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Sicily, the largest Mediterranean island (with an extension of about 25 000 km 2 ), exhibits a very wide variety of lithologies, ranging from sedimentary to metamorphic and volcanic rocks. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) have been applied to air kerma values measured by thermoluminescent dosimetry in several sites and to data of radionuclide concentrations, geochemical and mineralogical features of rocks and soils sampled in 29 sites of Sicily to point out similarities among different lithologies. The study was devoted to find multiple correlations and allow a better classification of Sicilian lithotypes. Samples of rocks and soils have been analyzed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and gamma-ray spectrometry. Major element concentrations, mineralogical data, along with specific activities of 40 K, 238 U, and 232 Th natural radionuclides, have been determined in several samples. Geochemical, mineralogical and petrographic features are in good agreement with radiometric data. A survey was also performed to measure air kerma in outdoor environment using thermoluminescent dosimeters. The measured values were compared with the predicted levels computed from the radioisotope concentrations present in rock and soil samples. Moreover, collected data can be used to evaluate the health impact of the natural radioactivity on the population.

This paper presents measurements of major, minor, metal trace elements and radionuclides in sediments and in Posidonia oceanica samples from north-western Sicily (Italy). The mineralogical and chemical composition of sediments were determined by X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence techniques, respectively. A flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry was used to measure concentrations of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in P. oceanica samples and in sediments. Specific activities of selected radionuclides have been determined by high-resolution gamma spectrometry. Standard statistical analysis was used to assess correlations between different elements and different sample types.

This work is addressed to characterize the sedimentary rocks from Sicily used in cultural heritage, classifying them for mineralogical and chemical features as well as for porosity. Measurements on samples collected in Sicilian quarries will be compared with data obtained from micro-invasive techniques on monuments of archaeological interest. In detail, the chosen techniques were X-Ray Diffractometry (XRD), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), Magnetic Resonance Relaxometry (MRR), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Furthermore, adsorption kinetics studies and internal microporosity surveys on samples, both through X-ray tomography, are performed. Many of sedimentary rocks (common limestones, calcarenites, travertines, etc.) have been used for the building of archaeological-historical items of Sicily, from Magna Graecia to nowadays. The final aim is the understanding of the deterioration processes and the eventual remedial actions to prevent the decay of the cultural heritage. In particular, our attention was focused on building materials used for some of the temples of Agrigento, Segesta and Selinunte.

The Mediterranean Sea is an area of great interest for its volcanic activities. This paper presents a comparative study of radiometric and chemical data regarding three volcanic islands located in southern Italy (Pantellena, Ustica, and Vulcano) characterized by different magmatic histories. Measurements of radionulide contents and chemical composition of rock samples belonging to the main lithologies present in the three islands were carried out the observed correlations among radiometric, chemical and mineralogical data reflect the differences in the volcanological genesis and suggest some hypotheses on the magmatic evolution.

Italian Legislative Decree No. 81/2008 foresees the involvement of a "specialised physician" in activities for the promotion of health at the workplace.These activities are aimed at modifying erroneous lifestyles (such as smoking, drinking, bad diet, etc.) which are responsible for serious illnesses and also for repercussions on the assessment of fitness for a specific task. Obesity, as we know, represents the major risk factor in the onset of metabolic, neoplastic, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and also in the increased incidence of accidents at the workplace and sick absence.A specific questionnaire was administered to 700 health care workers of a Hospital in Catania to estimate the incidence of factors which favour the onset of these diseases: factors such as familiarity, endocrinal dysfunction problems (diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism), shift work and little physical exercise.Statistical processing of the data confirmed, partially, that little physical exercise, hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus, familiarity in the36 age group were the major risk factors in the onset of obesity, as reported in the literature. However, contrary to the literature reports, shift work did not seem to be a risk factor in the sample under study. A programme of rehabilitation, on a voluntary basis, will be offered to those workers who are overweight/obese. This programme will involve professionals such as nutritionists, endocrinologists and psychologists, and it will aim at improving workers' health conditions as well as their work performance.

The Caribbean Plate margins are constituted by deformed belts built up since the Cretaceous in acompressional and strike-slip stress field, which allowed overthrusting of the Caribbean crust onto the Pacific,North and South American Plates.The Caribbean borders include Jurassic-Cretaceous ophiolitic units (Great Antilles, Venezuela, Costa Rica,Guatemala, etc.), composed by mantle peridotites, gabbros, volcanic and sedimentary covers, which have beendeformed in at least two ductile penetrative phases and were often metamorphosed in the prehnite-pumpelleyite,green and blue schist, amphibolite, and in places eclogite facies. These units may present part of a subductioncomplex or are an accretionary prism.This paper deals with a regional geological survey (1989-1993) conducted on the main periCaribbean ophioliticunits of Guatemala, Costa Rica, Hispanola, and Venezuela. The preliminary data, recently updated with new anddetailed researches, allow to recognize the magmatic affinities (MORB and IAT) of the different reconstructedlithological sequences, which can be related with an hypothetical kinematic model of the development of theCaribbean Plate. Los márgenes de la placa del Caribe están constituidos por cinturones deformados debido a una seriede fases compresivas ocurridas desde el Cretácico, con esfuerzos tensionales y/o fallas transcurrentes super-puestos. Estos cinturones deformados contienen porciones variables de corteza caribeña sobrecorrida a las placasadyacentes (Norte y Suramericana, Pacífica).En las Antillas Mayores, Venezuela, Costa Rica y Guatemala se conocen unidades ofiolíticas de edad Jurásica-Cretácica, constituidas por secuencias de manto, corteza y una cubierta sedimentaria más o menos espesa; lassecuencias se encuentran generalmente serpentinizadas, deformadas en al menos dos fases dúctiles penetrativas ymetamorfizadas en las facies prehnita-pumpellita, esquistos azules y esquistos verdes.Desde el punto de vista tectónico-cinemático es posible incluir estas unidades en porciones de complejos de sub-ducción construidos por accreción o “underplating”.En el presente estudio regional sobre las principales unidades ofiolíticas de los márgenes del Caribe, se eviden cian diferentes secuencias litológicas pertenecientes a procesos evolutivos con diferentes tendencias, desde MORB a IAT.Los resultados preliminares de una transversal en la Cordillera de la Costa de Venezuela permiten interpretar algunas secuencias litológicas como provenientes de protolitos tipo MORB

The population exposure to those living on the island of Pantelleria, Italy, was estimated by measuring the natural gamma background. Gamma spectra of natural rocks and measurements of absorbed dose in air were taken. A correlation was found between the mean gamma exposure rate and the mean values of natural radionuclide concentrations in the investigated rocks.

The sewage from urban settlements is an important cause of water pollution. Recent Italian legislation offers new possibilities for intervention in the purification of wastewater. The "Decreto Legislativo" 152 of April 3, 2006, indicating "Environmental Standards", recommends the possible use of constructed wetlands considered particularly suitable for small and medium communities according to low operating costs, lack of energy, and manageability. The Authors, after describing the characteristics of these facility, analyze the occupational risks associated with the control and maintenance of a experimental subsurface constructed wetland (H-SSF, SubSurface Horizontal Flow) coming to the conclusion that the management of this type of facility has a low risk of exposure to biological agents.

Brachytherapy is an effective radiotherapeutic treatment for localized prostatic cancer. The permanent brachytherapy is a particular kind of radiotherapy which, US guided, uses permanently implanted seeds containing radioactive sources (Pd103 or I 125). The procedure is minimally invasive and allows to obtain high percentage of success which is comparable to surgery. The possibility to confine permanent radioactive implants in a well delimitated area doesn't exclude the exposition of both the medical staff and family's members of implanted patients. The radiation exposure involves the medical physicists, the radiotherapists, the Medical Radiology Technician, the anaesthetists, the surgeons, the professional nurses but also, after the brachytherapy treatment, public and family members, comforters and cares. It's necessary to consider radiation safety aspects of brachytherapy in order to reduce the risks of exposition. At the end, several studies showed that cremation of bodies could be a possible radiation source that remains in the patient's ashes, potentially inhaled by crematorium staff or members of the public.

Some categories of workers (actors, teachers, singers) use a particular working tool: their voice. In order to assess the spread of dysphonia and its possible causes across a specific class of workers--the teachers of some schools in the city of Catania--we have set up a ad hoc questionnaire. A special database has been subsequently arranged, aimed at the statistical analysis of the responses obtained. The analysis of the responses shows that the phenomenon is more present in female than male teachers, 48% versus 30%. The dysphonia occurs mainly at the end of the working day, lasts throughout the school year and improves in summer, demonstrating the importance of teaching activity in its pathogenesis. One aspect especially stands out: dysphonia occurs exclusively in those individuals suffering from diseases with possible alterations of the voice, such as allergopathies, tireopathies and gastropathies. Therefore, work activity alone does not seem able to cause a chronic dysphonia, whereas the presence of diseases causing disability of vocal cords appears to play an important role.

Until the early 1980's there was a general consensus that no relationship existed between occupational silica exposure and lung cancer, in spite of a number of reports to the contrary. Confirmation arrived later from animal experiments and in 1997 the IARC modified its carcinogenic agents classification to include silica in group 1, human carcinogens. This fact brought about a change in insurance practice regarding occupational diseases due to silica, with greater attention dedicated to pneumoconiosis-related lung cancers.To describe a clinical case of lung cancer due to occupational exposure to silica in a worker of a ceramics industry already receiving compensation for silicosis.Diagnosis and recognition of the occupational origin of the disease were achieved via assessment of exposure to silica in the past and review of the medical examinations over the years.The pathogenesis and the causative relationship between pneumoconiosis and cancer is debated and lung cancer was recognized as an occupational disease.It is concluded that a causative relationship can exist more due to the presence of silicosis than due to occupational exposure to silica.

This paper presents the results of a study that is part of a wider research program regarding the knowledge of the initial living phases of Sicilian agricultural and pastoral societies. Three ceramic samples attributed to the medium initial Neolithic (NEO1 and NEO2) and to the first neolithic (NEO3), recovered in two different archaeological sites of the western Sicily, have been analysed. Chemical, mineralogical and spectroscopic data point out a similarity between NEO1 and NEO3 samples; compositional and morphological differences instead have been observed in the NEO2 sample. The firing temperatures of the samples have been estimated by Mössbauer spectroscopy; they are lower than 500 degrees C for the samples NEO1 and NEO3, and about 700 degrees C for NEO2.

A high-purity germanium detector has been used to measure the abundance of radium (Ra), thorium (Th) and potassium (K) in building materials used in Sicilian dwellings. The measurements were performed to evaluate which material was suitable for the construction of an enclosure, which would have a low background emission. The materials examined in this work showed concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K dramatically variable depending on the lithologies, particularly in the case of blocks, sands and aggregates commonly used in building materials in Sicily. The results are discussed and a criterion is indicated to reduce the radiation dose to humans. Since radon inlet is a major health problem, all the radiometric data and the geochemical features have been used to determine the radon exhalation, which arises from the disintegration of 226Ra in soils and walls of houses. From our experimental data it can be seen out that one of the geochemical parameters, Total Alkali (TA), may be an appropriate index to select materials of low radiological risk.

Air kerma was measured in the “Vulcano Porto” area of the Vulcano Island, belonging to the Aeolian Islands, in the Mediterranean Sea. Measurements were carried out using thermoluminescence dosimeters. The relationship between observed dose values and source lithology has been assessed. Data show a seasonal variation due to weather conditions but also probably related to features of the soils, making the variation more evident.

Sicily includes a great variety of lithologies, giving a high complexity to the geologic landscape. Their prevalent lithology is sedimentary. It is well known that rocks of sedimentary origin, compared with metamorphic and volcanic deposits, can be relatively soft and hence fairly easy to model. Nevertheless, this workability advantage is a drawback for Cultural Heritage applications. In fact, these materials show a high porosity, with pore-size distributions that lead to deterioration through absorption of water. In this paper, several sedimentary rocks used in historical Cultural Heritage items of Sicily, from "Magna Graecia" to nowadays, are classified for mineralogical features, chemical composition, and for porosity. Particularly, some samples collected in quarries relevant to the archaeological sites of 41 Agrigento, Segesta and Selinunte will be considered and characterized using integrated techniques (XRD, XRF, NMR and CT). Data on samples obtained in laboratory will be compared with the relevant values measured in situ on monuments of historical-cultural interest of the quoted archaeological places.