Monitoring of traffic-related pollution in a province of central Italy with transplanted lichen Pseudovernia furfuracea.

The ability of transplanted lichen Pseudevernia furfuracea to biomonitor specific airborne pollutants (heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons­PAHs) was investigated at five stations with different traffic densities in Viterbo, Italy. Exposed lichen showed high levels of all analysed pollutants; greatest values were for Zn (147­252 µg/g dw), Pb (24.9­34.6 µg/g dw), fluoranthene (37­107 ng/g dw), pyrene (23­124 ng/g dw). Comparison between contaminants concentration in lichens before and after exposure showed "accumulation" or "severe accumulation" rates in more than 90% of each substance. Besides, Pseudevernia furfuracea accumulated airborne PAHs in a manner that was proportional to traffic density.

Contribuição ao estudo fitoquímico de Dorstenia multiformis Miquel (Moraceae) com abordagem em atividade antioxidante / Contribution to the phytochemical study of Dorstenia multiformis Miquel (Moraceae) with approach in antioxidant activity

Conhecida como carapiá, a espécie Dorstenia multiformis Miquel, Moraceae, é largamente empregada na medicina popular contra doenças de pele. Neste trabalho determinou-se a atividade antioxidante de substâncias isoladas, do extrato etanólico, e frações hexano, clorofórmio e acetato de etila. Todas as amostras testadas apresentaram atividade antioxidante, sendo que a fração clorofórmio foi a que apresentou maior atividade antioxidante.

The species Dorstenia multiformis Miquel, Moraceae, known as "carapiá", is largely employed in folk medicine against skin diseases. In this paper the antioxidant activity of isolated substances, from the ethanol extract, and hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions has been determined. All of the tested samples showed antioxidant activity, and the chloroform fraction was the one that presented the largest antioxidant activity.

Exposure to organic solvents among handicraft car painters: A pilot study in Italy.

Car repair painters usually experience long-term exposure to many different solvents. In Italy, the greater part of car painting shops are "handicraft", i.e. 2-5 workers and small premises. Usually workers do not have specific duties, but everyone takes part in all different operations. Moreover, working time is not standardized but varies according to the workload, working methods tend to be traditional, and compliance to individual protection devices is poor. We have hence assessed, on a sample of 8 italian handicraft car painting shops, the exposure levels to solvents, implementing three classic exposure monitoring methods: environmental sampling with charcoal tubes, personal sampling with diffusive charcoal samplers, and urinary determination of unmetabolised solvents. A simple regression analysis was performed to evaluate relationships between the three series of data. The solvents analysed were toluene, ethylbenzene, 1, 2-dichloropropane, n-butylacetate, n-amylacetate, xylene isomers, ethylacetate, and benzene. Benzene was included due to several factors, among others its presence (1% v/v) in the italian unleaded gasoline. Benzene was found in all shops, at levels around or higher than the 8-h time-weighted average limit (8-h TLV-TWA). Other solvents were found in the different shops at various levels, 10(-2) - 10(-1) times the 8-h TLV-TWA. Air concentrations of toluene, n-butylacetate, xylenes, and benzene were positively correlated with urinary levels of the parent compounds, while a negative correlation was found for ethylbenzene. The health implications of workers' exposure level was briefly discussed.

Nonylphenols in freshwaters of the hydrologic system of an Italian district: association with human activities and evaluation of human exposure.

A sampling campaign for the determination of concentrations of nonylphenol isomers (NPs) in freshwaters and sediments of the hydrologic system of the Rieti district (central Italy) was conducted from 2002 to 2003. Eighteen sampling points, selected on the basis of the different human activities in the vicinity, were monitored; six series of water samples (from June 2002 to February 2003) and one of sediment samples (summer 2002) were analyzed by GC/MS. There was a direct relationship between concentrations of NPs and the presence of urban or industrial activities near the sampling point. However, concentrations of NPs in water were in the range of < 0.1-1.4 microg l(-1), and their presence limited to short distances from the sources of contamination. Accumulation factors in sediment samples ranged from 10(2) to 5x10(3).