Petrović M

Petrović M

Institut Català de Recerca de l'Aigua

Experimental Sciences & Mathematics

ICREA Research Professor since December 2005. PhD in Chemistry (1995), Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, University of Zagreb, Croatia. From 1999-2011 research scientist at the Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute for Environmental Assessment and Water Studies (IDAEA-CSIC), Barcelona. Since July 2011 senior researcher at the Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Girona, Spain. At ICRA she is the head of Water Qualty Area and responsible for the research line Contaminants in water treatment processes. She has participated in over 20 EU projects since 1999; published 210 papers in SCI journals (Hirsch Index 69); edited 8 books and published 36 book chapters. She was Highly Cited Researcher (ranked in the top 1% by citations) in 2018 in the field of Environment/Ecology and in 2019 in the cross-field according to Clarivate Analytics.


Research interests

My main expertise is in the field of analytical environmental chemistry, specifically analysis of trace organic contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupting compounds and surfactants by advanced mass spectrometric techniques (liquid chromatography-tandem and hybrid MS) and the study of their fate and behaviour in the aquatic environment and during wastewater and drinking water treatment. Specific research lines are: (i) suspect screening, non-target analysis and fingerprinting of organic substances in wastewater and receiving environment, (ii) the study of biotic and abiotic transformation of emerging contaminants, identification of transformation products, elucidation of transformation pathways; (iii) the study of occurrence and distribution of emerging contaminants in aquatic environment and environmental risk assessment and (iv) sustainable wastewater management; application of innovative wastewater treatment technologies; innovative practices for reuse of reclaimed waters.

Selected publications

– Mandaric L, Kalogianni E, Skoulikidis N, Petrović M & Sabater S 2019, ‘Contamination patterns and attenuation of pharmaceuticals in a temporary Mediterranean river’, Science Of The Total Environment, 647, 561 – 569.

– Pico Y, Belenguer V, Corcellas C, Diaz-Cruz MS, Eljarrat E, Farre M, Gago-Ferrero P, Huerta B, Navarro-Ortega A, Petrović M, Rodriguez-Mozaz S, Sabater L, Santin G & Barcelo D 2019, ‘Contaminants of emerging concern in freshwater fish from four Spanish Rivers’, Science Of The Total Environment, 659, 1186 – 1198.

– Gros M, Mas-Pla J, Boy-Roura M, Geli I, Domingo F & Petrović M 2019, ‘Veterinary pharmaceuticals and antibiotics in manure and slurry and their fate in amended agricultural soils: Findings from an experimental field site (Baix Emporda, NE Catalonia)’, Science Of The Total Environment, 654, 1337 – 1349.

– Farre JM, Jaen-Gil A, Hawkes J, Petrović M & Catalan N 2019, ‘Orbitrap molecular fingerprint of dissolved organic matter in natural waters and its relationship with NDMA formation potential’, Science Of The Total Environment, 670, 1019 – 1027.

– Gusmaroli L, Buttiglieri G & Petrović M 2019, ‘The EU watch list compounds in the Ebro delta region: Assessment of sources, river transport, and seasonal variations’, Environmental Pollution, 253, 606 – 615.

– Gros M, Marti E, Luis Balcazar JL, Boy-Roura M, Busquets A, Colon J, Sanchez-Melsio A, Lekunberri I, Borreg CM, Ponsa S & Petrović M 2019, ‘Fate of pharmaceuticals and antibiotic resistance genes in a full-scale on-farm livestock waste treatment plant’, Journal Of Hazardous Materials, 378, UNSP 120716.

– Čelić M, Gros M, Farré M, Barceló D & Petrović M 2019, Pharmaceuticals as chemical markers of wastewater contamination in the vulnerable area of the Ebro Delta (Spain)Science of the Total Environment 652, pp. 952-963


Selected research activities

Editor in chief Trends in Environmental Analytical Chemsitry (Elsevier), impact factor 5,57 (2018)  ranked 8/84 in the category Chemistry/Analytical