High Risk Of Environmental Crisis Research Articles

Effects of bio-chemo-mechanical processes on the properties of contaminated marine sediments

A detailed multi-scale investigation of the geotechnical, chemical and mineralogical properties was conducted on contaminated sediment samples collected within the Mar Piccolo, a marine basin in the south of Italy. The basin is located close to one of the most important industrial sites in Europe, which has also been declared ‘at high risk of environmental crisis’ and prioritised for remediation activities. A multidisciplinary investigation campaign showed that the samples collected close to the sea floor are characterised by high values of both heavy metals and organic pollutants and by the presence of significant amount of organic matter. Several samples in the top layer exhibited peculiar geotechnical properties, in terms of plasticity and activity indexes, compressibility and hydraulic permeability. While the prime suspect for such unconventional behaviour was chemo-mechanical coupling between the soil skeleton and contaminants, it turned out that the biogeochemical degradation of organic matter and the presence of microfossils and diatoms is likely to affect significantly the micro to macro behaviour of polluted marine sediments.

Marine Sediments from a Contaminated Site: Geotechnical Properties and Chemo-Mechanical Coupling Processes

The city of Taranto in the south of Italy is one of the areas declared as “at high risk of environmental crisis” by the Italian government because it represents one of the most complex industrial sites in Europe, located near urban areas of high population density. The rich ecosystem of the Mar Piccolo basin, located at north of Taranto, started exhibiting unconfutable signs of environmental pollution, confirmed by the high concentrations of organic and inorganic contaminants. Among the different aspects involved in the environmental studies aiming at the basin remediation, this paper focuses on submarine sediments and reports some results of the geotechnical laboratory investigations which made also use of non-standard equipment and revised procedures for data interpretation in order to take account of the sediments’ contamination and heterogeneities. The geotechnical laboratory tests show that, despite the Mar Piccolo recent Holocene sediments having similar origin and composition to those of the Sub-Apennine clay basic formation, their behavioral facets appear to be altered by the presence of contaminants of both natural and anthropogenic origin. Results of washing tests are also presented as a first attempt to quantify the effects of chemo-mechanical coupling processes on the plasticity properties of the shallow sediments.

Lead isotopic fingerprint in human scalp hair: The case study of Iglesias mining district (Sardinia, Italy)

The Sulcis-Iglesiente district (SW Sardinia, Italy) has been, until recently, one of the most important Italian polymetallic mining areas for the extraction of lead. Epidemiological studies conducted over several decades have indicated this site at high risk of environmental crisis with possible adverse effects on the public health. In the present paper we discuss Pb isotope signatures in human scalp hair and road dust collected from the Sulcis-Iglesiente area in order to trace the exposure of populations to potential Pb sources. A total of 23 determinations (20 on hair samples and 3 on road dust samples) of lead isotope ratios (206Pb/207Pb and 208Pb/206Pb) were carried out. The obtained results were integrate with literature data regarding the total content of Pb in hair samples from the same study area. Hair from children living in Sant'Antioco exhibited lead isotope ratios in the ranges 1.152–1.165 for 206Pb/207Pb and 2.101–2.108 for 208Pb/206Pb, while hair samples from Iglesias resulted less radiogenic: 206Pb/207Pb~1.147–1.154 and 208Pb/206Pb~2.106–2.118. These values pointed to a multi-source mixing between the less radiogenic sources, corresponding to the Pb ore deposits, and the more radiogenic sources identified in local background.

Social security archives to improve cohort environmental studies with record linkage procedures.

Introduction The use of record linkage studies to conduct large cohort studies represent a valid instrument to obtain useful data for epidemiological surveillance. In the environmental cohort studies, the analysis of occupational exposure to carcinogenic agents related to industrial site, is essential to identify the role of environmental and occupational risk factors in areas “at high risk of environmental crisis”. Methods A methodology based on record linkage of computerized archives is adapted and tested for the analyses of occupational contribution to diseases, implemented by record linkage procedure based on administrative archives such as Italian National Institute for Social Security (INPS). This methodology has been implemented in epidemiological cohort studies to evaluate the confounding effect of occupational exposure. Cox mortality hazard ratios were calculated including in the analysis exposure to industrial source emissions (PM10) and traffic emission (NOx), distance from the harbor, occupational exposure, gender, age, socioeconomic status (SEP). Results Over 71.000 people living in the area of Civitavecchia were enrolled in the cohort in 1996 and followed-up until 2013. A positive association between PM10 and cancer mortality was found. The effect of occupational exposure as confounding was evident for certain type of cancer where the association with specific carcinogen exposures has been reported in literature. For example HR before adjusting for occupational exposure was 3.69 for pleura (95% CI 1.45-9.43) and 1.21 for lung (95% CI 1.01-1.44); HR after adjusting for occupational exposure was 3.58 for pleura (95% CI 1.39-9.22) and 1.18 for lung (95% CI 0.99-1.40). Conclusions This innovative approach, based on the use of currently available administrative data proved to be reliable in identifying and monitoring cancer risks due to occupational origin and supporting environmental cohort studies in assessing occupational history of enrolled subjects.

EFFECT OF THE APULIA AIR QUALITY PLAN ON PM10 AND BENZO (A) PYRENE EXCEEDANCES

During the last years, several exceedances of PM10 and benzo(a)pyrene limit values exceedances were recorded in Taranto, a city in southern Italy included in so-called areas at high risk of environmental crisis because of the presence of a heavy industrial district including the largest steel factory in Europe. A study of these critical pollution events showed a close correlation with the wind coming from the industrial site to the adjacent urban area. During 2011, at monitoring sites closes to the industrial area, at least the 65% of PM10 exceedances were related to wind day conditions (characterized by at least 3 consecutive hours of wind coming from 270-360±2deg with an associated speed higher than 7 m/s). For this reason, in 2012 an integrated environmental permit and a regional air quality plan were enacted to reduce pollutant emissions from industrial plants. A study of PM10 levels registered during windy days was performed during critical episodes of pollution highlighting that the difference between windy days and no windy days’ concentrations reduces from 2012 to 2014 in industrial site. False negative events (verified ex-post by observed meteorological data) not identified by the forecast model - did not show a significant influence on PM concentration: PM10 values were comparable and sometimes lower than windy days levels. It is reasonable that the new scenario with a relevant reduction emissions form Ilva plant reduced the pollutants contribution from industrial area, contributing to PM10 levels decrease, also in false negative events.

Ecosystem functioning approach applied to a large contaminated coastal site: the study case of the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea).

Knowledge on ecosystem functioning can largely contribute to promote ecosystem-based management and its application. The Mar Piccolo of Taranto is a densely populated area at a high risk of environmental crisis. Here, planktonic primary production (PP) and heterotrophic prokaryotic production (HPP) were measured as proxies of functioning in three sampling sites located in two inlets at different levels of industrial contamination, during three sampling surveys (June 2013, February and April 2014). To have a better overall view and provide some insights into the benthic-pelagic coupling, we integrated PP and HPP in the water column with those in the sediments and then discussed this with the origin of the organic matter pools based on analysis of stable isotopes. Heavy metals and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) were also analysed in the surface (1cm) sediment layer and related to the overall ecosystem functioning. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis, based on the main data, clearly separated the second inlet from the first one, more severely impacted by anthropogenic activities. The stable isotope mixing model suggested the prevalent terrestrial/riverine origin of the particulate organic matter pools (mean 45.5%) in all sampling periods, whereas phytoplankton contributed up to 29% in February. Planktonic PP and HPP rates followed the same pattern over the entire study period and seemed to respond to phytoplankton dynamics confirming this community as the main driver for the C cycling in the water column. On the contrary, benthic PP rates were almost negligible while HPP rates were lower or comparable to those in the water column indicating that although the Mar Piccolo is very shallow, the water column is much more productive than the surface sediments. The sediment resuspension is likely responsible for a pulsed input of contaminants into the water column. However, their interference with the proper functioning of the pelagic ecosystem seems to be limited to the bottom layers.

Oxidative stress and DNA repair and detoxification gene expression in adolescents exposed to heavy metals living in the Milazzo-Valle del Mela area (Sicily, Italy)

BackgroundThe area of Milazzo-Valle del Mela (Sicily, Italy) is considered at high risk of environmental crisis by regional authorities. ObjectiveTo measure oxidative-stress, DNA repair and detoxification genes in school children living near the industrial area and in age-matched controls. MethodsThe parent study was a biomonitoring investigation evaluating heavy metal urine levels in 226 children aged 12–14 years, living in the high risk area, and in 29 age-matched controls living 45 km far from the industrial site. In the present study 67 exposed adolescents and 29 controls were included. Samples were analyzed for urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8OHdG) levels, and gene expression of OGG1 (DNA repair gene), NQO1, ST13, and MT1A (detoxifying genes). ResultsUrinary cadmium was higher (p = 0.0004) in exposed [geometric mean, 0.46 µg/L; 25th–75th percentile: 0.3–0.56] than in control adolescents [geometric mean, 0.26 µg/L; 25th–75th percentile: 0.2–0.3]. Chromium was also significantly elevated in exposed [geometric mean, 1.52 µg/L; 25th–75th percentile: 1.19–1.93] compared with controls [geometric mean, 1.25 µg/L; 25th–75th percentile: 1.05–1.48; p = 0.02]. Urinary 8-OHdG concentration was greater in exposed than in controls (71.49 vs 61.87 µg/L, p = 0.02), and it was correlated with cadmium levels (r = 0.46, p < 0.0001), and with the combined exposure index (r = 0.43, p < 0.0001). Moreover, cadmium levels showed a robust correlation with OGG1 and MT1A gene expression levels (r = 0.44, p < 0.0001; r = 0.39, p < 0.0001, respectively). Finally, OGG1 and MT1A were over-expressed in adolescents from Milazzo-Valle del Mela area compared with controls (p = 0.0004; p < 0.0001, respectively). ConclusionsContinuous exposure at relatively low concentrations of heavy metals is associated with increased oxidative DNA damage and impaired expression of DNA repair and detoxification genes in adolescents.

Policies to clean up toxic industrial contaminated sites of Gela and Priolo: a cost-benefit analysis.

BackgroundCost-benefit analysis is a transparent tool to inform policy makers about the potential effect of regulatory interventions, nevertheless its use to evaluate clean-up interventions in polluted industrial sites is limited. The two industrial areas of Gela and Priolo in Italy were declared "at high risk of environmental crisis" in 1990. Since then little has been done to clean the polluted sites and reduce the health outcomes attributable to pollution exposure. This study, aims to quantify the monetary benefits resulting from clean-up interventions in the contaminated sites of Gela and Priolo.MethodsA damage function approach was used to estimate the number of health outcomes attributable to industrial pollution exposure. Extensive one way analyses and probabilistic analyses were conducted to investigate the sensitivity of results to different model assumptions.ResultsIt has been estimated that, on average, 47 cases of premature death, 281 cases of cancer and 2,702 cases of non-cancer hospital admission could be avoided each year by removing environmental exposure in these two areas. Assuming a 20 year cessation lag and a 4% discount rate we calculate that the potential monetary benefit of removing industrial pollution is €3,592 million in Priolo and €6,639 million in Gela.ConclusionsGiven the annual number of health outcomes attributable to pollution exposure the effective clean-up of Gela and Priolo should be prioritised. This study suggests that clean-up policies costing up to €6,639 million in Gela and €3,592 million in Priolo would be cost beneficial. These two amounts are notably higher than the funds allocated thus far to clean up the two sites, €127.4 million in Gela and €774.5 million in Priolo, implying that further economic investments - even considerable ones - could still prove cost beneficial.

An Update of Mortality in a High Environmental Risk Area of Tuscany Region (Italy)

P-038 Introduction: The study area was identified as “at high risk of environmental crisis area” by the Italian Ministry of Environment in 1986. In such a territory relevant chemical plants were operating since the 1950s, some of them were decomissioned after severe accidents happened in the mid 1980s. Critical mortality profile of the area in the period 1990–1994 was reported in a previous descriptive study. Objectives: The epidemiological descriptive study was carried out in order to describe the mortality in the study area at high risk of environmental crisis of Italy, during the period 1995–2000, and to investigate the differences with the mortality reported for the period 1990–1994 in the same area. Material and Methods: Mortality for all causes and for 30 specific causes of death in the period 1995–2000 at the level of municipality were analysed, for causes of death for both sexes, using standardized mortality ratios adjusted for age and deprivation index. The comparison with the mortality observed over the 1990–1994 period in the same municipalities was carried out using ratios between directly standardized rates by age classes. The causes of mortality for which a statistically significant excess was found, were investigated using a spatial analysis on a pool of neighbouring municipalities. Results: The study confirms statistically significant excesses for the total mortality and mortality for several causes, particularly for respiratory system, cirrhosis, tumors of liver and lung in males. New statistically significant excesses emerges for tumors of larynx and pleura. The comparison between the mortality observed over the period 1995–2000 and over the period 1990–1994 has showed statistically significant decreases regarding the mortality for all causes and for several specific causes, but also significant increases for tumors of liver and blood. Conclusions: These results confirm the health impact of occupational and environmental exposures in populations living in areas defined “at high-risk of environmental crisis”, including industrial sites and reclamation area. The health adverse effects are more serious in deprivated areas, and remain critical throughout a large number of years after the closure of polluting industrial plants. The results of the study draw the attention to the need to promote actions addressed to modify life-styles at risk, to ameliorate socio-economic conditions, to mantain a constant control on environment, also through a specific environmental epidemiological surveillance to monitor the impacts of the reclamation procedures in place or already completed.

Mortality Analysis in a City at High Risk of Environmental Crisis, 1970-1999

P-070 Introduction: A study is on-going in a city with a high level of air pollution due to heavy industries (steel plant including coke oven shops, oil refinery, cement plant etc.) located very near the residential area, since early '70. A shipyard and a navy military base are present in the city since the beginning of last century, employing a large number of workers. WHO has defined the area at high risk of environmental crisis, analyzing some mortality causes in the 1980s. Methods: A mortality data set for all residents (200.000 inhabitants) were built for years 1970–1999, now updating to 2004. Mortality data came from two different sources: 1970–1994 from National Institute of Statistics and 1998–99 from LHU Registry. A classical mortality analysis has been conducted, for the period 1970–99, considering five-years periods, crossing censuses used as rate denominators. SMR (ref.pop. Region 1970–94), and direct standardized rate (DSR) (ref.pop. European), have been computed to investigate on mortality time trend. Analyses have been done only by sex and age, and many causes have been explored. Results: General mortality in the city shows higher values than the regional ones in all periods and in both sexes. This is clearly evident either in males for mortality due to all cancers, cancer of the liver, lung, pleura, bladder, non Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), multiple myeloma (MM) either in females for mortality due to all cancers, cancer of the lung, pleura, breast, NHL, MM and respiratory diseases. Since 1990–94, in both sexes, mortality for all cancers is increasing rapidly and in 1998–99 males values are higher (DSR:269.2 deaths/ 100.000 inhab) than those for cardiovascular diseases (DSR:242.8 deaths/ 100.000 inhab). Female mortality increases with time for various causes. Discussion and Conclusions: The wide period investigated shows high mortality levels already in the '70 especially for pathologies linked to workplace exposure, for men, like cancer of lung, pleura and bladder, and likely linked to the presence of the shipyard and the navy military base. In the 1980s the level of air pollution has highly increased and this could be associated with increasing levels of cancers and respiratory diseases mortality observed also among women. Due to the peculiar geographical situation, exposure levels to air pollutants are almost identical in the whole area and no seasonality appears in the daily time trends of air pollutant, as a recent study on short-term effect of air pollution have shown.

Excesses of Congenital Malformations in Areas of Tuscany Region (Italy) at High Risk of Environmental Crisis

MAB1-PD-08 Introduction: Congenital malformations (CMs) constitute one of the main causes of infant mortality, disease, and permanent disabilities, with a birth prevalence of 2% to 3%. CMs can represent one of the earliest biologic indicators of environmental exposure to toxic and teratogenic substances, allowing early warnings 6 to 8 months after exposure. Areas at risk of environmental crisis, listed in regional and national official documents, are zones in which one or more environmental risk factors (presence of industries, reclaiming areas, hazardous wastes, water and air pollution) require various interventions (environmental, economic, community, and public health). Objective: The main objective of this descriptive study is to provide general information on geographic distribution of CMs risk and to point out excesses of CMs in areas at environmental risk. Material and Methods: This study used data concerning major CMs subgroups observed in births and induced abortions over 1992 to 2002 in approximately 295,000 births collected at the municipality level by the Tuscany Birth Defects Registry. Spatial analyses at the municipality level were performed by standardized CMs ratios (SMR) and adjusted bayesian ratios (BMR), using the socioeconomic index of deprivation. Results: Spatial distribution of CMs risk showed, for the majority of CM subgroups, a strong spatial pattern with several significant excesses of CMs in groups of municipalities, including areas at environmental risk. The majority of statistically significant excesses of all CMs concerned municipalities included in areas at risk of environmental crisis (8 municipalities with statistically significant excesses out of 11) with SMR between 120 and 210 and BMR between 120 and 190. These municipalities showed both SMR and BMR statistically significant excesses also for one or more specific subgroups of CMs. Conclusions: Several excesses were observed in areas at high risk of environmental crisis in which industries (steel plants, cokeries, petrochemical plants) and hazardous waste incinerators are located. Results for these areas suggest that further insights are required from studies that, unlike descriptive studies of geographic distribution, investigate analytically causal associations between residence in areas at environmental risk and presence of CMs. Spatial and temporal surveillance of CMs represents an important activity in the framework of environmental health in order to plan public health measures for preventing and protecting health of vulnerable populations.

Industrial Activities in Sites at High Environmental Risk and Their Impact on the Health of the Population

A second mortality analysis of 15 areas of Italy identified in 1986 by the Italian Ministry of Environment as areas at high risk of environmental crisis has confirmed and extended the findings of the first. In regional comparisons, these areas, in which potentially hazardous industries are located, show excesses of deaths from almost all cancers and other diseases, particularly among men. Although more information is needed to identify corrective public health measures, the official recognition of areas in need of cleaning up, which appears to be unique to Italy and which fostered the study, is a promising beginning.

Blood lead levels in children from Sardinian villages at high risk of environmental crisis

This study reports blood lead levels measured in 1998 in children from three Sardinian villages: Portoscuso, Sant'Antioco, and Sestu. Portoscuso is located about 2 km from one of the most important industrial complexes in Sardinia. Sant'Antioco, together with the villages of Carbonia, Gonnesa, Portoscuso and San Giovanni Suergiu, is in the Sulcis-Iglesiente zone, defined as an “area of high risk of environmental crisis” on the basis of the Decree of the Italian Council of Ministers dated November 30, 1990. Sestu, a semi-urban centre about 10 km from Cagliari (the island's capital), can be considered not exposed to lead pollution. Blood lead concentration was determined in heparinized venous blood samples by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Comparing the mean blood lead levels for the boys of Portoscuso measured in 1993 (9.27 μg/dl) and 1998 (11.30 μg/dl), we found an increase of 21.90%, whereas the mean values for the girls are practically identical in 1993 (7.35 μg/dl) and 1998 (7.39 μg/dl). In contrast, in the boys and girls of Sestu, the mean blood lead levels decrease from 1993 to 1998 by 55.62% and 29.09% respectively (from 6.71 μg/dl to 4.09 μg/dl in the boys; from 4.71 μg/dl to 3.34 μg/dl in the girls). In the Sant'Antioco children, we found a 52.65% decrease from 1987 (8.30 μg/dl reported for a sample not subdivided by sex)) to 1998 (3.93 μg/dl for males and females combined). Our results confirm the findings of previous investigations of blood lead levels in children from Sardinian villages with different environmental risks of lead pollution: the children of Portoscuso present higher blood lead levels than other groups of Sardinian children.

Hair lead levels in boys and girls from two Sardinian communities with different environmental backgrounds

This study reports hair lead levels measured in 1998 in 213 children (73 boys and 140 girls) from two Sardinian towns: Sant' Antioco is in the Sulcis-Iglesiente zone (SW Sardinia), defined as an “area of high risk of environmental crisis” by the Decree of the Italian Council of Ministers dated November 30, 1990. Sestu, a semi-urban centre about 10 km from Cagliari (the island capital), can be considered not exposed to lead pollution. Hair lead (PbH) concentration was determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The boys of Sant'Antioco have the highest arithmetic mean PbH concentration (6.71 μg/g), followed by the girls of Sant' Antioco (4.99 μg/g), and finally by the Sestu boys (4.03 μg/g) and girls (2.83 μg/g). The results suggest that the analysis of hair lead levels is a suitable method to screen for differences among populations in the environmental exposure to lead pollution.