Prof. Dr. Philippe BEHRA
Full Professor in Environmental and Analytical Chemistry
Laboratoire de Chimie Agro-industrielle
Affiliation
Laboratoire de Chimie Agro-industrielle, LCA – UMR 1010 INRAE / Toulouse INP
Toulouse INP-ENSIACET
France
Contact & Links
Presentation Topic
To be updated
Short Biography
Philippe Behra has been Full Professor at the Institut National Polytechnique of Toulouse, France, in analytical and environmental chemistry since 2000. After his education in mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, he obtained an engineering degree in environment and water sciences from Engees, the National School for Water and Environmental Engineering of Strasbourg, France.
He then obtained a PhD in fluid mechanics and water technology from the University of Strasbourg. During his PhD, he was one of the first researchers to demonstrate the transport of colloids through porous media and was a pioneer in developing the concept of reactive transport.
He spent three years at Eawag – Aquatic Research near Zürich, Switzerland, working on atmospheric water chemistry with Profs. L. Sigg and W. Stumm, with whom he wrote a textbook on aquatic chemistry, Chimie des milieux aquatiques, 5th edition, Dunod, Paris, 2014. He was a research fellow at CNRS, the French National Centre for Scientific Research, in Strasbourg before moving to Toulouse.
As a physical chemist, he focuses on the behaviour of contaminants in water, soil and atmosphere, as well as the role of water in solid-liquid reactivity from the molecular to the watershed scale. Since 2018, he has led, with 50 researchers, a project on the consequences of past gold and arsenic mining activities in south-western France.
He has also been studying tea since 2000, particularly the role of water composition in the chemical composition of the infusion and its organo-sensory properties. Since 2018, he has collaborated with colleagues from Nguyen Tat Thanh University in Ho Chi Minh City on tea-related projects.
Since 2009, Prof. Philippe Behra has also been involved at the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi, USTH, Vietnam-France University, as co-director of the Franco-Vietnamese Master’s programme in Applied Environmental Sciences.
Research Interests & Expertise
Water and aquatic chemistry; reactive transport modelling; reactivity at solid-gas-liquid interfaces; analytical chemistry; method development and speciation of trace contaminants.
Research Impact
| Key Performance Indicator | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Professor at Institut National Polytechnique of Toulouse | Since 2000 |
| Research on Tea Chemistry | Since 2000 |
| Gold and Arsenic Mining Impact Project | 50 researchers |
| Collaboration with Nguyen Tat Thanh University | Since 2018 |
| Co-director of Franco-Vietnamese Master’s Programme in Applied Environmental Sciences | Since 2009 |
* His work focuses on contaminants in water, soil and atmosphere, reactive transport, aquatic chemistry and tea-related environmental chemistry projects.
Selected Publications (Max. 5)
- Heydon, M.; Philippe, M.; Antoine, J.-M.; Viers, J.; Aussaguel, F.; Calas, A.; Behra, P.; Schreck, E. Distribution of arsenic concentrations in soils historically impacted by mining activities: Cross-validation of pXRF methodology and application to the Orbiel valley, France. Catena, 259, 2025, 109389. [DOI]
- Ly, T. K.; Ho, T. D.; Nhu-Trang, T. T.; Behra, P. Determination of 400 pesticide residues in green tea leaves by UPLC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS combined with QuEChERS extraction and mixed-mode SPE clean-up method. Food Chemistry, 326, 2020, 126928. [DOI]
- Charrière, D.; Behra, Ph. Water sorption on coals. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 344, 2010, pp. 460–467. [DOI]
- Bonnissel-Gissinger, P.; Alnot, M.; Ehrhardt, J. J.; Behra, Ph. Surface oxidation of pyrite as a function of pH. Environmental Science & Technology, 32, 1998, pp. 2839–2845. [DOI]
- Behra, Ph.; Sigg, L. Evidence for redox cycling of iron in atmospheric water droplets. Nature, 344, 1990, pp. 419–421. [DOI]