Contaminanti nello zooplancton

Not availableIndagini su DDT e sostanze pericolose nell\u27ecosistema del Lago Maggiore. Programma 2013-2015. Rapporto annuale 2014 - Contaminanti nello zooplancto

VOCs Measurements in Residential Buildings: Quantification via Thermal Desorption and Assessment of Indoor Concentrations in a Case-Study

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) represent one of the most important categories of pollutants, influencing the air quality and human health and well-being in indoor environments. In the present study, 12 selected VOCs were sampled using Tenax TA tubes and analyzed by thermal desorption combined with gas chromatography and a flame ionization detector (TD-GC-FID). The TD-GC-FID method was optimized to obtain the separation of all the analytical peaks (including m- and p-xylene) and a satisfactory sensitivity, with low detection (between 0.14 and 0.31 ng) and quantification (between 0.47 and 1.02 ng) limits. The whole procedure was firstly assessed with the analysis of four co-located tubes exposed at an outdoor monitoring site, with results that revealed a very low inter-tubes variability (relative standard deviations of parallel measurements <5%). Then, the measurement protocol was used to quantify the indoor concentrations of the target VOCs in nine different homes during the dishwasher washing cycle. The most abundant detected VOC in all dwellings was d-limonene (mean: 231 µg/m3; maximum: 611 µg/m3). All the other compounds were monitored at concentration levels one or two orders of magnitude lower than d-limonene, and were generally comparable with those found in the scientific literature. In terms of health concerns, the measured concentrations were always well below the safe levels established for the protection of the general population in living environments

Influence of Time–Activity Patterns on Indoor Air Quality in Italian Restaurant Kitchens

This study aims to delve deeper into the relationship between the professional activities carried out in restaurant kitchens and some key air pollutants. The ultrafine particles (UFPs), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOCs) and formaldehyde (HCHO) indoor air concentrations were determined using real-time monitors. Simultaneously, the kitchen environment was characterized using video recordings with the aim to retrieve information pertaining to cooking, cookware washing and surface cleaning activities. Statistical analysis was carried out separately for the winter and summer campaigns. The obtained results confirmed that the professional activities carried out in restaurant kitchens had a significant impact on the concentrations of all the selected pollutants. Specifically, this study revealed the following key results: (i) indoor UFPs and NO2 concentrations were significantly higher during cooking than during washing activities (e.g., about +60% frying vs. handwashing and dishwasher running), mainly in the winter; (ii) washing activity had a statistically significant impact on the TVOC (+39% on average) and HCHO (+67% on average) concentrations compared to other activities; (iii) some specific sources of short-term pollutant emissions have been identified, such as the different types of cooking and opening the dishwasher; and (iv) in some restaurants, a clear time-dependent relationship between O3 and UFP, TVOC and HCHO has been observed, underlining the occurrence of ozonolysis reactions

Photoelectrocatalytic oxidation of As(III) over hematite photoanodes: a sensible indicator of the presence of highly reactive surface sites

Hematite-based photoanodes were used for the photoelectrocatalysed batch oxidation of As(III) in water at pH 7 and 10. Tests were carried out at different As(III) initial concentrations, ranging from 150 g/L to 30 mg/L. With no pre-treatments, an initial inactive period of 40-50 minutes was always observed at the beginning of every test. This initial inactive period is completely removed by a surface modification of surface active sites induced by a pre-polarisation at 800 mV (vs. Ag/AgCl). The water splitting active sites related to the Fe(III)-Fe(IV) redox couple were proved to be not active towards As(III) oxidation. The modifications induced by the anodic prepolarisation were deeply studied: no evidence of the formation of surface highly oxidized iron sites (Fe(V) or Fe(VI) ) and/or of highly reactive oxygen vacant sites emerges from XPS analysis. Rather, all collected charaterisation data support the conclusion that more reactive terminal oxygen species are necessary for As(III) oxydation. The As(III) abatement reaction was modelled by two subsequent first order kinetics in As(III), independently from the initial As(III) concentration: this behavior was explained suggesting that the highly reactive sites, being formed after prepolarisation, are gradually depleted during the reaction. As this reaction was proved to be very sensitive to the presence of highly reactive iron sites, its utilization as a probe reaction to study hematite photoanodes is suggested

Sex difference and intra-operative tidal volume: Insights from the LAS VEGAS study

BACKGROUND: One key element of lung-protective ventilation is the use of a low tidal volume (VT). A sex difference in use of low tidal volume ventilation (LTVV) has been described in critically ill ICU patients.OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine whether a sex difference in use of LTVV also exists in operating room patients, and if present what factors drive this difference.DESIGN, PATIENTS AND SETTING: This is a posthoc analysis of LAS VEGAS, a 1-week worldwide observational study in adults requiring intra-operative ventilation during general anaesthesia for surgery in 146 hospitals in 29 countries.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Women and men were compared with respect to use of LTVV, defined as VT of 8 ml kg-1 or less predicted bodyweight (PBW). A VT was deemed 'default' if the set VT was a round number. A mediation analysis assessed which factors may explain the sex difference in use of LTVV during intra-operative ventilation.RESULTS: This analysis includes 9864 patients, of whom 5425 (55%) were women. A default VT was often set, both in women and men; mode VT was 500 ml. Median [IQR] VT was higher in women than in men (8.6 [7.7 to 9.6] vs. 7.6 [6.8 to 8.4] ml kg-1 PBW, P &lt; 0.001). Compared with men, women were twice as likely not to receive LTVV [68.8 vs. 36.0%; relative risk ratio 2.1 (95% CI 1.9 to 2.1), P &lt; 0.001]. In the mediation analysis, patients' height and actual body weight (ABW) explained 81 and 18% of the sex difference in use of LTVV, respectively; it was not explained by the use of a default VT.CONCLUSION: In this worldwide cohort of patients receiving intra-operative ventilation during general anaesthesia for surgery, women received a higher VT than men during intra-operative ventilation. The risk for a female not to receive LTVV during surgery was double that of males. Height and ABW were the two mediators of the sex difference in use of LTVV.TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was registered at Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01601223

From Batch to Flow Stripping Analysis with Screen-Printed Electrodes: A Possible Way to Decentralize Trace Inorganic Analysis

Decentralization of on-site and in-site trace metal analysis has been a key topic over the last 30 years, owing to the increasing need for environmental protection as well as industrial and health-based field applications. In trace (and ultratrace) metal analysis, electrochemical stripping analysis with mercury (or bismuth) screen-printed film electrodes has shown a fast growth in popularity thanks to the good limits of detection, the ease of application in the field, and the low cost. Moreover, the availability of new wall-jet flow cells has opened the opportunity for their use in in situ industrial monitoring. The analytical figures of merit in stripping voltammetry with screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) under decentralized conditions and/or with sensor arrays are heavily affected by some analytical factors, primarily the presence of a pseudo-reference electrode, the efficiency of mass transport during the preconcentration step, and the need for external calibration. A careful model investigation of the analytical parameters for an efficient use of SPEs in decentralized conditions has been undertaken and discussed. Different instrumental approaches were investigated, comparing optimized batch conditions and flow cell operation under either continuous flow or stopped-flow sample injection. The stripping efficiency under wall-jet flow conditions was found to be high and comparable to that in batch conditions, leading to sub-ppb (&mu;g/L) limit of detection (LOD) figures. Finally, external calibration in stripping voltammetry was studied as a viable alternative to conventional standard addition quantitation. Results showed, indeed, that external calibration was demonstrated to be reliable for quantitation of Pb and Cd in real water samples

La maestra de inglés; Odio amoroso; Una visita al papa (relatos)

Odio amoroso and La maestrina d'inglese, first published in Vita di Alberto Pisani (Milan, Luigi Perelli editore, 1870), were released nine years later in the collection of short stories Goccie d'inchiostro (Rome, Stabilimento Tipografico Italiano, 1879), in which Una visita al Papa was also published. Spanish translation by Paolino Nappi.Odio amoroso y La maestrina d'inglese, publicados por primera vez en Vita di Alberto Pisani (Milán, Luigi Perelli editore, 1870), volvieron a ver la luz nueve años más tarde en la colección de relatos Goccie d’inchiostro (Roma, Stabilimento Tipografico Italiano, 1879), en la que se publicó también Una visita al papa. Traducción al español de Paolino Nappi

An analytical method for Fe(II) and Fe(III) determination in pharmaceutical grade iron sucrose complex and sodium ferric gluconate complex

A robust voltammetric method has been developed and validated for the determination of Fe(II) and Fe(III) in pharmaceutical iron polysaccharidic complexes. Undesirable low molecular weight iron complexes, at concentration about 3% in the pharmaceutical formulation, can be easily determined with good accuracy and precision. This methodology can be proposed as a viable, environmentally sustainable substitute for the conventional Normal Pulse Polarographic method in US Pharmacopeia, with better analytical figures of merit, and reduced Hg consumption. A deeper insight in Fe(II) and Fe(III) composition can be gained by the combined use of a new potentiometric technique after chemical decomposition of the complex. Keywords: Sodium ferric gluconate complex, Iron sucrose complex, Iron polysaccharides, Voltammetr