Environmental status of an Italian site highly polluted by illegal dumping of industrial wastes: The situation 15 years after the judicial intervention

In 2008 the Italian government classified the Bussi sul Tirino area (Central Italy) as Site of National Interest destined to remediation which, unfortunately, has not yet begun. The decision followed >20 years of illegal dumping of industrial wastes, lasting from 1984 to 2005, that generated the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Science of the total environment 2021-03, Vol.762, p.144100, Article 144100
Main Authors: Vitali, Matteo, Castellani, Federica, Fragassi, Giorgia, Mascitelli, Alfonso, Martellucci, Cecilia, Diletti, Gianfranco, Scamosci, Emanuela, Astolfi, Maria Luisa, Fabiani, Leila, Mastrantonio, Riccardo, Protano, Carmela, Spica, Vincenzo Romano, Manzoli, Lamberto
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Central Italy
Industrial waste disposal
Lead
Mercury
POPs
Site of national interest
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In 2008 the Italian government classified the Bussi sul Tirino area (Central Italy) as Site of National Interest destined to remediation which, unfortunately, has not yet begun. The decision followed >20 years of illegal dumping of industrial wastes, lasting from 1984 to 2005, that generated the biggest illegal toxic waste disposal site in Europe. The contamination profile of the site was mainly characterized by PCDD/Fs, PCBs, PAHs, chlorinated solvents, Hg, and Pb. Due to the health concern of the population and local authorities, an extensive monitoring and biomonitoring campaign was carried out in 2017–2018, checking the site-specific pollutants in local food (free-range hens' eggs, milk from grazing sheep and goats, wild edible mushrooms, and drinking water), environmental (air and freshwaters) and biological (human urine) matrices. A total of 314 samples were processed, obtaining 3217 analytical data that were compared with regulatory limits, when available, and values reported by international literature. The sum PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs ranged from 0.24 to 3.6 pg TEQ g−1 fat, and from 0.46 to 8.3 pg TEQ g−1 fat, respectively in milk in eggs, in line with the maximum levels established by CE Regulations except for an egg sample. As regards PAHs, all our results were lower than the literature data, as well as for Hg and Pb. Outdoor air showed levels of chlorinated solvents ranging from
ISSN:0048-9697
1879-1026
DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144100