Mercury (Hg) and methylmercury (MeHg) in sediment and biota: A case study in a lagoon in Central Italy.

A quantification of total mercury (Hgtot) and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in sediment and mussels was carried out in the east basin of the Orbetello lagoon in order to assess their bioaccumulation potential. The sediment was sampled in four macroareas, mussels were transplanted in the same sites and collected after seven weeks. The results show that Hgtot concentrations in sediments exceeded (0.21-16.9 mg/kg dry weight (dw)) the environmental quality standard of the Italian legislation (0.3 mg/kg dw). The Hgtot concentration in mussels (0.050-0.324 mg/kg wet weight (ww)) does not exceed the limit values (0.5 mg/kg ww) of the European food legislation. The biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) derived for MeHg (80-306.7) and a biomagnification factor (BMF) greater than 1 for Hgtot demonstrate that in the lagoon, these compounds can be transferred in the upper levels of the trophic chain and pose a risk to human health.

Cancer incidence in Priolo, Sicily: a spatial approach for estimation of industrial air pollution impact.

The territory around the industrial Sicilian area of Priolo, Italy, has been defined as a contaminated site (CS) of national priority for remediation because of diffuse environmental contamination caused by large industrial settlements. The present study investigates the spatial distribution of cancer into the CS territory (period 1999-2006). Different geographical methods used for the evaluation of the impact of industrial air pollutants were adopted. Using the database of Syracuse Province Cancer Registry, gender-specific standardised incidence ratios were calculated for 35 tumour sites for the CS overall and for each municipality included in the CS. A cluster analysis for 17 selected neoplasms was performed at micro-geographical level. The identification of the priority index contaminants (PICs) present in environmental matrices and a review of their carcinogenicity have been performed and applied in the interpretation of the findings. The area has a higher cancer incidence with respect to the provincial population, in particular excess is registered among both genders of lung, bladder and breast cancers as well as skin melanoma and pleural mesothelioma and there is an a priori evidence of association with the exposure to PICs. The study highlights the need to provide different approaches in CSs where several exposure pathways might be relevant for the population. The presence of potential sources of asbestos exposure deserves specific concern.

[Environmental characterization and exposure evaluation]. / Prospettive nella caratterizzazione ambientale e valutazione dell'esposizione.

As certified by the World Health Organization (WHO), exposure assessment represents a key stage in epidemiological studies that aim to evaluate health risks linked to contaminated sites. The assessment procedure is contingent on the availability of data relating to environmental and food compartments and on any other available scientific evidence, such as data on toxicity and human biomonitoring. This chapter outlines the procedure that should be adopted in order to conduct an accurate exposure assessment and presents three case studies involving different types of contaminated sites where this approach was applied.

Bioaccumulation and biomagnification potential of pharmaceuticals with a focus to the aquatic environment.

Pharmaceuticals, among the emerging contaminants, are one of the most relevant groups of substances in aquatic ecosystems due to universal use, their chemico-physical properties and known mode of action in aquatic organisms at low concentrations. After administration many drugs and their transformation products are only retained to some extent in wastewater treatment plants therefore entering the aquatic environment in considerable high amounts. The yearly consumption to treat human and animal diseases, also in livestock and aquaculture was estimated to be hundred thousands tons per year leading to high concentrations in surface water of developed countries. Mostly, pharmaceutical residues in effluents of wastewater treatment plants or in the water column of surface waters have been reported, but data about concentrations in the aquatic biota, partitioning of pharmaceuticals to biosolids, soils, and sediments and the bioaccumulation properties are often lacking. Chronic and subtle effects can be expected when aquatic organisms are long term exposed by pseudo-persistent, persistent and accumulative compounds. This review aims to summarize the current state of research about the fate of pharmaceuticals regarding bioconcentration, bioaccumulation and potential biomagnification in aquatic ecosystems. More comprehensive approaches for the evaluation of environmental (ERA) and human health risk assessment (HRA) are included and analytical methods required to detect bioaccumulation of pharmaceuticals are discussed.

The impact measure of solid waste management on health: the hazard index.

The risk associated with waste exposure depends on the level of emissions arising from waste disposal and from the effects of these emissions on human health (dose-response). In 2007 an epidemiological study was conducted in two Italian provinces of the Campania Region, namely Naples and Caserta, with the aim of assessing the health effects deriving from exposure to waste. In these studies, the important aspect is the population exposure assessment, in relation to the different types of waste disposal. The Regional Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPA Campania) has identified and characterized the various authorized/unauthorized dumping sites in the provinces of Naples and Caserta. Most of the waste disposal used are illegal and invisible (sunken or buried); thus, the toxic substances therein contained are unknown and difficult to identify. In order to locate the possible areas exposed to a higher waste-related health risk, a synthetical "hazard index" (at the municipality level) was designed. By means of GIS, the number of waste impact areas was identified for each of the 196 municipalities in the two provinces; then, Census data (ISTAT 2001) was used to estimate the proportion of the population living in the impact areas. The synthetical hazard index at municipality level accounts for three elements: a) the intrinsic characterization of the waste disposal, determining the way in which the pollutant is released; b) the impact area of the dumping site (within 1 km radius), same areas are influenced by more than one site; c) the density of the population living in the "impact area" surrounding the waste disposal site.