 4850
Yolanda Porcel Rosa; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Francisco Javier Lillo Ramos; Eva Maria Garcia Noguero; Roberto Oyarzun Muñoz; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2015) Hydrochemistry of Ground Waters from Urban Wells in Almadén (Central Spain): Water Quality Around the World`s Largest Mercury Mining-Metallurgical Complex. Water air and soil pollution. 226, pp. 226 – 250
Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; Roberto Oyarzun Muñoz; Joze Kotnik; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Alba Martinez Coronado; Milena Horvat; Miguel Angel Lopez Berdonces; Willans Ramon Llanos Lazcano; Orlando Vaseli; Barbara Nisi; Nikolay Mashyanov; Vladimir Ryzov; Zcroc Spiric; Nikolai Panichev; Robert Mckrindle; Xinbin Feng; Xuewu Fu; Francisco Javier Lillo Ramos; Jorge Loredo Perez; Maria Eugenia Garcia; Maria Pura Alfonso Abella; Karla S Villegas; Silvia Palacios Ubach; Jorge Oyarzun Muñoz; Hugo Maturana Contardo; Felicia Contreras;Meliton Adams; Sergio Ribeiro Guevara; Luise F Niecenski; Salvatore Giammanco; Jasna Huremovic (2014) A compilation of field surveys on gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) from contrasting environmental settings in Europe, south America, south Africa, and china: separating fads from facts. Environmental geochemistry and health. 36, pp. 713 – 734
Efren Garcia Ordiales; Jorge Loredo Perez; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Miguel Angel Lominchar Izquierdo; Rocio Millan Gomez; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2014) Stream bottom sediments as a mean to assess metal contamination in the historic mining district of Almadén (Spain). International Journal of Mining Reclamation and Environment. 28, pp. 357 – 376
Beatriz Gonzalez Corrochano; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Jacinto Alonso Azcarate; Alba Martinez Coronado; Verónica Jurado; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2014) Environmental geochemistry of a highly polluted area: the la union pb-zn mine (Castilla-la mancha region, Spain). Journal of geochemical exploration. 144, pp. 345 – 354
Jose Angel Amoros Ortiz-Villajos; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Francisco Jesus Garcia Navarro; Caridad Perez de los Reyes; Sandra Bravo Martin-Consuegra; Begoña Villaseñor; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2014) Variations in mercury and other trace elements contents in soil and in vine leaves from the Almadén Hg-mining district. Journal of soils and sediments. 4, pp. 773 – 777
Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Roberto Oyarzun Muñoz; Willans Ramon Llanos Lazcano; Alba Martinez Coronado; Francisco Javier Lillo Ramos; Miguel Angel Lopez Berdonces; Eva Maria Garcia Noguero. (2013) Industrial and natural sources of gaseous elemental mercury in the Almadén district (Spain): an updated report on this issue after the ceasing of mining and metallurgical activities in 2003 and major land reclamation works. Environmental research. 125, pp. 197 – 208
Orlando Vaseli; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; Barbara Nisi; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Jacopo Cabassi; Alba Martinez Coronado; Franco Tassi; Danielle Rappuoli. (2013) Distribution of gaseous hg in the mercury mining district of mt. Amiata (central Italy): a geochemical survey prior the reclamation project. Environmental research. 125, pp. 179 – 187
Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; Jose angel Amoros Ortiz-Villajos; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Francisco Jesus Garcia Navarro; Caridad Perez de los Reyes; Guadalupe Moreno. (2012) Time and space variations in mercury and other trace element contents in olive tree leaves from the Almadén Hg-mining district. Journal of geochemical exploration. 123, pp. 143 – 151
Sergi Diez; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Aurelio Tobias; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; Alba Martinez Coronado. (2011) Determinants of exposure to mercury in hair from inhabitants of the largest mercury mine in the world. Chemosphere. 84, pp. 571 - 577
Alba Martinez Coronado; Roberto Oyarzun Muñoz; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Willans Ramon Llanos Lazcano; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2011) Sampling high to extremely high hg concentrations at the cerco de Almadenejos, Almadén mining district (Spain): the old metallurgical precinct (1794 to 1861 ad) and surrounding areas. Journal of geochemical exploration. 109, pp. 70 – 77
Roberto Oyarzun Muñoz; Francisco Javier Lillo Ramos; Jose Angel Lopez Garcia; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Paloma Cubas; Willans Ramon Llanos Lazcano; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2011) The mazarrón pb-(ag)-zn mining district (se Spain) as a source of heavy metal contamination in a semiarid realm: geochemical data from mine wastes, soils, and stream sediments. Journal of geochemical exploration. 109, pp. 113 - 124
Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Anna Bernaus Dabra; Marta Avila; David Kocman; Eva Maria Garcia Noguero; Beatriz Guerrero; Xavier Gaona; Rodrigo Alvarez; Gustavo Perez Gonzalez; Manuel Valiente Malmagro; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; Milena Horvat; Jorge Loredo. (2010) XANES speciation on mercury on three mining districts - Almadén, Asturias (Spain), Idria (Slovenia). Journal of synchrotron radiation. 17, pp. 179 – 186
Willans Ramon Llanos Lazcano; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; Roberto Oyarzun Muñoz; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Miguel Angel Lopez Berdonces; Eva Maria Garcia Noguero; Alba Martinez Coronado. (2010) The mersade (European Union) project: testing procedures and environmental impact for the safe storage of liquid mercury in the Almadén district, Spain. Science of the total Environment. 408, pp. 4901 – 4905
Roberto Oyarzun Muñoz; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Javier Pizarro. (2007) Mercury in air and plant specimens in herbaria: a pilot study at the maf herbarium in Madrid (Spain). Science of the total Environment. 387, pp. 346 – 352
Jose Antonio Molina Abril; Roberto Oyarzun Muñoz; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras. (2006) Mercury accumulation in soils and plants in the Almadén mining district, Spain: one of the most contaminated sites on earth. Environmental geochemistry and health. 28, pp. 487 – 498
Anna Bernaus Dabra; Xavier Gaona; Jose Maria Esbri Victor; Pablo Leon Higueras Higueras; G Falkenberg; Manuel Valiente Malmagro; Kenneth Davis. (2006) Microprobe techniques for speciation analysis and geochemical characterization of mine environments: the mercury district of Almadén in Spain. Environmental science & technology. 40, pp. 4090 – 4095
Pablo Higueras; Roberto Oyarzun; Javier Lillo; Juan Carlos Sánchez-Hernández; José Antonio Molina; José María Esbrí; Saturnino Lorenzo. (2006) The Almadén district (Spain): Anatomy of one of the world's largest Hg-contaminated sites. Science of the Total Environment, 356 (1-3) 112-124