The purpose of this paper is to present a research study on application of low-cost solid-state gas microsensors for odour control and air-pollution monitoring in a landfill. The method introduces microsensors based on commercial devices of n-type metal oxides for cost-effective and real-time monitoring. This research provides a comparative study and assessment of the sensor response for odour detection and potential continuous monitoring of methane (CH4) and Non-Methanic Hydro-Carbons (NMHC) in a landfill. This leads to an insight into low-cost gas sensing capability for practical applications. The environmental measurements have been performed by a sensor-array with multiple sensing elements for high sensitivity and broad selectivity detection. This sensor technology may be useful for the development of a portable, compact, wireless and cost-effective system for gas monitoring applications and industrial process control. The results are discussed as the outcome of an experimental work carried in field at a landfill and demonstrate the efficiency of the low-cost chemo-resistors array for odour sensing and environmental monitoring. Additional long-term investigations need to address some drawbacks on sensors stability and cross-sensitivity.

An array of commercial gas sensors and nanotechnology sensors has been integrated to quantify gas concentration of air-pollutants. A variety of chemoresistive gas sensors, commercial (Figaro and Fis) and developed at ENEA laboratories (metal-modified carbon nanotubes) were tested to implement a database useful for applied artificial neural networks (ANNs). The ANN algorithm used is the common perceptron multi-layer feed-forward network based on error back-propagation. Electronic Noses based on various sensor arrays related to mammalian olfactory systems have been largely reported [1,2]. Here, we reported on the perceptron-based ANNs applied to a large database of 3875 datapoints for environmental air monitoring. The ANNs performance has been individually assessed for any targeted gas. The response of the classifier has been measured for NO2, CO, CO2, SO2, and H2S gas. The NO2 characteristics exhibit that real concentrations and predicted concentrations are very close with a normalized mean square error (NMSE) in the test set as low as 6%.

Emission inventories are useful tools in air quality management policies. In the framework of Apulia Region (South of Italy) inventory, the Territorial Emission Cadastre (CET) was developed. CET stores the huge amount of data concerning industrial plants. In order to easily interact with input data and analyze them, a graphical user interface that includes a GIS (Geographical Information System) component was integrated (CETGIS). This paper focuses on the development of CETGIS and analysis possibilities provided by GIS technology, which allow decision makers to monitor the state of air quality and to evaluate the targets to be achieved.

Chemical composition data (ionic fraction, carbonaceous compounds and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) for PM2.5 were acquired during 2005-2007. years by seasonal sampling campaigns performed at six urban sites in Apulia Region. In addition, an industrial site was considered. Discriminant Function Analysis, Principal Component Analysis and Absolute Principal Component Scores were applied to dataset in order to identify PM2.5 sources and to estimate their contributions to samples mass. Three main sources were obtained for the urban sites: combustion processes, natural sources and secondary particulate. Moreover, the application of Principal Component Analysis on chemical and meteorological data highlighted the influence of temperature and relative humidity on natural sources, and the relevance of pressure on secondary particulate content. In PM2.5, secondary particulate contributed on average with 78% to total mass, while combustion processes and natural sources accounted, respectively, 15% and 6.5% of the fine fraction mass. For this reason the secondary background should be taken into account in order to suggest the efficient abatement strategies to improve local air quality in South of Italy.

Long-range transport of natural and/or anthropogenic particles can contribute significantly to PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations and some European cities often fail to comply with PM daily limit values due to the additional impact of particles from remote sources. For this reason, reliable methodologies to identify long-range transport (LRT) events would be useful to better understand air pollution phenomena and support proper decision-making.This study explores the potential of an integrated and high time-resolved monitoring approach for the identification and characterization of local, regional and long-range transport events of high PM. In particular, the goal of this work was also the identification of time-limited event. For this purpose, a high time-resolved monitoring campaign was carried out at an urban background site in Bari (southern Italy) for about 20days (1st-20th October 2011). The integration of collected data as the hourly measurements of inorganic ions in PM2.5 and their gas precursors and of the natural radioactivity, in addition to the analyses of aerosol maps and hourly back trajectories (BT), provided useful information for the identification and chemical characterization of local sources and trans-boundary intrusions. Non-sea salt (nss) sulfate levels were found to increase when air masses came from northeastern Europe and higher dispersive conditions of the atmosphere were detected. Instead, higher nitrate and lower nss-sulfate concentrations were registered in correspondence with air mass stagnation and attributed to local traffic source. In some cases, combinations of local and trans-boundary sources were observed. Finally, statistical investigations such as the principal component analysis (PCA) applied on hourly ion concentrations and the cluster analyses, the Potential Source Contribution Function (PSCF) and the Concentration Weighted Trajectory (CWT) models computed on hourly back-trajectories enabled to complete a cognitive framework and confirm the influence of aerosol transported from heavily polluted areas on the receptor site.

Purpose This study was aimed to the development of an integrated approach for the characterization of particulate matter (PM) pollution events in the South of Italy. Methods PM10 and PM2.5 daily samples were collected from June to November 2008 at an urban background site located in Bari (Puglia Region, South of Italy). Meteorological data, particle size distributions and atmospheric dispersion conditions were also monitored in order to provide information concerning the different features of PM sources. Results The collected data allowed suggesting four indicators to characterize different PM10 exceedances. PM2.5/PM10 ratio, natural radioactivity, aerosol maps and back-trajectory analysis and particle distributions were considered in order to evaluate the contribution of local anthropogenic sources and to determine the different origins of intrusive air mass coming from long-range transport, such as African dust outbreaks and aerosol particles from Central and Eastern Europe. The obtained results were confirmed by applying principal component analysis to the number particle concentration dataset and by the chemical characterization of the samples (PM10 and PM2.5). Conclusions The integrated approach for PM study suggested in this paper can be useful to support the air quality managers for the development of cost-effective control strategies and the application of more suitable risk management approaches.

This study provided a useful approach for assessing the impact of industrial sources on surrounding, especially in a sensitive industrial area as Taranto (South of Italy). Taranto is one of the most industrialized Italian towns, where several emission sources operate simultaneously in proximity to the urban settlement. An intensive monitoring campaign of PAHs was carried out from January 28th to July 30th, 2011, in seven sites located in residential settlement around the industrial area and in the city center. The collected data were integrated with the information about wind direction and speed by means bivariate polarplot in order to characterize and localize the industrial sources. High BaP concentrations were detected especially when B/T ratio values excedeed 1 and all receptor sites were downwind to the steel plant. Moreover, in order to discriminate among PAH sources and quantify their contributions, a source apportionment analysis of the collected data was provided by means Princip al component Analysis (PCA) and Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) methods. Finally, the processing of PMF5.0 output by bivariate polar plot, confirmed the impact of steel plant on both industrial sites downwind the steel plant and the city center. B[a]P apportionment was quite similar for industrial and urban sites: the traffic source contributed only 11% and 24% to B[a]P measured at two sites, respectively. Therefore, the proximity of Taranto downtown to industrial pole makes negligible all other source contributions to PAH concentrations.

modelling system has been applied to estimate the annual contribution to the total concentrations of different pollutant sources in Taranto, one of the most industrialized areas in Italy. Industrial sources, traffic, domestic heating and harbour emissions have been taken into account. Modelling system includes 3-dimensional meteorological models SWIFT-SURFPRO with the Lagrangian particle dispersion model SPRAY. The air emissions inventory was partially established using measured data, local activity indicators and emission factors. The meteorology was reconstructed by the SWIFT model from the products supplied, for the year 2007,by the national MINNI project. The annual simulation led to the identification of the main emitting sources for primary pollutants such as NOx, SO2, PM10, PM2.5 and C6H6 at receptor sites. In addition, a more refined source apportionment was achieved for industrial primary PM10, providing a useful preliminary identification of the main industrial sources emitting dangerous micropollutants, such as POPs and heavy metals.

In the perspective of the improvement of life quality and citizens wellness, odour pollution is becoming a more and more relevant topic. In this work a study about odour dispersion phenomena in the province of Bari is presented. The attention was mainly focused on the evaluation of odour relapse in the surroundings of some industrial plants, as they reasonably have the greatest impact on the investigated area. A careful analysis of the available references allowed the identification of the plants at higher olfactory impact; for a more detailed plant localization, thematic maps were elaborated. Both olfactometric monitoring campaigns and Gaussian model based simulations of the different odor dispersion scenarios were carried out. The odor concentration data provided by the modeling elaboration were finally compared with the experimental ones: the reliability of modeling simulations as powerful tools for the legislative setting of limits, not only at the odor emission, but also at the sensitive receptors, was demonstrated. This study, by providing a detailed description of the most critical odor impact zones, intend to be an useful tool for a sustainable planning of industrial areas in the Bari territory.

Chemical mass balance modeling (CMB) was applied to determine the PM10 sources and their contributions. PM10 samples were collected in Lecce (40.338N, 18.108E, a town of South Italy), during two monitoring campaigns performed on July 2005 and February 2006. Nine source profiles and average mass concentration of the following chemical parameters: elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), chlorine (Cl-), nitrate (NO3-), sulfate (SO42-), sodium (Na+), ammonium (NH4+), potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg2+), calcium (Ca2+), aluminum (Al), silicon (Si), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) were used to run the CMB model. The results obtained by application of CMB8.2 are shown. The contributions to PM10 show that dominant contributor was traffic with 37% followed by petroleum industry with 19% and field burning with 16%. Minor source contributions were marine aerosol (1%), ammonium sulfate production (4%), ammonium nitrate production (11%), oil-fired power plant (0.1%), gypsum handling (10%) and crustal (2%). Moreover, the Absolute Principal Component Scores (APCS) model was applied to the PM10 samples collected in order to find a correlation between the two source profile sets. With APCS model five source profiles were found and a good correlation (correlation coefficient bigger than 0.8) between crustal, marine, industrial profiles of CMB model and the corresponding ones of APCS model was found.

A BTEX monitoring campaign, consisting of two weekly periods, was carried out in Bari, south-eastern Italy, in order to evaluate the impact of the vehicular traffic on the air quality at the main access roads of the city. Twenty-one sampling sites were selected: the pollution produced by the traffic in the vicinity of all exits from the ring road and some access roads to the city, those with higher traffic density, were monitored. Contemporarily the main meteorological parameters (ambient temperature, wind, atmospheric pressure and natural radioactivity) were investigated. It was found that in the same traffic conditions, barriers, buildings and local meteorological conditions can have important effects on the atmospheric dispersion of pollutants. This situation is more critical in downtown where narrow roads and high buildings avoid an efficient dispersion producing higher levels of BTEX. High spatial resolution monitoring allowed both detecting the most critical areas of the city with high precision and obtaining information on the mean level of pollution, meaning air quality standard of the city. The same concentration pattern and the correlation among BTEX levels in all sites confirmed the presence of a single source, the vehicular traffic, having a strong impact on air quality.

The atmosphere is a carrier on which some natural and anthropogenic organic and inorganic chemicals are transported, and the wet and dry deposition events are the most important processes that remove those chemicals, depositing it on soil and water. A wide variety of different collectors were tested to evaluate site-specificity, seasonality and daily variability of settleable particle concentrations. Deposition fluxes of POPs showed spatial and seasonal variations, diagnostic ratios of PAHs on deposited particles, allowed the discrimination between pyrolytic or petrogenic sources. Congener pattern analysis and bulk deposition fluxes in rural sites confirmed long-range atmospheric transport of PCDDs/Fs. More and more sophisticated and newly designed deposition samplers have being used for characterization of deposited mercury, demonstrating the importance of rain scavenging and the relatively higher magnitude of Hg deposition from Chinese anthropogenic sources. Recently biological monitors demonstrated that PAH concentrations in lichens were comparable with concentrations measured in a conventional active sampler in an outdoor environment. In this review the authors explore the methodological approaches used for the assessment of atmospheric deposition, from the analysis of the sampling methods, the analytical procedures for chemical characterization of pollutants and the main results from the scientific literature.

This study shows the direct effect of atmospheric particulate matter on plant growth. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants were grown for 18. d directly on PM10 collected on quartz fiber filters. Organic and elemental carbon and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contents were analyzed on all the tested filters. The toxicity indicators (i.e., seed germination, root elongation, shoot and/or fresh root weight, chlorophyll and carotenoids content) were quantified to study the negative and/or positive effects in the plants via root uptake. Substantial differences were found in the growth of the root apparatus with respect to that of the control plants. A 17-58% decrease of primary root elongation, a large amount of secondary roots and a decrease in shoot (32%) and root (53-70%) weights were found. Quantitative analysis of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) indicated that an oxidative burst in response to abiotic stress occurred in roots directly grown on PM10, and this detrimental effect was also confirmed by the findings on the chlorophyll content and chlorophyll-to-carotenoid ratio.

Organic and elemental carbon (OC-EC) were measured in 360 PM2.5 samples collected from April 2012 to February 2013 at six provinces in the Veneto region, to determine the factors affecting the carbonaceous aerosol variations. The 60 daily samples have been collected simultaneously in all sites during 10 consecutive days for 6months (April, June, August, October, December and February). OC ranged from 0.98 to 22.34μg/m3, while the mean value was 5.5μg/m3, contributing 79% of total carbon. EC concentrations fluctuated from 0.19 to 11.90μg/m3 with an annual mean value of 1.31μg/m3 (19% of the total carbon). The monthly OC concentration gradually increased from April to December. The EC did not vary in accordance with OC. However the highest values for both parameters were recorded in the cold period. The mean OC/EC ratio is 4.54, which is higher than the values observed in most of the other European cities. The secondary organic carbon (SOC) contributed for 69% of the total OC and this was confirmed by both the approaches OC/EC minimum ratio and regression. The results show that OC, EC and SOC exhibited higher concentration during winter months in all measurement sites, suggesting that the stable atmosphere and lower mixing play important role for the accumulation of air pollutant and hasten the condensation or adsorption of volatile organic compounds over the Veneto region. Significant meteorological factors controlling OC and EC were investigated by fitting linear models and using a robust procedure based on weighted likelihood, suggesting that low wind speed and temperature favour accumulation of emissions from local sources. Conditional probability function and conditional bivariate probability function plots indicate that both biomass burning and vehicular traffic are probably the main local sources for carbonaceous particulate matter emissions in two selected cities.

MalignantPleuralMesothelioma(MPM)isanaggressiveneoplasm that isveryoftenassociatedwithasbestosexposure.MPMdiagnosisisdifficult, veryoftenrequiringinvasiveapproachessuchasthoracoscopy.Exhaledbreath containshundredsofdifferentvolatileorganiccompounds(VOCs)whichmaybe usedfordiagnosisofvariouspulmonaryandsystemicdisordersincludinglung cancer. Methods: Weenrolled13patientswithanestablisheddiagnosisofMPM,13 healthy controls(HC),and13subjectswithaprofessionalexposuretoasbestos without MPM(EXP).Tedlarbagswereusedtocollecthumanbreath.Samples werecollectedusingasorbent-trapfollowedbythermaldesorptionandanalysis by gaschromatographwithananalyticalmassspectrometer(GC-MS). Results: AnalysisshowedthatthemostabundantVOCs(>15 ng/L)inthein- vestigatedsampleswerecyclopentaneand cyclohexane.Thechemicalprofilewas differentforthesamplesclasses:EXPandMPM,showedalteredlevelsoftoluene, xylene, benzaldehyde,trimethylbenzene, limonene, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol,acetophe- none, cyclopentane.MPMpatientsshowed higherconcentrationofcyclohexane (meanvalue=339.31ng/L)comparedtoEXP(meanvalue=173.06ng/L)and controls(meanvalue=30.68ng/L).ByusingtheTukeyHSDtestitwasfound that cyclohexaneconcentrationforMPMwas significantlydifferentcomparedto HC (p=0.006)whereastheconcentrationforEXPwasnotsignificantlydifferent both comparedtoMPM(p=0.146)andcontrolgroup(p=0.285). Conclusions: BreathAnalysisbyGC-MSmayplayapotentialroleinthenon- invasiveassessmentofMPM.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive tumour whose main aetiology is the long-term exposure to asbestos fibres. The diagnostic procedure of MPM is difficult and often requires invasive approaches; therefore, it is clinically important to find accurate markers for MPM by new noninvasive methods that may facilitate the diagnostic process and identify patients at an earlier stage. In the present study, the exhaled breath of 13 patients with histology-established diagnosis of MPM, 13 subjects with long-term certified professional exposure to asbestos (EXP) and 13 healthy subjects without exposure to asbestos (healthy controls, HC) were analysed. An analytical procedure to determine volatile organic compounds by sampling of air on a bed of solid sorbent and thermal desorption GC-MS analysis was developed in order to identify the compounds capable of discriminating among the three groups. The application of univariate (ANOVA) and multivariate statistical treatments (PCA, DFA and CP-ANN) showed that cyclopentane and cyclohexane were the dominant variables able to discriminate among the three groups. In particular, it was found that cyclohexane is the only compound able to differentiate the MPM group from the other two; therefore, it can be a possible marker of MPM. Cyclopentane is the dominant compound in the discrimination between EXP and the other groups (MPM and HC); then, it can be considered a good indicator for long-term asbestos exposure. This result suggests the need to perform frequent and thorough investigations on people exposed to asbestos in order to constantly monitor their state of health or possibly to study the evolution of disease over time. RI de gennaro, gianluigi/B-6237-2013 OI de gennaro, gianluigi/0000-0002-6868-6569

The Particulate Matter (PM) originates from natural or anthropogenic activities.Aclassification ofthePM isbasedontheparticlediameterdistinguishing PMlO ifless than 10 11m and PM2.5 ifless than 2.5 11m. The PM particles ca1l adsorb other molecules such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PARs). The current study is aimed at investigating the possible genotoxic damage of PMI0 and PARs on earthworms applying the comet assay. A DNA damage was observed starting from 16 ppm ofPMIO and 0.008 ppm of PARs.

The European technical standard "Air Quality-Determination of Odour Concentration by Dynamic Olfactometry" adopts dynamic olfactometry, a sensorial methodology based on the employment of a panel of human assessors, as the official methodology for the measurement of odour concentration in gas samples. The olfactometer is the device, useful to dilute the odor sample with neutral air, according to precise ratios and to present it to the panel for the analysis. The present paper describes the development of an Italian olfactometer, able to host eight assessors, designed to improve the instrumental performance of the devices actually present on the market, and to increase the accuracy and repeatability of the olfactometric measurement. In particular, in the paper the principal features of the instrumental device and the results of calibrations of dilution valves will be shown.

Atmospheric emission inventories are useful tools to support informed decision making in air quality management. In the framework of Apulia Region emission inventory, a tool for the industrial atmospheric emission management called Territorial Emissions Cadastre (CET) was developed. CET is a Web-based system able to store all data related to the industrial plants and to perform spatial queries; its components are used for synchronizing, exporting and querying the underlined database. CET also enables access to information that is useful to support air quality monitoring experts in their decision-making process. An innovative feature of CET is CETGE. It allows the users to visualize the industrial plants and the associated emissions in Google Earth® which provides an effective tool to display the most relevant industrial emission sources on a Regional area view. CETGE can be used by the stakeholders to evaluate and present alternative solutions for areas characterized by high impact emission sources.

Around 50% of the world’s population, particularly in developing countries, uses biomass as one of the most common fuels. Biomass combustion releases a considerable amount of various incomplete combustion products, including particulate matter (PM) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The paper presents the results of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) measurements in six houses equipped with wood burning stoves or fireplaces as heating systems. The houses were monitored for 48-h periods in order to collect PM10 samples and measure PAH concentrations. The average, the maximum and the lowest values of the 12-h PM10 concentration were 68.6 μg/m3, 350.7 μg/m3 and 16.8 μg/m3 respectively. The average benzo[a]pyrene 12-h concentration was 9.4 ng/m3, while the maximum and the minimum values were 24.0 ng/m3 and 1.5 ng/m3, respectively. Continuous monitoring of PM10, PAHs, Ultra Fine Particle (UFP) and Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC) was performed in order to study the progress of pollution phenomena due to biomass burning, their trends and contributions to IAQ. The results show a great heterogeneity of impacts on IAQ in terms of magnitude and behavior of the considered pollutants’ concentrations. This variability is determined by not only different combustion technologies or biomass quality, but overall by different ignition mode, feeding and flame management, which can also be different for the same house. Moreover, room dimensions and ventilation were significant factors for pollution dispersion. The increase of PM10, UFP and PAH concentrations, during lighting, was always detected and relevant. Continuous monitoring allowed singling out contributions of other domestic sources of considered pollutants such as cooking and cigarettes. Cooking contribution produced an impact on IAQ in same cases higher than that of the biomass heating system.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine whether the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) pattern in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients is modified by curative surgery for a potential application in the oncologic follow-up. BACKGROUND: CRC has been proved to induce metabolic derangements detectable by high through-output techniques in exhaled breath showing a specific pattern of VOCs. METHODS: Forty-eight CRC patients and 55 healthy controls (HC) entered the study. Thirty-two patients (M/F: 1.4; mean age 63 years) attended the oncologic follow-up (mean 24 months) and were found disease-free. Breath samples were collected under similar environmental conditions into a Tedlar bags and processed offline by thermal-desorption gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS). VOCs were selected by U test to build a Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) model to set-up a training phase, which was cross-validated using the leave-one out method. RESULTS: A total of 11 VOCs were finally selected for their excellent discriminant performance in identifying disease-free patients in follow-up from CRC patients before surgery, (sensitivity 100%, specificity 97.92%, accuracy 98.75%, and AUC: 1). The same VOCs pattern discriminated follow-up patients from HC, with a sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 90.91%, accuracy of 94.25%, and AUC 0.959. CONCLUSIONS: Exhaled VOCs pattern from CRC patients is modified by cancer removal confirming the tight relationship between tumor metabolism and exhaled VOCs. PNN analysis provides a high discriminatory tool to identify patients disease-free after curative surgery suggesting potential implications in CRC screening and secondary prevention.

Effects of curative surgery of colorectal cancer on exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) after 1 year follow up

In this preliminary work the toxic activity of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) mix standard solutions was studied using "Caenorhabditis elegans" (C. elegans) as system for biological studies. The nematode cultures were exposed for 3 days to 0.01, 0.1 and 1 ppb (ng/ml) of PAH Mix and even if no morphological alterations were observed on the C. elegans populations, the lethality was about 50% when the PAHs concentrations were equal to 0.1 and 1 ppb. Moreover, the lethality test was performed using an organic extract from a PM10 sample. When the gene expression pattern was analyzed a down regulation of the expression on all the genes considered was observed, indicating that the genotoxic effect was scattered on the entire transcription mechanism. These results indicate that "C. elegans" is an effective model for the study of PAHs toxicity; future studies will be oriented to the toxicity evaluation of extracts from PM2.5 and PM10 samples collected in Apulia cities

Background: An effective screening tool for colorectal cancer is still lacking. Analysis of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) linked to cancer is a new frontier in cancer screening, as tumour growth involves several metabolic changes leading to the production of specific compounds that can be detected in exhaled breath. This study investigated whether patients with colorectal cancer have a specific VOC pattern compared with the healthy population. Methods: Exhaled breath was collected in an inert bag (Tedlar (R)) from patients with colorectal cancer and healthy controls (negative at colonoscopy), and processed offline by thermal-desorber gas chromatographymass spectrometry to evaluate the VOC profile. During the trial phase VOCs of interest were identified and selected, and VOC patterns able to discriminate patients from controls were set up; in the validation phase their discriminant performance was tested on blinded samples. A probabilistic neural network (PNN) validated by the leave-one-out method was used to identify the pattern of VOCs that better discriminated between the two groups. Results: Some 37 patients and 41 controls were included in the trial phase. Application of a PNN to a pattern of 15 compounds showed a discriminant performance with a sensitivity of 86 per cent, a specificity of 83 per cent and an accuracy of 85 per cent (area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve 0.852). The accuracy of PNN analysis was confirmed in the validation phase on a further 25 subjects; the model correctly assigned 19 patients, giving an overall accuracy of 76 per cent. Conclusion: The pattern of VOCs in patients with colorectal cancer was different from that in healthy controls. The PNN in this study was able to discriminate patients with colorectal cancer with an accuracy of over 75 per cent. Breath VOC analysis appears to have potential clinical application in colorectal cancer screening, although further studies are required to confirm its reliability in heterogeneous clinical settings. Copyright (c) 2012 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. RI de gennaro, gianluigi/B-6237-2013 OI de gennaro, gianluigi/0000-0002-6868-6569

The gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) technique couples traditional gas chromatographic analysis with sensory detection in order to study complex mixtures of odorous substances and to identify odor active compounds. The GC-O technique is already widely used for the evaluation of food aromas and its application in environmental fields is increasing, thus moving the odor emission assessment from the solely olfactometric evaluations to the characterization of the volatile components responsible for odor nuisance. The aim of this paper is to describe the state of the art of gas chromatography-olfactometry methodology, considering the different approaches regarding the operational conditions and the different methods for evaluating the olfactometric detection of odor compounds. The potentials of GC-O are described highlighting the improvements in this methodology relative to other conventional approaches used for odor detection, such as sensoristic, sensorial and the traditional gas chromatographic methods. The paper also provides an examination of the different fields of application of the GC-O, principally related to fragrances and food aromas, odor nuisance produced by anthropic activities and odorous compounds emitted by materials and medical applications.

The gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) methodology couples traditional gas chromatographic analysis with sensory detection in order to identify odor active compounds in complex mixtures. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emitted from materials and consumer products can affect indoor air quality (IAQ) in terms of odor annoyance and other adverse effects on human health. Hence, the main purpose of the present paper was to recognize the odor active VOCs emitted by a specific consumer product and responsible of the odor annoyance perceived, performing head-space experiments followed by GC/MS-O analysis both at ambient temperature and during heating (condition of use). Ten odor active VOCs belonging to different chemical classes were detected; Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Benzene, Toluene, m/p-Xilene), Phenols (Phenol), Aldehydes (Benzaldehyde, Nonanale), Chlorinated Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Chlorobenzene, 1,4-Dichlorobenzene), Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Naphtalene) and Anhydrides (Phtalic Anhydride). Naphthalene was recognized as the organic compound that mainly contributed to the overall odor perceived. Moreover, it was observed that the product’s heating resulted in an increasing of VOCs emission and in odor perception. Experimental data obtained highlighted the potentialities of GC/MS-O methodological approach to identify off-flavors deriving from materials and to provide useful indications to manufacturers to improve the acceptability of odorous emissions.

Aim of this study is the investigation of processes leading to atmospheric pollutants formation and ageing in Milan, Po valley, i.e. one of the main hotspot region in Europe. Few 1-hour time resolution campaigns were accomplished in Milan urban area and none of these dealt with simultaneous characterization of atmospheric pollutants in both gas and particle phase. The present study is based on a thorough analysis of hourly data of atmospheric pollutants and of main PM2.5 compounds, and it includes several soluble inorganic aerosols (Cl-, NO2-, NO3-, SO42-, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Na+, NH4+), gases (HCl, HNO2, HNO3, NH3, NO, NO2, O3, SO2) organic, elemental and black carbon and meteorological parameters. The data proceed from an intensive sampling campaign in urban background Milan in summer 2012 (Bigi et al., 2017). Data analysis methods used include mean diurnal pattern on weekdays and Sundays, pollution roses, bivariate polar plots and statistical models using backtrajectories. Results show how nitrous acid (HONO) was mainly formed heterogeneously at nighttime, with a dependence of its formation rate on NO2 consistent with observations during the last HONO campaign in Milan in summer 1998, although since 1998 a drop in HONO levels occurred following to the decrease of its precursors. Nitrate showed two main formation mechanisms: one occurring through N2O5 at nighttime and leading to nitrate formation onto existing particles; another occurring both daytime and nighttime following the homogeneous reaction of ammonia gas with nitric acid gas. Air masses reaching Milan influenced nitrate formation depending on their content in ammonia and the timing of arrival. Notwithstanding the low level of SO2 in Milan, its peaks were associated to point source emissions in the Po valley or shipping and power plant emissions SW of Milan, beyond the Apennines. A distinctive pattern for HCl was observed, featured by an afternoon peak and a morning minimum, and best correlated to atmospheric temperature, although it was not possible to identify any specific source. The ratio of primary-dominated organic carbon and elemental carbon on hourly PM2.5 resulted 1.7. Black carbon was highly correlated to elemental carbon and the average mass absorption coefficient resulted MAC= 13.8 0.2 m2 g1. It is noteworthy how air quality for a large metropolitan area, in a confined valley and under enduring atmospheric stability, is nonetheless influenced by sources within and outside the valley.

Dispersion models based on emission inventories and meteorological fields are the primary tool of control agencies to support air quality assessment and source apportionment in complex industrial areas. In this work, a modelling system has been applied to estimate the annual contribution to the total concentrations of different pollutant sources in Taranto, one of the most industrialized areas in Italy, where typical urban emissions are superimposed on industrial ones located in proximity of the city boundary. Main industrial activities consist of an integrated steel plant (one of the largest in Europe) and an oil refinery, together with other smaller industrial facilities which use the Taranto harbour to unload primar y goods and to deliver final products. Modelling system includes the meteorological models SWIFT-SURFPRO and the Lagrangian particle dispersion model SPRAY. The air emissions inventory is partially established using local activity indicators and emission factors. The resolution level of the data is the municipality. In particular, in this study industrial sources (point sources and fugitive), traffic, domestic heating and harbour emissions have been taken into account. The meteorology in the studied area was reconstructed by the SWIFT model from the tridimensional meteorological products supplied, for the year 2007, by the national MINNI project. The annual simulation led to the identification of the main emitting sources and to the source-apportionment of primary pollutants at selected receptor sites, belonging to the air quality monitoring network. Industrial activities were found to be the principal contributor to SO2 emissions. Industry and traffic emissions were, for the most part, responsible for NOx simulated concentrations, while primary PM10 and PM2.5 simulated concentrations appeared to be linked to industrial emissions. Finally, in order to demonstrate the level of representativeness of the system used in this study, the model predictions were compared with measured air quality data.

SFX Get it!(opens in a new window)|View at Publisher| Export | Download | Add to List | More... Transactions of the ASABE Volume 56, Issue 6, 2013, Pages 1377-1386 Identification of pollution sources and classification of apulia region groundwaters by multivariate statistical methods and neural networks (Article) Ielpo, P.a , Cassano, D.a, Uricchio, V.F.a, Lopez, A.a, Pappagallo, G.a, Trizio, L.b, De Gennaro, G.c a Institute of Water Research, National Research Council (CNR), Bari, Italy b Regional Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPA Puglia), Bari, Italy c Department of Chemistry, Bari University, Bari, Italy View additional affiliations View references (24) Abstract Multivariate statistical techniques, including discriminant function analysis (DFA), cluster analysis (CA), principal component analysis (PCA), absolute principal component score (APCS), and radial basis function neural network (RBF-NN), were applied to a data set formed by 905 samples and 15 parameters, including pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), dissolved oxygen (O2), chemical oxygen demand (COD), Na +, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Cl-, NO3 -, SO4 2-, HCO3, and vital organism at 22°C and 36°C, of groundwater samples collected in the Apulia region (southern Italy). Among all collected samples, only samples showing values for all parameters were used to compose the data set on which the multivariate statistical techniques were applied. PCA and APCS allowed us to identify, for each province as well as the sites diverging from the main cluster, the pollution sources pressuring the sampling sites investigated: They were identified as fertilizer applications, the use of unpurified irrigation water, marine water intrusion, and calcareous characteristics of the soil. We found that the groundwater pollution sources pressuring the sites were similar among the five Apulian provinces (Foggia, Bari, Brindisi, Lecce, and Taranto). Moreover, for each province, marine water intrusion showed the highest contribution. The application of DFA to the data set allowed us to obtain good results in discriminating among four provinces, with the exception of Taranto. The model also gave good performance results in forecasting. However, RBF-NN provided more accurate results than DFA and confirmed that EC had the greatest relative importance. This is probably due to the different salinity among the sites (Na+ also showed good discriminant importance). In fact, with PCA and APCS, it was possible to observe that EC, together with Na+, Cl-, and TDS, was the parameter that most often showed high loading values, and the scattered samples with these loading values were collected at sites in which marine water intrusion had been hypothesized. The results obtained by multivariate statistical methods can be useful both in guiding stakeholders and in providing a valid tool to authorities for assessing and managing groundwater resources.

The combustion of pruning residues of olive trees in field is a common practice in South of Italy. Since fields are usually close to densely populated areas, the biomass burning emission may cause seasonally increasing exposure to air pollutants and may present a potential health risk for the population. The goal of this work was to carry out the chemical characterization of PM originated from open burning of agricultural biomass and to provide tracer species or concentration ratios characteristics of this source. In this work preliminary results about the chemical characterization of PM10 aerosol collected a few meters from the plume of a bonfire and throughout its duration are shown. In particular the data showed that during open burning of olive tree residues, PM10 mean concentrations were about fifty times higher than PM10 collected at background site in no biomass burning event. Moreover the particulate matter composition was especially enriched in K, OC, Pb and PAHs, and in particular in benz[a]anthracene and benzo[a]pyrene; this pollutants in fact show the biggest Enrichment Factor values. The BaP/BghiP ratio registered in biomass burning event (1.88) was three times greater than in no event condition (0.57); and this ratio result better than IP/[IP+BghiP] ratio for discriminating between two emission sources of PAHs, such as diesel exhaust and biomass burning. Finally BaA has been demonstrated to be a better marker of biomass combustion source with respect to BaP and the other PAHs.

The combustion of pruning residues of olive trees in field is a common practice in South of Italy. Since fields are usually close to densely populated areas, the biomass burning emission may cause seasonally increasing exposure to air pollutants and may lead to a potential health risk for the population. The goal of this work was to carry out the chemical characterization of PM deriving from open burning of agricultural biomass and to identify tracer species or concentration ratios characteristics of this source. The collected data showed that during open burning of olive tree residues, PM10 mean concentration was about fifty times higher than PM10 collected at background site in no biomass burning event. Moreover the particulate matter composition was especially enriched in K, OC and Polyciclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as benz[a]anthracene and benzo[a]pyrene.

In order to assess indoor air quality (IAQ), two 1-week monitoring campaigns of volatile organic compounds (VOC) were performed in different areas of a multistorey shopping mall. High-spatial-resolution monitoring was conducted at 32 indoor sites located in two storehouses and in different departments of a supermarket. At the same time, VOC concentrations were monitored in the mall and parking lot area as well as outdoors. VOC were sampled at 48-h periods using diffusive samplers suitable for thermal desorption. The samples were then analyzed with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The data analysis and chromatic maps indicated that the two storehouses had the highest VOC concentrations consisting principally of terpenes. These higher TVOC concentrations could be a result of the low efficiency of the air exchange and intake systems, as well as the large quantity of articles stored in these small spaces. Instead, inside the supermarket, the food department was the most critical area for VOC concentrations. To identify potential emission sources in this department, a continuous VOC analyzer was used. The findings indicated that the highest total VOC concentrations were present during cleaning activities and that these activities were carried out frequently in the food department. The study highlights the importance of conducting both high-spatial-resolution monitoring and high-temporal-resolution monitoring. The former was able to identify critical issues in environments with a complex emission scenario while the latter was useful in interpreting the dynamics of each emission source.

In recent years, the use of synthetic materials in building and furnishing, the adoption of new lifestyles, the extensive use of products for environmental cleaning and personal hygiene have contributed to the deterioration of indoor air quality and introduced new sources of risk to humans. Indoor environments include home, workplaces such as offices, public buildings such as hospitals, schools, kindergartens, sports halls, libraries, restaurants and bars, theaters and cinemas and finally cabins of vehicles. Indoor environments in schools have been of particular public concern. According to recent studies, children aged between 3 and 14 spend 90 % of the day indoors both in winter and summer. Moreover, children have greater susceptibility to some environmental pollutants than adults, because they breathe higher volumes of air relative to their body weights, and their tissues and organs are actively growing. In this review, the authors explore the methodological approaches used for the assessment of air quality in schools: monitoring strategies, sampling and analysis techniques and summarizing an overview of main findings from scientific literature concerning the most common pollutants found in school environments.

A VOC monitoring was carried out inside and outside a multi-storey car park in order to characterize the emission profile of vehicular traffic source in an indoor environment. BTEX, and in particular toluene, were the most abundant compounds in all monitored sites, with different compositions between indoor parking areas and outdoor sites. The motor vehicle exhaust and gasoline vapor emission in these enclosed parking garages were characterized by diffusion or degradation phenomena different from those that occur in urban areas as the BTEX compositions, their ratios and their reactivity with OH and with NO3 radicals demonstrate. In detail, xylenes/BTEX and ethylbenzene/BTEX ratios in indoor environments were twice than those in outdoor ones, while toluene/BTEX ratio resulted half than that obtained in outdoor sites. In this work, BTEX concentrations depend both on number of vehicles, on vehicular characteristics (age, emission control technology, fuel quality etc.) and on factors related to the characteristics of parking facilities (volume of the monitored areas, indoor or open facilities, ventilation systems, size and maintenance). However, it was found that the external contribution (intrusion of pollutants from outdoor and from the other floors) and the influence of mixing air (removal of pollutants by ventilation and air exchange) on BTEX concentrations were not significant if inside the multi-storey car park there was a strong source (due to the number of vehicles) such happened in the first and second floors and along the ramp that connected them.

Odour annoyance represents one of the most emerging aspects related to odour emissions, produced by industrial plants. The possibility of making objective this type of annoyance constitutes a complex issue to face, due to the subjective features of the olfactory perception and to the difficulty to identify with certainty the source of emissions. To the purpose, some international guidelines consider the employment of human assessors as a valuable method for the impact evaluation of an industrial plant on the territory (by means of administration of questionnaires addressed to the residents or field inspections, properly planned). These approaches provide only qualitative and quantitative indexes of annoyance and require some months of investigation before obtaining results. This paper focuses on the development of a methodology for the detection and evaluation of olfactory annoyance, integrating automatic remote systems able to record the olfactory perception of human receptors and to collect odour samples in real time. The experimental study has been applied in the city of Taranto, in the South of Italy, where the residents have been reporting so much discomfort for odour emissions, produced by plants located in the industrial area. The integrated system requires the direct involvement of population; by means of a phone switchboard, the residents communicate in real time the perception of odour events and their intensity (according to an intensity scale of three levels). The different warnings are displayed on a map together with the meteorological data in order to associate the emissions to the sources on the territory. According to a chosen routine (number of warning for index of intensity recorded in a defined time range), remote automatic sampling systems, located in particular sites on the territory, are activated in order to collect a representative sample, that could be analyzed through dynamic olfactometry. In this paper, the preliminary results obtained during the experimental campaign will be presented, underlining the advantages connected with a remote sampling.

In order to identify the different fugitive emission sources in the industrial area of Taranto and assess their impact on air quality in the surrounding urban area, an intensive monitoring campaign of PM10 and PM2.5 was carried out from January 28th to July 30th, 2011, in seven sites: four next to industrial plants and the other three distributed in different areas of Taranto. The processing by bivariate polarplot of data about the PAHs concentrations, diagnostic ratios among PAHs, and B/T ratios, resulted an useful tool to identify and assess the impact of fugitive emission in specific anemometric conditions. Moreover, the source apportionment analysis allowed to quantify the contribution of each source to the concentrations of pollutants measured at receptor site.

L‚area industriale di Taranto  ad oggi annoverata tra le zone ad alto rischio ambientale ed inclusa nell’elenco dei siti inquinati di interesse nazionale a causa della presenza di un ampio complesso industriale in prossimit… dell’insediamento urbano. Nonostante gli importanti risultati conseguiti dalle politiche di controllo delle emissioni convogliate, la complessit… degli impianti che caratterizzano l‚area industriale tarantina rende difficile l‚identificazione e la localizzazione delle sorgenti che contribuiscono alle emissioni diffuse e altamente impattanti sulla qualit… dell‚aria nelle aree urbane limitrofe. Pertanto in questo lavoro  stato effettuato un monitoraggio intensivo degli IPA nel PM10 al fine di discriminare le diverse sorgenti diffuse e di determinare l‚impatto di ciascuna esse sui siti recettori sensibili in base ai principali parametri meteorologici che determinano la dispersione e trasporto in atmosfera degli inquinanti. In particolare  stata condotta una campagna di monitoraggio di PM10 in 7 siti di campionamento dislocati intorno all‚area industriale tarantina e disposti lungo le direzione dei venti dominanti. Il campionamento di PM10 per la determinazione delle concentrazioni giornaliere di IPA,  stato effettuato dal 1Gennaio al 30 Luglio 2011 con campionatori basso volume SWAM bicanale (FAI Instruments s.r.l.). Contemporaneamente nei diversi siti sono stati monitorati le concentrazioni orarie di IPA totali utilizzando un analizzatore in continuo (ECOCHEM PAS 2000), i principali parametri meteo, la capacit… disperdente dell‚atmosfera e le concentrazioni di SO2, NOx, Benzene (B) e Toluene (T). L‚elaborazione dei dati di concentrazioni dei singoli IPA, dei rapporti diagnostici e dei rapporti B/T mediante polar plot bivariati hanno permesso di identificare le sorgenti di emissione diffuse e di valutarne l‚impatto in corrispondenza di venti tali da permettere il trasporto degli inquinanti dall‚area industriale sul sito

SFX Get it!(opens in a new window)|View at Publisher| Export | Download | Add to List | More... Advances in Meteorology Volume 2014, 28 August 2014, Article number 598301 Monitoring of the deposition of PAHs and metals produced by a steel plant in Taranto (Italy) (Article) Amodio, M.a, De Gennaro, G.bc, Di Gilio, A.b, Tutino, M.b a LEnviroS Srl, Spin-Off of University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Orabona 4, Bari, Italy b Apulia Regions Environmental Protection Agency (ARPA Puglia), Corso Trieste 27, Bari, Italy c Chemistry Department, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Orabona 4, Bari, Italy View additional affiliations View references (50) Abstract A high time-resolved monitoring campaign of bulk deposition of PAHs and metals was conducted near the industrial area and at an urban background site in province of Taranto (Italy) in order to evaluate the impact of the biggest European steel plant. The deposition fluxes of the sum of detected PAHs at the industrial area ranged from 92 to 2432 ng m-2d-1. In particular the deposition fluxes of BaP, BaA, and BkF were, on average, 10, 14, and 8 times higher than those detected at the urban background site, respectively. The same finding was for metals. The deposition fluxes of Ni (19.8 μg m-2d-1) and As (2.2 μg m-2d-1) at the industrial site were about 5 times higher than those at the urban background site, while the deposition fluxes of Fe (57 mg m-2d-1) and Mn (1.02 mg m-2d-1) about 31 times higher. Precipitation and wind speed played an important role in PAH deposition fluxes. Fe and Mn fluxes at the industrial site resulted high when wind direction favored the transport of air masses from the steel plant to the receptor site. The impact of the industrial area was also confirmed by IP/(IP + BgP), IP/BgP, and BaP/BgP diagnostic ratios.

This chapter discusses the most used methodologies for PM measurement and its chemical characterization. Nowadays, many different instruments and analytical techniques for these purposes are available and the choice of the most suitable one depends on the aim of measurement; therefore, the principles of the methods for PM measurement will be briefly described. Regarding PM chemical composition, techniques for determination of identifiable components, organic and inorganic, will be presented. An overview on conventional techniques and new generation instruments designed to meet the various. goals of the monitoring will also be provided.

Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) characterizes the atmospheric air quality. PM particles can adsorb and include several toxic air pollutants of urban areas. The current study aimed to develop an experimental procedure to assess the toxicity of the pollutants on PM10 by means of the comet assay on earthworms directly exposed to PM10 collecting filters. A particular focus was the amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the filter, in spite of their very low concentration in PM, because of their strong mutagenic and carcinogenic effects. A quartz filter exposed to polluted air containing 24.9 mg/g of PM10 and 14.1 mu g/g of PAHs was characterized and mechanically reduced into a very fine powder by means of a planetary ball mill. This powder was combined with artificial soil samples allowing treatments at 15 mu g/g of PM10 (0.008 mu g/g of PAHs), 22.5 mu g/g of PM10 (0.012 mu g/g of PAHs), 30 mu g/g of PM10 (0.016 mu g/g of PAHs). Earthworms were exposed to each treatment for seven days, including blank treatments with powdered clean quartz filter, such as phenanthrene (used as the standard), and an untreated soil. DNA damage was observed starting from 0.012 mu g/g of PAHs in 22.5 mu g/g of PM10. No single PAH was detected or quantified in the bodies of the earthworms after microwave assisted solvent extraction (MASE) and GC-MS analysis. The results demonstrate that even a very low amount of PM10 absorbed by the earthworms had a toxic effect on their immune systems, which could also have been caused by other xenobiotics included into the filter.

In recent years the use of synthetic materials in building and furnishing, the adoption of new lifestyles, the extensive use of products for environmental cleaning and personal hygiene have contributed to the deterioration of the indoor air quality (IAQ) and introduced new sources of risk to humans. Indoor environments include home work places such as offices, public buildings such as hospitals, schools, kindergartens, sports halls, libraries, restaurants and bars, theatres and cinemas and finally cabins of vehicles. Indoor environments in schools have been of particular public concern. According to recent studies, children aged between 3 and 14 spend 90 % of the day indoors both in winter and summer. Adverse environmental effects on the learning and performance of students in schools could have both immediate and lifelong consequences, for the students and for society. In fact, children have greater susceptibility to some environmental pollutants than adults, because they breathe higher volumes of air relative to their body weights and their tissues and organs are actively growing. This review describes methods for the assessment of indoor air quality in schools. To this aim, monitoring strategies for sampling and measurement of indoor air pollutants will be discussed. The paper’s goal involves four major points: (1) characteristics of indoor environments, chemical pollutants and their sources within school; (2) monitoring strategies; (3) sampling and analysis techniques; and (4) an overview of findings from scientific literature. Finally, we summarizes available knowledge about IAQ in schools highlighting key gaps and suggesting priority topics and strategies for research. Moreover, it provides useful tools to support the stakeholder for development of strategies of prevention and mitigation in school environments in order to improve the indoor air quality.

his paper analyses elemental (EC), organic (OC) and total carbon (TC) concentration in PM2.5 and PM10 samples collected over the last few years within several national and European projects at 37 remote, rural, urban, and traffic sites across the Italian peninsula.The purpose of the study is to obtain a picture of the spatial and seasonal variability of these aerosol species in Italy, and an insight into sources, processes and effects of meteorological conditions.OC and EC showed winter maxima and summer minima at urban and rural locations and an opposite behaviour at remote high altitude sites, where they increase during the warm period due to the rising of the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL). The seasonal averages of OC are higher during winter compared to summer at the rural sites in the Po Valley (from 1.4 to 3.5 times), opposite to what usually occurs at rural locations, where OC increases during the warm period. This denotes the marked influence of urban areas on the surrounding rural environment in this densely populated region.The different types of sites exhibit marked differences in the average concentrations of carbonaceous aerosol and OC/EC ratio. This ratio is less sensitive to atmospheric processing than OC and EC concentrations, and hence more representative of different source types. Remote locations are characterised by the lowest levels of OC and especially EC, with OC/EC ratios ranging from 13 to 20, while the maximum OC and EC concentrations are observed at road-traffic influenced urban sites, where the OC/EC ratio ranges between 1 and 3. The highest urban impacts of OC and EC relative to remote and rural background sites occur in the Po Valley, especially in the city of Milan, which has the highest concentrations of PM and TC and low values of the OC/EC ratio. •We compared OC and EC data from different sites across the Italian Peninsula.•OC and EC concentration maxima occur during winter and minima during summer at all except remote sites.•Higher OC levels characterize the Po Valley compared to the rest of Italy both during summer and winter.•Biomass burning for residential heating strongly affects winter OC concentrations in the Po Valley.•Carbonaceous matter contribution to PM2.5 ranges between 37% at rural and 47% at traffic sites, on an annual basis.

Solvent- and water-based wood stains were monitored using a small test emission chamber in order to characterize their emission profiles in terms of Total and individual VOCs. The study of concentration-time profiles of individual VOCs enabled to identify the compounds emitted at higher concentration for each type of stain, to examine their decay curve and finally to estimate the concentration in a reference room. The solvent-based wood stain was characterized by the highest Total VOCs emission level (5.7mg/m3) that decreased over time more slowly than those related to water-based ones. The same finding was observed for the main detected compounds: Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Xylenes, Styrene, alpha-Pinene and Camphene. On the other hand, the highest level of Limonene was emitted by a water-based wood stain. However, the concentration-time profile showed that water-based product was characterized by a remarkable reduction of the time of maximum and minimum emission: Limonene concentration reached the minimum concentration in about half the time compared to the solvent-based product. According to AgBB evaluation scheme, only one of the investigated water-based wood stains can be classified as a low-emitting product whose use may not determine any potential adverse effect on human health.

In the South of Italy, it is common for farmers to burn pruning waste from olive trees in spring. In order to evaluate the impact of the biomass burning source on the physical and chemical characteristics of the particulate matter (PM) emitted by these fires, a PM monitoring campaign was carried out in an olive grove. Daily PM10 samples were collected for 1 week, when there were no open fires, and when biomass was being burned, and at two different distances from the fires. Moreover, an optical particle counter and a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) analyzer were used to measure the high time-resolved dimensional distribution of particles emitted and total PAHs concentrations, respectively. Chemical analysis of PM10 samples identified organic and inorganic components such as PAHs, ions, elements, and carbonaceous fractions (OC, EC). Analysis of the collected data showed the usefulness of organic and inorganic tracer species and of PAH diagnostic ratios for interpreting the impact of biomass fires on PM levels and on its chemical composition. Finally, high time-resolved monitoring of particle numbers and PAH concentrations was performed before, during, and after biomass burning, and these concentrations were seen to be very dependent on factors such as weather conditions, combustion efficiency, and temperature (smoldering versus flaming conditions), and moisture content of the wood burned.

Many studies demonstrated that materials can be significant emission sources of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) that can affect indoor air quality. These compounds are of particular concern because of their potential impact on human health, usually named SVHC (Substances of Very High Concern) by new EU Regulations in chemical field [1]. Some of VOCs are also odour compounds and can cause olfactory annoyance for the exposed population. In the present paper experimental results obtained by the application of the conventional methodology, according to the requirements reported in International Standards (ISO 16000), to consumer products will be showed highlighting the risk assessment related to inhalation exposure, integrated with those obtained by dynamic olfactometry and gas-chromatography/olfactometry (GC-O) with the aim of assessing the olfactory impact associated to the same consumer products.