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International audience; The City Region Food Systems approach has been proposed to achieve food system resilience and nutrition security while promoting the urgent ecological transition within urban and peri-urban areas, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the great diversity of the initiatives composing City Region Food Systems in Europe poses barriers to the assessment of their integrated sustainability. Hence, the present work is developed within the EU-H2020 project Food System in European Cities (FoodE), to build a consistentsustainability scoring system that allows comparative evaluation of City Region Food System Initiatives. Adopting a Life Cycle Thinking approach, it advances on existing knowledge and past projects, taking advantage of a participatory process, with stakeholders from multidisciplinary expertise. As a result, the research designs, and tests on 100 case studies a simplified and ready-to-use scoring mechanism based on a quali-quantitative appraisal survey tool, delivering a final sustainability score on a 1-5 points scale, to get insights on the social, economic, and environmental impacts. As in line with the needs of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the outcome represents a step forward for the sustainable development and social innovation of food communities in cities and regions, providing a practical and empirical lens for improvedplanning and governance.

A non-waterproofed surface flow constructed wetland (SFCW), treating agricultural drainage water in Northern Italy, was investigated to gain information on the potential ability for effective pesticide abatement. A mixture of insecticide imidacloprid, fungicide dimethomorph, and herbicide glyphosate was applied, by simulating a single rain event, into 470-m-long water course of the SFCW meanders. The pesticides were monitored in the wetland water and soil for about 2 months after treatment. Even though the distribution of pesticides in the wetland was not uniform, for each of them, a mean dissipation of 50% of the applied amount was already observed at ≤7 days. The dissipation trend in the water phase of the wetland fitted (r2 ≥ 0.8166) the first-order model with calculated DT50 of 20.6, 12.0, 5.8, and 36.7 days for imidacloprid, dimethomorph, glyphosate, and the glyphosate metabolite AMPA, respectively. The pesticide behavior was interpreted based on the chemical and physical characteristics of both the substances and the water-soil system. Despite the fast abatement of glyphosate, traces were detected in the water until the end of the trial. The formation of soluble 1:1 complex between glyphosate and calcium, the most representative cation in the wetland water, was highlighted by infrared analyses. Such a soluble complex was supposed to keep traces of the herbicide in solution.

Aim: The extent at which different agricultural strategies may affect the uptake of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) by cropped plants is not completely understood at a field scale. This study dealt with the effect of seasonality, Trichoderma inoculation alone or combined to different applications of commercial grade clinoptilolite (i.e., foliar action, fertigation, and pellet) on the PTEs content of early- and late-ripening cultivars Cucumis Melo L. Methods: Two similar field experiments were performed in spring and summer. For each cultivar/treatment combination, the input of PTEs (namely, Cr, Cu, and Pb) to the soil-crop system through irrigation water, fertilizers, pesticides, and treatment products (i.e., Trichoderma and clinoptilolite products), as well as the PTE content of melon stem, leaves and fruit, were assessed through Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optic Emission Spectrometry. Results: Neither Trichoderma alone nor associated with clinoptilolite had visible effect on PTEs uptake by plants, while early season cultivation was strongly associated with lower uptake of Cu and Pb. The high correlation of Cu and Pb content with Ca content in stem and leaves, used as a proxy for different transpiration rates under different growing seasons, indicated a possible uptake of these metals through Ca-nonselective cation channels as a drought stress defence. Lower Cu and Pb concentration were found in early-ripening melon fruit cultivated in spring. Conclusions: To the scope of Cu and Pb risk management, in case of significant contamination in Mediterranean calcareous soils, the use of early-ripening Cucumis melo L. cultivars in place of late-ripening ones is suggested.

In this work, different mesoporous silicas were studied as potential sorbents for toluene, selected as a model molecule of aromatic organic fuel-based pollutants. Three siliceous materials with different textural and surface properties (i.e., fumed silica and mesoporous Santa Barbara Amorphous (SBA)-15 and Mobil Composition of matter (MCM)-41 materials) were considered and the effect of their physico-chemical properties on the toluene adsorption process was studied. In particular, FT-IR spectroscopy was used to qualitatively study the interactions between the toluene molecule and the surface of silicas, while volumetric adsorption analysis allowed the quantitative determination of the toluene adsorption capacity. The combined use of these techniques revealed that textural properties of the sorbents, primarily porosity, are the driving forces that control the adsorption process. Considering that, under real conditions of usage, the sorbents are soaked in water, their hydrothermal stability was also investigated and toluene adsorption by both the gas and aqueous phase on hydrothermally pre-treated samples was studied. The presence of ordered porosity, together with the different pore size distribution and the amount of silanol groups, strongly affected the adsorption process. In toluene adsorption from water, SBA-15 performed better than MCM-41.

Attention to urban agriculture (UA) has recently grown among practitioners, scientists, and the public, resulting in several initiatives worldwide. Despite the positive perception of modern UA and locally grown, fresh produce, the potential food safety risks connected to these practices may be underestimated, leading to regulatory gaps. Thus, there is a need for assessment tools to evaluate the food safety risks connected to specific UA initiatives, to assist practitioners in self-evaluation and control, and to provide policy makers and scholars a means to pursue and assess food safety in city regions, avoiding either a lack or an excess of regulation that could ultimately hinder the sector. To address this aim, this paper reviews the most recent and relevant literature on UA food safety assessments. Food safety indicators were identified first. Then, a food safety assessment framework for UA initiatives was developed. The framework uses business surveys and food analyses (if available) as a data source for calculating a food safety index for single UA businesses and the whole UA landscape of a given city region. The proposed framework was designed to allow its integration into the CRFS (City Region Food System) toolkit developed by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), RUAF foundation (Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security) and Wilfrid Laurier University., Highlights • Connection of several biological and chemical food safety risks to UA techniques. • Identifiable food safety risk factors for diverse UA practices. • Framework for the assessment of food safety levels of UA initiatives. • Development of a risk-based assessment that can be integrated into the FAO CRFS framework.

Il settore dell’ortofrutta in Romagna è fondamentale per le economie dirette (produzioni alimentari) e indirette (settore della trasformazione, imballaggio, conservazione e distribuzione) sia locali che nazionali che gravitano attorno ad essa. L’inevitabile sfruttamento del suolo e l’utilizzo di pesticidi, strumenti necessari all’intensa attività agricola della Romagna, è di particolare interesse per le Società scientifiche come il Gruppo di Ricerca Italiano Fitofarmaci e Ambiente – GRIFA – che si occupano del monitoraggio delle condizioni di salute dell’ambiente su cui impattano le attività agricole. Questo studio riporta i risultati dell’elaborazione di dati residuali di pesticidi su campioni di ortofrutta di largo consumo (pomodoro, pianta di borlotto, pianta di pisello, pesca, pera, pianta di fagiolino, brattea di mais, susina e mela) in fase di pre-raccolta per il decennio 2007-2016 provenienti dalla Romagna (ca. 3200 campioni, quasi un milione di dati analitici su pesticidi) e, per confronto, dall’Italia (ca. 5600 campioni, più di 1 milione e mezzo di dati analitici). I dati sono stati forniti dal Laboratorio Centrale di Analisi Chimiche, dotato delle certificazioni per l’analisi dei pesticidi in autocontrollo, della Società Cooperativa Agricola Conserve Italia, cooperativa di riferimento per molte aziende ortofrutticole romagnole. Dal confronto dei campioni di ortofrutta in pre-raccolta provenienti dalla Romagna rispetto a quelli provenienti dall’intero territorio nazionale si è osservato per la Romagna un quantitativo medio più elevato di residui di insetticidi e fungicidi per almeno otto anni di osservazione (2009-2016). Per lo stesso periodo, le quantità di insetticidi e fungicidi che mediamente residuano nelle colture correlano con le vendite sia a livello locale che nazionale (fonte ISTAT). Al contrario, non sono state invece osservate correlazioni tra i residui di insetticidi e fungicidi nelle colture in pre-raccolta con le medie annue delle temperature massime e con le precipitazioni annue cumulative né a livello locale né nazionale per i dieci anni di osservazione. Il numero di pesticidi (principi attivi) osservati nei campioni romagnoli aumenta dal 2007 al 2016 ed è più elevato rispetto a quanto si osserva nei campioni nazionali. I principi attivi osservati con maggior frequenza nei campioni di ortofrutta in Romagna sono caratterizzati da tempi di carenza anche brevi, mettendo in evidenza la tendenza ad effettuare trattamenti a ridosso della vendita. Solo due dei pesticidi rilevati più frequentemente nelle colture in pre-raccolta coincidono con quelli ritrovati nelle acque superficiali e profonde (report ISPRA). Dal confronto del numero di residui di pesticidi nelle colture in pre-raccolta, sia locali che nazionali, con il numero di residui negli alimenti (monitoraggi del Ministero della Salute) negli anni 2007-2016 emerge che il maggiore numero di pesticidi nelle colture in pre-raccolta rispetto a quanto si osserva negli alimenti è coerente con lo scarto temporale tra i due monitoraggi. I dati analitici prodotti sulle colture in pre-raccolta possono essere uno strumento efficace per il monitoraggio della qualità dei prodotti alimentari, fornire dati certificati per la valutazione del rischio all’esposizione ambientale e dare informazioni dell’utilizzo in campo dei pesticidi su singola coltura. Il maggiore ritrovamento di pesticidi sia per quantità che per numero di principi attivi nell’ortofrutta proveniente dalla Romagna rispetto ai campioni provenienti dal territorio italiano, se non contrastato, espone il settore produttivo romagnolo a perdere competitività in un mercato in espansione quale è quello delle produzioni di frutta e verdura a “residuo zero”. Diverse importanti aziende agricole italiane stanno infatti già investendo in questo settore di ricerca per poter contrastare le patologie vegetali tramite la messa a punto di protocolli di difesa che utilizzino un minor quantitativo di pesticidi e principi attivi con bassi tempi di carenza.

The occurrence of mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH) in cellulose-based packaging is mainly due to the offset printing process where MOH are used as a ink pigments' solvent. The MOH migration from paper/paperboard to food is matter of concern for EFSA, members state authorities, consumers, and food industry. In this study, the feasibility to stabilize MOH by adding a sorbent into recycled paper obtained through a common washing process was investigated and the migration to wheat flour/Tenax® assessed. Among several white/pale yellow porous materials, organo-modified powder silica MCM-41-Si(CH3)3 showed the best combination between affinity for MOH (184% dw) and stability to thermal regeneration. A freshly issued newspaper with >3000 mg MOH kg-1 was used to produce recycled paper at a laboratory-scale plant. MCM-41-Si(CH3)3 was added at the pulping step (1% dw) and the sorbent-enriched pulp handled according to a washing paper production process with no effect on the paper optical brightness. The MOH content of the wheat flour in contact with the sorbent-enriched paper under accelerated migration conditions (15 days at 40 °C) resulted 20% of that contacted with control paper (4.3 ± 1.1 and 20.4 ± 5.5 mg kg-1, respectively), despite its contamination was 24% higher than the control. On the contrary, Tenax® contamination resulted 56.0 ± 10.0 and 47 ± 14.0 mg kg-1 when exposed to sorbent-enriched and control paper, respectively.

Purpose: Canal dredging and shaping produce considerable amounts of sediments whose reuse on- and off-site depends on their pollution level. This study explores the potential of a calcium chloride washing to remove potentially toxic elements (PTEs) from a freshly dredged calcareous sediment and to affect the aggregate stability of the washed sediment. Materials and methods: The ability of 0.5-M CaCl2 washing to restore the sediment samples polluted with Cu and Zn dredged from a freshwater canal was assessed. The distribution of the two metals among the sediment geochemical phases, the potential availability to plants (DTPA), and the water aggregate stability of particles were evaluated on the washed samples and compared to control. Results and discussion: In the most polluted sample (similar to 200 and 500mgkg(-1) of Cu and Zn, respectively), the washing decreased the amount of Cu by 26%, mainly in the sulfide/organic fraction, and of Zn by 10%, mainly in carbonates. A decrease in the dispersivity of clay fraction was observed due to the well-known effect of Ca2+ ions on flocculation of colloidal clay particles. At large scale, the aggregates formed by the interaction between large particles and flocculated clay showed lower water stability with respect to the control, thus suggesting the need to improve the physical properties of the treated material. Noteworthy, after 1 year of dry storage from washing, the average percentage of potentially bioavailable (DTPA) Cu and Zn (23 and 13% of pseudo-total amount, respectively) dropped with respect to the control (40 and 19%) and a concomitant carbonate increase (+33%) was observed. Conclusions: The CaCl2 washing is a promising method to reduce Cu and, to a minor extent, Zn in wet calcareous sediments dredged from freshwater canals. However, there is still room for improvement. The PTE fractions remaining in carbonates and organic component of washed sediment clearly indicate the potential of combining mild acidic pH values with calcium chloride in the washing to enhance the PTE removal.

This study focused on the application of mesoporous silica monoliths for the removal of organic pollutants. The physico-chemical textural and surface properties of the monoliths were investigated. The homogeneity of the textural properties along the entire length of the monoliths was assessed, as well as the reproducibility of the synthesis method. The adsorption properties of the monoliths for gaseous toluene, as a model of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), were evaluated and compared to those of a reference meso-structured silica powder (MCM-41) of commercial origin. Silica monoliths adsorbed comparable amounts of toluene with respect to MCM-41, with better performances at low pressure. Finally, considering their potential application in water phase, the adsorption properties of monoliths toward Rhodamine B, selected as a model molecule of water soluble pollutants, were studied together with their stability in water. After 24 h of contact, the silica monoliths were able to adsorb up to the 70% of 1.5 × 10−2 mM Rhodamine B in water solution.

The currently available technologies enable limitation of organic contaminants migration from paper-based packaging to foodstuff through application of plastic, aluminum or activated carbon layers on/inside paper/paperboard foils. In any case, these technologies require ad hoc paper production chains, whilist contaminants are not removed from packaging. The patented technology allows for adsorbing and removing toxic contaminants (MOSH) and potential carcinogenics (MOAH) from paper/paperboard without the need to modify production line and without altering the cellulose neutral color. The patent application claims the use of mesoporous silicas at high affinity for mineral oil. The silicas are thermally regenerable and reusable in numerous production cycles

High silica zeolite Y has been positively evaluated to clean-up water polluted with sulfonamides, an antibiotic family which is known to be involved in the antibiotic resistance evolution. To define possible strategies for the exhausted zeolite regeneration, the efficacy of some chemico-physical treatments on the zeolite loaded with four different sulfonamides was evaluated. The evolution of photolysis, Fenton-like reaction, thermal treatments, and solvent extractions and the occurrence in the zeolite pores of organic residues eventually entrapped was elucidated by a combined thermogravimetric (TGA-DTA), diffractometric (XRPD), and spectroscopic (FT-IR) approach. The chemical processes were not able to remove the organic guest from zeolite pores and a limited transformation on embedded molecules was observed. On the contrary, both thermal treatment and solvent extraction succeeded in the regeneration of the zeolite loaded from deionized and natural fresh water. The recyclability of regenerated zeolite was evaluated over several adsorption/regeneration cycles, due to the treatment efficacy and its stability as well as the ability to regain the structural features of the unloaded material.

La valutazione del rischio ambientale e alimentare hanno rappresentato un ruolo centrale nel raggiungimento degli obiettivi stabiliti dalla strategia della Commissione Europea nel programma Europa 2020 e costituiscono uno dei capisaldi dell���attuale strategia Horizon Europe. La collaborazione fra enti pubblici, societ�� scientifiche e privati rappresenta il core delle nuove strategie per raggiungere l���obiettivo della sicurezza ambientale e alimentare con un focus sulla salute, come anche indicato dalla FAO e dall���OMS. Accanto ai numerosi e stringenti controlli sulla qualit�� dei prodotti ortofrutticoli alla vendita, oltre 10000 campioni anno in Italia, esistono i controlli dei produttori e delle catene della grande distribuzione organizzata (GDO) che non sono mai pubblici. Questo report, edito dal Dipartimento di Scienze Tecnologie Agro-alimentari dell���Universit�� di Bologna, presenta proprio questi dati, in gergo chiamati ���grigi���. Questa trattazione rappresenta un primo passo, un unicum, grazie alla collaborazione tra una societ�� scientifica, il GRIFA, e una societ�� privata, Conserve Italia, che mette a disposizione milioni di dati residuali di prodotti fitosanitari in derrate alimentari in pre-raccolta per fare una valutazione statistica dell���andamento nazionale del loro utilizzo in un arco temporale molto ampio, che permetta di comprendere come l���agricoltura si sia adattata ai cambiamenti normativi, di costume e climatici. Un lavoro complesso che gli autori hanno affrontato con tenacia e dedizione, trovando la chiave scientifica per una corretta e oggettiva interpretazione.

La tecnologia applicata alla produzione di carta/cartone ad uso alimentare, attraverso il trattamento con silici modificate, rimuove gli oli minerali (la cui frazione aromatica è un potenziale cancerogeno) senza alterare il colore della carta.