Terrestrial gamma dose rate mapping (Euganean Hills, Italy): comparison between field measurements and HPGe gamma spectrometric data

Terrestrial gamma radiation is mostly due to radionuclides in soil and rocks, primarily the 238U, 235U and 232Th radioactive families and 40K. This radiation contributes 15% to public exposure from all ionizing radiation sources, considering global population. Moreover, it can be used to estimate radon flux and included as one of the quantities relevant to the geogenic radon hazard model. Therefore, effort has been put into developing maps of terrestrial gamma dose rate at the regional, national or European scale, using different input data and methods. In the present work, two distinct approaches to map terrestrial gamma dose rate have been tested in the Euganean Hills district of NE Italy. The first one is based on 41 in situ measurements of ambient dose equivalent rates using a rate meter equipped with a NaI scintillator probe. The second one estimates terrestrial gamma dose rate from the U, Th and K activity concentrations in rock samples collected at the same locations of the dose rates measurements. The results obtained indicate good agreement between the two approaches, and as such suggest that the UNSCEAR 2008 prescription to derive ambient dose equivalent rate from laboratory gamma measurements produces reliable data, provided that cosmic and fall-out contributions are included. Moreover, the study proved that mapping the ambient dose equivalent rate (or terrestrial gamma dose rate) using only one database – i.e. either measured data or estimates derived from radionuclide activity concentration – yields valid results

Radiological risk from thoron, a case study: The particularly radon-prone area of Bolsena, and the lesson learned

Abstract The contribution of 220 Rn is usually negligible compared to that of 222 Rn: its very short half-life makes escape from its source site within the rock very unlikely and it never has time enough to filtrate through the ground and through cracks in the floors or cellar walls to reach living quarters. This however becomes untrue if walls built with 232 Th-rich materials are present: then sizeable amounts of thoron may be detected in the closed areas bounded by those walls. This is the case for many dwellings in central Italy, and the town of Bolsena (northern Latium) is presented as a case study. A typical building of the area, entirely constructed with tuff blocks, is investigated and the annual dose rates calculated for varying distances from the wall. Thoron concentration was found to decrease with a relaxation length of 13 cm. Thoron was found to pose a significant risk. The rate of air exchange was found to produce little effect. Wall plastering acts as a filter: thoron diffuses through it but a HVL of less than 1 cm was found to prevail

Butterflies as bioindicators of metal contamination

Anthropogenic trace metal contamination has significantly increased and has caused many hazardous consequences for the ecosystems and human health. The Terni basin valley (Central Italy) shows a heavy load of pollutants from industrial activities, while the characteristic orography structure of the valley favours air stagnation, thus limiting air pollution dispersal. The present study conducted in 2014 aimed to determine the concentration of ten metals in five species of butterflies at nine sites in the Terni valley along a 21-km-long transect, including both relatively pristine and industrial areas. At sites where soil contamination was high for a given metal, such as for chromium as in the case of site 4 (the closest to the steel plant) and for lead as in the case of site 2 (contaminated by a firing range), higher levels of contamination were observed in the tissues of butterflies. We found a correlation between soil contamination and the concentration of Cr, Al and Sr in the tissues of some species of butterflies. The sensitivity to contamination differed among the five species; in particular, Coenonympha pamphilus was generally the species that revealed the highest concentrations of all the ten trace metals at the sites closer to the industrial area. It is known that C. pamphilus is a sedentary species and that its host plants are the Poaceae, capable of accumulating high quantities of metals in their rhizosphere region, thus providing the link with soil contamination. Therefore, monitoring the metal concentration levels in butterflies might be a good indicator and a control tool of environmental quality, specifically in areas affected by high anthropogenic pollution loads linked to a specific source

Pancreatic hyperamylasemia during acute gastroenteritis: incidence and clinical relevance

BACKGROUND: Many case reports of acute pancreatitis have been reported but, up to now, pancreatic abnormalities during acute gastroenteritis have not been studied prospectively. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the incidence and the clinical significance of hyperamylasemia in 507 consecutive adult patients with acute gastroenteritis. METHODS: The clinical significance of hyperamylasemia, related predisposing factors and severity of gastroenteritis were assessed. RESULTS: Hyperamylasemia was detected in 10.2 % of patients studied. Although amylasemia was found over four times the normal values in three cases, the clinical features of acute pancreatitis were recorded in only one case (0.1%). Hyperamylasemia was more likely (17%) where a microorganism could be identified in the stools (p < 0.01). Among patients with positive stool samples, Salmonella spp. and in particular S. enteritidis, was the microorganism most frequently associated with hyperamylasemia [17/84 (20.2 %) and 10/45 (22.2%), respectively], followed by Rotavirus, Clostridium difficile and Campylobacter spp. Patients with hyperamylasemia had more severe gastroenteritis with an increased incidence of fever (80 % vs 50.6 %, O.R. 3.0; P < 0.01), dehydration (18% vs 8.5%; O.R. 2.5; P < 0.05), and a higher mean number of evacuations per day (9.2 vs 7.5; P < 0.05) than those with amylasemia in the normal range. Hyperamylasemia was significantly associated with cholelithiasis, (30.0 % vs 10.7%, O.R. 3.5; P < 0.01) and chronic gastritis or duodenal ulceration (22.0 % vs 10.2%, O.R. 2.4, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Hyperamylasemia is relatively frequent, and is associated with severe gastroenteritis. However, acute pancreatitis in the setting of acute gastroenteritis, is a rare event

Soil gas radon assessment and development of a radon risk map in Bolsena, Central Italy

Vulsini Volcanic district in Northern Latium (Central Italy) is characterized by high natural radiation background resulting from the high concentrations of uranium, thorium and potassium in the volcanic products. In order to estimate the radon radiation risk, a series of soil gas radon measurements were carried out in Bolsena, the principal urban settlement in this area NE of Rome. Soil gas radon concentration ranges between 7 and 176 kBq/m(3) indicating a large degree of variability in the NORM content and behavior of the parent soil material related in particular to the occurrence of two different lithologies. Soil gas radon mapping confirmed the existence of two different areas: one along the shoreline of the Bolsena lake, characterized by low soil radon level, due to a prevailing alluvial lithology; another close to the Bolsena village with high soil radon level due to the presence of the high radioactive volcanic rocks of the Vulsini volcanic district. Radon risk assessment, based on soil gas radon and permeability data, results in a map where the alluvial area is characterized by a probability to be an area with high Radon Index lower than 20 %, while probabilities higher than 30 % and also above 50 % are found close to the Bolsena village

Estimation of local and external contributions of biomass burning to PM2.5 in an industrial zone included in a large urban settlement

A total of 85 PM2.5 samples were collected at a site located in a large industrial zone (Porto Marghera, Venice, Italy) during a 1-year-long sampling campaign. Samples were analyzed to determine water-soluble inorganic ions, elemental and organic carbon, and levoglucosan, and results were processed to investigate the seasonal patterns, the relationship between the analyzed species, and the most probable sources by using a set of tools, including (i) conditional probability function (CPF), (ii) conditional bivariate probability function (CBPF), (iii) concentration weighted trajectory (CWT), and (iv) potential source contribution function (PSCF) analyses. Furthermore, the importance of biomass combustions to PM2.5 was also estimated. Average PM2.5 concentrations ranged between 54 and 16 μg m−3 in the cold and warm period, respectively. The mean value of total ions was 11 μg m−3 (range 1–46 μg m−3): The most abundant ion was nitrate with a share of 44 % followed by sulfate (29 %), ammonium (14 %), potassium (4 %), and chloride (4 %). Levoglucosan accounted for 1.2 % of the PM2.5 mass, and its concentration ranged from few ng m−3 in warm periods to 2.66 μg m−3 during winter. Average concentrations of levoglucosan during the cold period were higher than those found in other European urban sites. This result may indicate a great influence of biomass combustions on particulate matter pollution. Elemental and organic carbon (EC, OC) showed similar behavior, with the highest contributions during cold periods and lower during summer. The ratios between biomass burning indicators (K+, Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, levoglucosan, EC, and OC) were used as proxy for the biomass burning estimation, and the contribution to the OC and PM2.5 was also calculated by using the levoglucosan (LG)/OC and LG/PM2.5 ratios and was estimated to be 29 and 18 %, respectively

VALUTAZIONE DELLA QUALITA\u2019 DELL\u2019ARIA NELL\u2019AREA DEL DELTA DEL PO, STAZIONI DI CA\u2019 MELLO (RO) E BOSCONE DELLA MESOLA (FE) NELLE ATTUALI CONDIZIONI AMBIENTALI

Questo rapporto contiene la prima parte della sintesi di un'attivit\ue0 scientifica condotta dall'autrice per conto della Procura di Rovigo. Riguarda sia attivit\ue0 sperimentale che modellistica su dati propri congiunti a quelli di Arpa-Veneto ed Arpa Emilia Romagna condotta indue stazioni del Delta del P

VALUTAZIONE DELLA QUALITA\u2019 DELL\u2019ARIA NELL\u2019AREA DEL DELTA DEL PO,STAZIONI DI CA\u2019 MELLO (RO) E BOSCONE DELLA MESOLA (FE) NELLE ATTUALI CONDIZIONI AMBIENTALI RELAZIONE FINALE (CAMPAGNA DI PRELIEVI LUGLIO- OTTOBRE 2008 ED INTEGRAZIONI ALLA I PARTE)

Seconda parte della relazione prodotta per la Procura di Rovigo inerente la speciazione chimica del particolato atmosferico sul Delta del Po, elaborazione statistica dei dati ed interpretazione ambientale. Si attende autorizzazione per pubblicazionesu rivista scientific

Elaborazioni dei dati sui metalli rilevati sul PM10 nel corso delle campagne 2003-2006 con Mezzo mobile in provincia di Ferrara.

Il tema della qualit\ue0 dell\ub4aria ambiente e delle cause che la alterano sta dominando la scena dei mezzi di comunicazione di massa, a Ferrara come altrove. Nella nostra provincia, che condivide con le altre dell\ub4Emilia-Romagna, strategie di osservazione e d\ub4intervento, svariati attori, sociali e istituzionali, hanno cercato negli ultimi anni di elaborare proposte e strumenti non sempre privi di ambiguit\ue0, limiti e incertezze. Che le preoccupazioni per le conseguenze dell\ub4inquinamento atmosferico sulla salute e sull\ub4ambiente siano eccessive o sottovalutate (anche in funzione d\ub4interessi di parte) poco importa cos\uec come poco importa che le risorse messe a disposizione della e dalla collettivit\ue0 siano esigue o sovrabbondanti, sbilanciate verso la conoscenza dei fenomeni oppure verso la prevenzione, controllate o meno nelle loro effettive efficacia ed efficienza: com\ub4\ue8 naturale il dibattito pubblico procede autonomo in direzioni plurime. Negli ultimi anni la Sezione provinciale ARPA di Ferrara, supportata dalle istituzioni pubbliche locali, ha continuato ad operare secondo la sua triplice funzione: di vigilanza e controllo, di monitoraggio e valutazione ambientale, di specializzazione e consolidamento dei laboratori. Giocando un ruolo a cavallo fra l\ub4applicazione delle norme e l\ub4innovazione, sul tema specifico del seminario ha dunque sperimentato \ub4nuovi\ub4 modelli diffusionali (l\ub4ADMS), ha cercato d\ub4indagare e far indagare ambiti territoriali diversi da quelli del passato (allestimento di \ub4studi di monitoraggio delle immissioni\ub4 ed effettuazione di \ub4nuove\ub4 misurazioni) e, lasciando che istanze territorialmente e tecnicamente superiori si occupassero di temi pi\uf9 propriamente connessi con l\ub4ambito della ricerca, ha perseguito strade ancora relativamente poco \ub4battute\ub4 ma decisamente fattibili e potenzialmente proficue (metalli nel particolato, microinquinanti in alcuni suoli). Il seminario ha portato a sintesi pubblica la gran parte di tali attivit\ue0, alcune delle quali rientrano tra quelle finanziate con fondi Obiettivo2 2004-06 mentre altre fanno riferimento a differenti linee progettuali (incluso l\ub4iter di specifiche pratiche VIA e AIA)