To motivate our discussion, we consider a 1+1 dimensional scalar field interacting with a static Coulomb-type background, so that the spectrum of quantum fluctuations is given by a second-order differential operator on a single coordinate r with a singular coefficient proportional to 1/r. We find that the spectral functions of this operator present an interesting behavior: the zeta function has multiple poles in the complex plane; accordingly, logarithms of the proper time appear in the heat-trace expansion. As a consequence, the ζ function does not provide a finite regularization of the effective action. This work extends similar results previously derived in the context of conical singularities.Instituto de Física La Plata