Monitoring of PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs and seasonal variations in mussels from the Mar Grande and the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea,Southern Italy)

The levels and specific profiles of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) in Mytilus galloprovincialis from the Mar Grande and the Mar Piccolo of Taranto were determined during the extensive monitoring plan of Local Health Authority to assess PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs contamination in food and farm products, within 20 km from the industrial areas of Taranto, between March and December 2011. The average Total Toxicity Equivalence (TEQ) values for the sum of PCDD/F and DL-PCBs ranged from 1.61 to 5.63 pg WHO₂₀₀₅-TEQ g^?1 wet weight basis, with the highest in the first inlet of the Mar Piccolo. In particular, DL-PCBs were the dominant chemicals in all samples, followed by PCDFs and PCDDs. Congener patterns in mussels were similar, indicating a homogeneous behavior in studied areas and, probably, the same type of source. The seasonal concentrations trend showed a relevant increase of dioxin and dioxin-like PCBs TEQs during the summer months, exceeding the limits set by the European Community for food and foodstuff. Reducing PCDD/Fs and PCBs is necessary to decrease contamination levels in order to safeguard marine ecosystem and human health in the Taranto area.     

Green tenants: practicing a sustainability ethics for the rental housing sector

The shift towards social, government and corporate ethics which value environmental sustainability has also embraced householders in a plethora of educational guides, policies, regulations and consumer information about green home improvements, purchasing choices and household practices. In this paper, we make the claim that the rental housing sector, and in particular the private rental sector, has yet to participate, structurally, culturally and materially, in this shift to an ethics of sustainability. We argue, however, that even on such otherwise arid ground, an alternative ethic is developing, a sustainability ethic practiced by green tenants whose activities inside and outside their homes go beyond the considerable material constraints of their dwellings and incomes, and beyond the purely transactional utility of the rental contract. These activities, relational, interconnected and resilient, offer both glimpses of a greening rental housing sector, and a clearer picture of the areas where work remains to be done. Based on a research study, we conducted of the rental sector in regional Australia, and in particular of the everyday sustainability practices of tenants, we suggest that these activities are a practice-based form of care for the world, in many ways similar to Maria Puig de la Bellacasa's practice-based, human-decentred ethics which she suggests is exemplified in the permaculture movement. The stories of the tenants we interviewed for our study also point the way to other changes which are needed to enable a practice-based sustainability ethic to flourish across the rental housing sector as a whole.     

Dynamic Procedure for Atypical Scenarios Identification (DyPASI): A new systematic HAZID tool

The availability of a hazard identification methodology based on early warnings is a crucial factor in the identification of emerging risks. In the present study, a specific method named Dynamic Procedure for Atypical Scenarios Identification (DyPASI) was conceived as a development of bow-tie identification techniques. The main aim of the methodology is to provide a comprehensive hazard identification of the industrial process analysed, joined to a process of continuous improvement of the results of the assessment. DyPASI is a method for the continuous systematization of information from early signals of risk related to past events. The technique provides a support to the identification and assessment of atypical potential accident scenarios related to the substances, the equipment and the site considered, capturing available early warnings or risk notions. DyPASI features as a tool to support emerging risk management process, having the potentiality to contribute to an integrated approach aimed at breaking “vicious circles”, helping to trigger a gradual process of identification and assimilation of previously unrecognised atypical scenarios.     

From landfill to water,land and life: The creation of the Centre for stone materials aimed at secondary processing

This paper focuses on the creation of a Centre for the recycling of stone materials. The Centre will be able to offer a range of activities amongst which is the improvement of the production chain of the Orosei Marble district in Sardinia, Italy. Several companies operate within the marble producing area, specializing in both quarrying and stone processing. They have formed a Consortium in order to rehabilitate an area of more than 17 ha. The restoration will be carried out through an environmentally sustainable procedure. The area was previously used as a landfill for waste deriving from marble quarrying and processing. At that time unshaped blocks of various sizes (which are unsuitable to block-cutter sawing), waste deriving from both block sawing and slab/strip cutting (such as broken slabs, strips, tiles) and microfine dust from filter presses of water treatment plants were representing an environmental problem. The local administration was struggling to find new areas which could be used for landfills, resulting in an additional cost for the landfill, ultimately affecting the variable production costs. The project involves the building of a venue to be used for temporary storage, treatment of wastes produced by both quarrying and primary processing, in order to make them suitable as secondary raw materials. The project also deals with the catch basin hydrology of the area involved in the project, the building of a multifunctional centre, the landscaping and other environmental features such as vehicle traffic and slopes greening.     

Monuments as sampling surfaces of recent traffic pollution

Background, aim and scope  

A new approach towards monuments, considering them as a passive sampler of pollution, is presented. Cultural Heritage objects suffer daily the damages of environmental pollution, especially in those areas interested by heavy traffic. Since monuments undergo only periodic conservation or maintenance works, surfaces are able to accumulate atmospheric deposit and to record changes in its composition. An optimised analytical protocol was developed in order to quantify platinum and rhodium at trace level on surfaces. The two elements have become tracers of automobile emissions in recent years, since the introduction of catalytic converters, and could have catalytic effects on the decay reactions of natural and artificial stone materials. As a first case study, the cement mortar surfaces of a twentieth century monument, the Camerlata Fountain, in Como (Italy) were investigated.     

Alkyl nitrate photochemistry during the tropospheric organic chemistry experiment

Alkyl nitrates (C₁–C₅) were measured at two sites (near urban and rural) in southeast England during the Tropospheric Organic Chemistry Experiment (TORCH). Methyl nitrate was the dominant species during both campaigns accounting for on average about one third of the total measured alkyl nitrates. High mixing ratios (>50 pptv) and variability of methyl nitrate were observed at the near urban site (TORCH1) that were not seen at the rural site (TORCH2) and which could not be explained by local photochemical production or direct emissions. The diurnal variation of methyl nitrate during TORCH1 showed a morning maximum that would be consistent with nighttime chemistry followed by transport to the surface by boundary layer dynamics. Similarly, elevated morning mixing ratios were also observed during TORCH2 although the magnitudes were much smaller. As a result, methyl nitrate could represent a tracer for nighttime chemistry seen at the ground the following day. At both campaigns, the dominant source of short chain alkyl nitrates and carbonyl precursor radicals (≤C₄) were from decomposition of larger compounds. The magnitude of the source increased with decreasing carbon number consistent with increasing total precursor abundance. Non-photochemical emissions of acetaldehyde and acetone could not be accounted for by automobile exhaust emissions alone and indicated that other direct sources are likely important in this environment.