POTENTIALLY TOXIC ELEMENTS ALONG SOIL PROFILES IN AN URBAN PARK, AN AGRICULTURAL FARM, AND THE SAN VITALE PINEWOOD (RAVENNA, ITALY) ELEMENTS POTENTIELLEMENT TOXIQUES LE LONG DES PROFILS DU SOL DANS UN PARC URBAIN, UNE EXPLOITATION AGRICOLE ET DANS LA PINE

Abstract Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) abundances in top soil and along the soil profiles from areas affected by different anthropogenic inputs were investigated.. The study area is located within the Ravenna Municipality, a complex territorial system highly affected by industrial (a large petrolchemical complex) agricultural activities. Three zones with distinct environmental features were identified: the San Vitale Pinewood affected by atmospheric deposition pollutans from the industrial complex (PW1, PW4, PW6 and PW8 soil profiles); a public garden within the Ravenna city center, mainly affected by traffic pollution (GP1 soil profile); the "Luigi Perdisa" farm located immediately northwards Ravenna was selected due to the use of fertilizers as well as atmospheric deposition (PER2 soil profile). The total concentration of PTEs (Ba, Cr, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn) was determined by X ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), and the pseudo-total concentration with aqua regia digestion (AR) and ICP-OES quantification in order to evaluate the extractability of the elements. Results showed a significant increase of some PTEs (Cu, Pb, Zn) in the top soil compared to the pedological substrate. In the Ravenna urban park (GP1 station), Pb and Zn concentrations exceeded the threshold values established by current Italian laws for soils from "public, residential and private areas" (D. Lgs 152/2006). The correlation between top soil and the subsoil highlighted that some PTEs, such as Cu, Pb and Zn, are anthropogenic and they are mainly associated to the deposition of airborne pollutants, whereas other elements (Cr and Ni) are lithologenic. Key-words: heavy metals; enrichment factor; soil profiles; Pinewood San Vitale; ICP-OES;XRF Résumé Le but de cette étude est d'évaluer le taux de concentration d'éléments potentiellement toxiques (EPT) dans les horizons supérieurs et le long du profil de sols intéressés par les différents impacts anthropiques. Les études ont été conduites dans la zone qui englobe la commune de Ravenne, caractérisée par un système territorial complexe en raison de la présence d'un pôle pétrochimique mais aussi d'une agriculture très productive. Trois zones avec des impacts différents pour l'environnement ont été identifiées : la Pinède de San Vitale touchée par des dépôts atmosphériques dérivant de l'activité de l'industrie pétrolochimique (profils pédologiques PW1, PW4, PW6 et PW8) ; un jardin public qui se trouve dans le centre historique de la ville de Ravenne et qui subit une pollution due à la circulation automobile (profil pédagogique GP1). Pour finir, l'entreprise agricole "Luigi Perdisa" située immédiatement au nord-est de Ravenne a été choisie aussi bien à cause de la contamination possible par des produits chimiques utilisés en agriculture que pour les différents types de dépôts atmosphériques (profil pédologique PER2). Les études ont permis de déterminer les concentrations totales en spectrométrie de fluorescence aux rayons X (XRF) mais aussi pseudo-totales avec solubilisation dans l'eau régale (AR) de certains métaux lourds (Ba, Cr, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn), à la suite de quoi a eu lieu la lecture en ICP-OES dans le but d'évaluer dans quelle mesure ces éléments peuvent être extraits. Les déterminations effectuées démontrent un enrichissement significatif de certains EPT (Cu, Pb, Zn) dans les horizons de surface par rapport au substrat pédologique. Riassunto Scopo di questo studio è la valutazione del grado di anomalia di elementi potenzialmente tossici (EPT) negli orizzonti superficiali e subsuperficiali di suoli soggetti a differenti iuput antropogenici. L'area di studio ha interessato il comune di Ravenna, caratterizzata da un sistema territoriale complesso per la presenza di un polo petrolchimico, ma anche soggetta ad un'attività agricola intensa ed altamente produttiva. Sono state identificate tre zone potenzialmente impattate da differenti attività antropiche: la Pineta di San Vitale interessata da deposizioni EQA -Environmental quality/Qualité de l'Environnement/Qualità ambientale, 2 (2009) 1-14 DOI: 10.6092/issn.2281-4485/3822 3 atmosferiche derivanti dall'attività dell'industria petrolchimica (profili pedologici PW1, PW4, PW6 e PW8); un giardino pubblico presente nel centro storico della città di Ravenna, interessato da inquinamento da traffico veicolare (profilo pedologico GP1); l'azienda agricola "Luigi Perdisa" collocata immediatamente a nord-est di Ravenna scelta sia per la possibile contaminazione da prodotti chimici usati in agricoltura sia per i diversi tipi di deposizioni atmosferiche (profilo pedologico PER2). Di alcuni metalli pesanti (Ba, Cr, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn) sono state determinate sia le concentrazioni totali in spettrometria di fluorescenza a raggi X (XRF), sia quelle pseudo totali con solubilizzazione in aqua regia (AR) e successiva lettura in ICP-OES con lo scopo di valutare il livello di estraibilità di tali elementi. Le determinazioni effettuate mostrano un significativo arricchimento di alcuni EPT (Cu, Pb, Zn) negli orizzonti di suolo superficiale rispetto al substrato pedologico; nel parco urbano di Ravenna (GP1), le concentrazioni di Pb e Zn sono superiori ai limiti previsti dalla legislazione italiana (D. Lgs 152/2006) per le aree residenziali e di verde pubblico. La correlazione tra i valori di concentrazione di alcuni EPT, quali Cu, Pb e Zn, riscontrati negli orizzonti superficiali e di profondità evidenzia chiaramente la loro origine antropica per lo più dovuta a deposizioni di contaminanti presenti in atmosfera, mentre per altri elementi (Cr e Ni) la loro provenienza risulta litologenica. Parole chiave: EPT; fattore di arricchimento; profili del suolo; Pineta di San Vitale; ICP-OES; XRF

BIOINDICATORS USE FOR EVALUATION OF HEAVY METAL CONCENTRATIONS IN URBAN PARKS

The environmental quality of urban soil is closely related to human health. The heavy metals increase in urban environments was due to the anthropic activity. The urban parks monitoring in three cities of Emilia Romagna region (Bologna, Cesena and Ferrara) were carried out to determined the heavy metals and microelements concentration in the tissues of mosses, grass and leaf of coniferous and deciduous trees. The airborne pollutants was studied by washing and analysing the heavy metals concentration in washed-leaves water. The aim of the study was twofold: to find an integrations between different environmental compartments (vegetation and washed-leaves water) and to highlight the different contribution of pollution sources. The sampling campaign was carried out in two different seasons (Spring 2006 and Winter 2007) and involved taking samples of grass, mosses, leaves of deciduous and coniferous trees and washed-leaves water. The samples collected were suitably treated and analysed by means of optical emission spectrometry using a CCD detector (ICP-OES, Spectro CIR.O.S.CCD). Integrated analysis of the different environmental matrixes permitted identification of the most critical sites, respect to the heavy metals and microelements concentration. The strong correlation between the concentrations found in the moss, grasses and washed-leaves water underlines how the urban parks in Bologna and Ferrara are highly susceptible to atmospheric pollution

Bioindicators use for evaluation of heavy metal concentrations in urban parks

The environmental quality of urban soil is closely related to human health. The heavy metals increase in urban environments was due to the anthropic activity. The urban parks monitoring in three cities of Emilia Romagna region (Bologna, Cesena and Ferrara) were carried out to determined the heavy metals and microelements concentration in the tissues of mosses, grass and leaf of coniferous and deciduous trees. The airborne pollutants was studied by washing and analysing the heavy metals concentration in washed-leaves water. The aim of the study was twofold: to find an integrations between different environmental compartments (vegetation and washed-leaves water) and to highlight the different contribution of pollution sources. The sampling campaign was carried out in two different seasons (Spring 2006 and Winter 2007) and involved taking samples of grass, mosses, leaves of deciduous and coniferous trees and washed-leaves water. The samples collected were suitably treated and analysed by means of optical emission spectrometry using a CCD detector (ICP-OES, Spectro CIR.O.S.CCD). Integrated analysis of the different environmental matrixes permitted identification of the most critical sites, respect to the heavy metals and microelements concentration. The strong correlation between the concentrations found in the moss, grasses and washed-leaves water underlines how the urban parks in Bologna and Ferrara are highly susceptible to atmospheric pollution

Potentially Toxic Elements Along Soil Profiles In An Urban Park, An Agricultural Farm, And The San Vitale Pinewood (Ravenna, Italy)

Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) abundances in top soil and along the soil profiles from areas affected by different anthropogenic inputs were investigated.. The study area is located within the Ravenna Municipality, a complex territorial system highly affected by industrial (a large petrolchemical complex) agricultural activities. Three zones with distinct environmental features were identified: the San Vitale Pinewood affected by atmospheric deposition pollutans from the industrial complex (PW1, PW4, PW6 and PW8 soil profiles); a public garden within the Ravenna city center, mainly affected by traffic pollution (GP1 soil profile); the "Luigi Perdisa" farm located immediately northwards Ravenna was selected due to the use of fertilizers as well as atmospheric deposition (PER2 soil profile). The total concentration of PTEs (Ba, Cr, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn) was determined by X ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), and the pseudo-total concentration with aqua regia digestion (AR) and ICP-OES quantification in order to evaluate the extractability of the elements. Results showed a significant increase of some PTEs (Cu, Pb, Zn) in the top soil compared to the pedological substrate. In the Ravenna urban park (GP1 station), Pb and Zn concentrations exceeded the threshold values established by current Italian laws for soils from "public, residential and private areas" (D. Lgs 152/2006). The correlation between top soil and the subsoil highlighted that some PTEs, such as Cu, Pb and Zn, are anthropogenic and they are mainly associated to the deposition of airborne pollutants, whereas other elements (Cr and Ni) are lithologenic

Integrating extracellular vesicle and circulating cell‐free DNA analysis using a single plasma aliquot improves the detection of HER2 positivity in breast cancer patients

Abstract Multi‐analyte liquid biopsies represent an emerging opportunity for non‐invasive cancer assessment. We developed ONCE (One Aliquot for Circulating Elements), an approach for the isolation of extracellular vesicles (EV) and cell‐free DNA (cfDNA) from a single aliquot of blood. We assessed ONCE performance to classify HER2‐positive early‐stage breast cancer (BrCa) patients by combining EV‐associated RNA (EV‐RNA) and cfDNA signals on n = 64 healthy donors (HD) and non–metastatic BrCa patients. Specifically, we isolated EV‐enriched samples by a charge‐based (CB) method and investigated EV‐RNA and cfDNA by next‐generation sequencing (NGS) and by digital droplet PCR (ddPCR). Sequencing of cfDNA and EV‐RNA from HER2‐ and HER2+ patients demonstrated concordance with in situ molecular analyses of matched tissues. Combined analysis of the two circulating analytes by ddPCR showed increased sensitivity in ERBB2/HER2 detection compared to single nucleic acid components. Multi‐analyte liquid biopsy prediction performance was comparable to tissue‐based sequencing results from TCGA. Also, imaging flow cytometry analysis revealed HER2 protein on the surface of EV isolated from the HER2+ BrCa plasma, thus corroborating the potential relevance of studying EV as companion analyte to cfDNA. This data confirms the relevance of combining cfDNA and EV‐RNA for HER2 cancer assessment and supports ONCE as a valuable tool for multi‐analytes liquid biopsies’ clinical implementation

Fast Track Algorithm: How To Differentiate A “Scleroderma Pattern” From A “Non-Scleroderma Pattern”

Objectives: This study was designed to propose a simple “Fast Track algorithm” for capillaroscopists of any level of experience to differentiate “scleroderma patterns” from “non-scleroderma patterns” on capillaroscopy and to assess its inter-rater reliability. Methods: Based on existing definitions to categorise capillaroscopic images as “scleroderma patterns” and taking into account the real life variability of capillaroscopic images described standardly according to the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Study Group on Microcirculation in Rheumatic Diseases, a fast track decision tree, the “Fast Track algorithm” was created by the principal expert (VS) to facilitate swift categorisation of an image as “non-scleroderma pattern (category 1)” or “scleroderma pattern (category 2)”. Mean inter-rater reliability between all raters (experts/attendees) of the 8th EULAR course on capillaroscopy in Rheumatic Diseases (Genoa, 2018) and, as external validation, of the 8th European Scleroderma Trials and Research group (EUSTAR) course on systemic sclerosis (SSc) (Nijmegen, 2019) versus the principal expert, as well as reliability between the rater pairs themselves was assessed by mean Cohen's and Light's kappa coefficients. Results: Mean Cohen's kappa was 1/0.96 (95% CI 0.95-0.98) for the 6 experts/135 attendees of the 8th EULAR capillaroscopy course and 1/0.94 (95% CI 0.92-0.96) for the 3 experts/85 attendees of the 8th EUSTAR SSc course. Light's kappa was 1/0.92 at the 8th EULAR capillaroscopy course, and 1/0.87 at the 8th EUSTAR SSc course. C Conclusion: For the first time, a clinical expert based fast track decision algorithm has been developed to differentiate a “non-scleroderma” from a “scleroderma pattern” on capillaroscopic images, demonstrating excellent reliability when applied by capillaroscopists with varying levels of expertise versus the principal expert and corroborated with external validation.Wo