Elisa García Gómez defended her PhD thesis on 17 November 2025 at ICRA. The thesis, entitled “Evaluación de contaminantes orgánicos en los vertidos generados por el transporte marítimo”, was supervised by Mira Petrović and Meritxell Gros.

The main objective of the thesis was to expand the knowledge of the chemical composition of scrubber wastewater and greywater discharges, as well as the potential risks they may pose to the marine environment. In scrubber waters, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons typical of fossil fuels were detected, including their alkylated derivatives, which are not yet included in official priority contaminant lists but appear in high and concerning concentrations. It was also confirmed that factors such as fuel type or the ship’s operating conditions influence the quantity and composition of these discharges. In addition, other contaminants associated with fossil fuels—such as biphenyls, dibenzofurans, and dibenzothiophenes (including some of their alkylated derivatives)—were identified, providing new information on the compounds present in these wastewaters.

For more details, see here or watch the defense recording here.