Data on milk dioxin contamination linked with the location of fodder croplands allow to hypothesize the origin of the pollution source in an Italian valley

• Published in: The Science of the total environment 2014-11, Vol.499, p.248-256
• Main Authors: Desiato, Rosanna, Bertolini, Silvia, Baioni, Elisa, Crescio, Maria Ines, Scortichini, Giampiero, Ubaldi, Alessandro, Sparagna, Bruno, Cuttica, Giancarlo, Ru, Giuseppe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Bovine milk; Cattle; Contamination; Crops, Agricultural - chemistry; Dioxin-like PCBs; Dioxins; Dioxins - analysis; Environmental contamination; Environmental Pollutants - analysis; Environmental Pollution - statistics & numerical data; Food industries; Food toxicology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; GIS; Italy; Kriging; Milk; Milk - chemistry; Milk and cheese industries. Ice creams; Parcels; Point sources; Pollution abatement; Pollution sources; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - analysis; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins - analogs & derivatives; Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins - analysis; Soil Pollutants - analysis; Valleys
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.08.044

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) have similar toxic, endocrine-disrupting, and carcinogenic activity. They are classified as persistent organic pollutants accumulating in the environment and the tissues of living organisms. High concentrations of PCDD/F and dl-PCB have been detected in bovine milk collected in a Piedmont valley (Northwestern Italy) since 2004. This geographic study describes the local distribution of pollution from PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs. Since their presence in animal products could be traced back to the ingestion of contaminated fodder, dioxin levels in cow milk were related to the distribution of fodder cropland parcels. Specifically, the aim of the study was to determine, through an exploratory approach, whether the contamination was consistent with one common point source of contamination or different scattered sources. Data for PCDD/F and dl-PCB concentrations in the bulk milk from 27 herds, sampled over a 4-year period (2004–2007), were matched to the georeferenced land parcels the dairy farmers used for growing fodder. Isopleth maps of dioxin concentrations were estimated with ordinary kriging. The highest level of pollution for both PCDD/Fs and dl-PCBs was geographically juxtaposed: in both instances, the location of the local steel plant was within this extremely highly polluted area. The study results support the hypothesis for one common point source of contamination in the valley. The exploratory spatial analysis applied in this research may provide a valuable, novel approach to straightforward identification of a highly likely source of dioxin contamination of dairy products (even in the absence of top soil contamination data). •We investigated the geographical distribution of dioxins in an Italian alpine valley.•Data on dioxin in milk were combined to distribution of fodder cropland parcels.•Concentration isopleth maps were obtained through the kriging technique.•Results support a steel plant as a common point source of contamination.•The paper presents a novel approach to investigate dioxin local contamination.