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Questa pubblicazione contiene la rassegna più completa attualmente disponibile sugli impatti ambientali della produzione di energia geotermoelettrica in Italia ed è scaricabile gratuitamente dal sito internet dell'Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse del CNR.

Coordinamento SIBA, Università degli Studi del Salento. Lecce

A robust analytical method is presented for the direct determination of polychlorinated biphenyls in soil samples by thermal desorption/gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry. The method is simple to perform (thermal desorption and analysis are performed in-line employing a limited amount of sample, 2 mg) and eliminates the need for any solvent and time-consuming extraction. The analytical procedure was optimized using a soil sample spiked with Aroclor 1254 and Aroclor 1260 and validated with a certified industrial soil sample for which the concentration of thirteen PCB congeners are known. Limits of detection were sensitive to matrix effects and varied substantially among analytes. The matrix effect resulted in a reduction of the limits of detection by 1.5-10 times. However, it was found that the matrix effect is not due to ion suppression but to the increase of the noise of selected ion monitoring (SIM) traces, indicating that no limitation exists with using a single surrogate standard. By employing a 13C-labelled PCB internal standard, limits of detection in the range of 0.8 to 10 mgg1 of soil were obtained. The obtained experimental results demonstrated that the proposed analytical method can be conveniently applied for screening a large number of heavily contaminated soil samples thus avoiding the employment of harmful solvents and time-consuming extraction procedures.

The GIIDA project aims to develop a digital infrastructure for the spatial information within CNR. It is foreseen to use semantic-oriented technologies to ease information modeling and connecting, according to international standards like the ISO/IEC 11179. Complex information management systems, like GIIDA, will take benefit from the use of terminological tools like thesauri that make available a reference lexicon for the indexing and retrieval of information. Within GIIDA the goal is to make available the EARTh thesaurus (Environmental Applications Reference Thesaurus), developed by the CNR-IIA-EKOLab. A web-based software, developed by the CNR-Water Research Institute (IRSA) was implemented to allow consultation and utilization of thesaurus through the web. This service is a useful tool to ensure interoperability between thesaurus and other systems of the indexing, with, the idea of cooperating to develop a comprehensive system of knowledge organization, that could be defined integrated, open, multi-functional and multilingual. Currently the system is available in multiple languages mode (Italian - English) and navigation can be done in the following ways: Alphabetical, Hierarchical and for Themes. A full search allows to find any term by searching for the whole term or a part of it and as well as allows to filter the results by themes. Within a collaborative initiative with the CNR-Institute of Applied Mathematics and Information Technology (IMATI) a SKOS (Simple Knowledge Organization System) version of EARTh was developed. This will ensure the possibility to support the use of the thesaurus within the framework of the Semantic Web in order to be used in decentralized metadata applications.

Studying soil using an ecosystem approach is a necessary prerequisite for improving the understanding and management of its biodiversity and for developing a solid reserve of tools for evaluating and monitoring its state. Micro-organisms are essential components of ecosystems: they are the main mediators in detritus-based food web and make it possible for the energy contained in dead organic matter to be used by detritivores, are responsible for the complete mineralization of organic matter and recycling of nutrients, and are, finally, capable of performing a homeostatic action with exogenous molecules; the last is only possible to the extent that the quantity and toxicity of the molecules do not hamper or inhibit their activity. The presence of an abundant and varied microbial community is a necessary requisite for an immediate and effective response to the various natural and anthropic disturbances that can affect an ecosystem. The study of microbial communities is highly dependent on the availability of appropriate methods for identifying their structures (e.g. number and diversity of species) and their function (e.g. bacterial activities). We report some results regarding the study of soil and related groundwater quality of an Italian area contaminated by pharmaceutical residuals, using microbiological indicators. The microbiological indicators used were: the bacterial abundance (epifluorescence microscope total direct counts), the cell viability, the species diversity by assessing the bacterial community structure with the fluorescence in situ hybridization method (FISH) and the soil microbial activity by measuring the dehydrogenase activity. The overall results show a low quality state of both soil and groundwater monitored in terms of bacterial viability, activity and diversity.

Studying soil using an ecosystem approach is a necessary prerequisite for improving the understanding and management of its biodiversity and for developing a solid reserve of tools for evaluating and monitoring its state. Micro-organisms are essential components of ecosystems: they are the main mediators in detritus-based food web and make it possible for the energy contained in dead organic matter to be used by detritivores, are responsible for the complete mineralization of organic matter and recycling of nutrients, and are, finally, capable of performing a homeostatic action with exogenous molecules; the last is only possible to the extent that the quantity and toxicity of the molecules do not hamper or inhibit their activity. The presence of an abundant and varied microbial community is a necessary requisite for an immediate and effective response to the various natural and anthropic disturbances that can affect an ecosystem. The study of microbial communities is highly dependent on the availability of appropriate methods for identifying their structures (e.g. number and diversity of species) and their function (e.g. bacterial activities). We report some results regarding the study of soil and related groundwater quality of an Italian area polluted by pharmaceutical waste, using microbiological indicators. The microbiological indicators used were: the bacterial abundance (epifluorescence microscope total direct counts), the cell viability, the Species Diversity by assessing the bacterial community structure with the fluorescence in situ hybridization method (FISH) and the soil microbial activity by measuring the dehydrogenase activity.

Starting from the literature concerning applications of Data Mining (DM) for the integrated management of environmental information, in the present work an application path referred to the smart use of spatial data is traced to encourage the adoption of sustainable practices in agriculture, overcoming the limitations to the productivity related to biological agriculture. In particular, this work focuses its attention on the class of DM algorithms called "supervised algorithms" addressed to the clustering of the cultivated area of farms, illustrating its potentiality to define the typical decision making of management and planning of interventions. This approach is particularly significant for the integrated management of regionalized and environmental data to the topographical and soil features of the area that we want to model and to the physical-chemical nature of soil, to the kind of cultivation used, to the availability and quality of the water, as well as economic and socio-economic aspects.

In current literature, studies on indoor air quality mostly concern environments such as hospitals, schools and homes, and less so on spaces producing food, such as bakeries. However, small- and medium-sized bakeries are typical and very common food production spaces, mostly in Southern Italy. Considering this, the present study investigated size trends of the aerosol particles during bakery working activities and the indoor particulate matter PM2.5 chemical speciation at the same time, in order to characterize the aerosol particulate matter emissions. In particular, indoor air monitoring was performed using a silent sequential sampler and an optical particle counter monitor during 7&ndash, 19 April 2013. For each daily sampling, four PM2.5 samples were collected. In each sample, OC (organic carbon), EC (elemental carbon), LG (levoglucosan) Cl&minus, (chloride), NO2&minus, (nitrite), NO3&minus, (nitrate), SO42&minus, (sulfate), C2O42&minus, (oxalate), Na+ (sodium), NH4+ (ammonium), K+ (potassium), Mg2+ (magnesium) and Ca2+ (calcium) concentrations were determined. The main sources of particles were wood burning, the cleaning of ovens (ash removal) and the baking of bread. While levoglucosan was associated with the source wood burning, potassium in this case can be considered as a marker of the contribution of the bakery activities. This work represents the second part of indoor research activities performed in the bakery. The first part was published in Ielpo et al. (2018).

1. Introduzione. – 2. I modelli economici del decentramento fiscale: centralizzazione e decentramento a confronto. – 2.1. Le teorie tradizionali: il teorema del decentramento di Oates. – 2.2. Il modello di Tiebout. – 2.3. Teoria del federalismo fiscale: un approccio positivo. – 3. Ripartizione delle funzioni tra i livelli di governo. – 4. Il finanziamento dei governi locali. – 5. I trasferimenti intergovernativi. – 6. Il decentramento in Italia. – 6.1. La finanza pubblica regionale. – 6.2. La perequazione comunale in Italia.

Leaf litter decomposition rates in aquatic ecosystems are known to be related to many different abiotic and biotic factors. A comparative analysis of inter- and intra-habitat variations of detritus decay rates across ecosystem types was carried out in the Alimini lake complex (Italy) to assess the relevance of major ecosystem features to detritus processing rates. Overall, the spatial variability of leaf decomposition rates was more pronounced than temporal variability, decomposition rates in the stream being 3.6 and 5.2 times faster than in the freshwater lake and saltmarsh, respectively. Overall, environmental features were relevant factors affecting intra- and inter-habitat variation of reed decay rates.

The anthropogenic activities that take place in an area are reflected in the quality of the waters in the water bodies into which the area drains; these water bodies thus represent natural tools for monitoring the state of health of the whole catchment area. The objective of this study is to evaluate the sensitivity of benthicmacroinvertebrate communities in aquatic ecosystems to perturbations linked to chemical pollution. To this end a study was conducted in the aquatic ecosystems located within the Site of National Interest of Brindisi, performing seasonal samplings in 9 field sites. The analysis of the benthic macroinvertebrate communities entailed taxonomic identification, determination of biomass and evaluation of the body condition of each individual sampled. Taxonomic and non-taxonomic community indices were derived, and their models of variation were described and compared on gradients of concentration of chemical contaminants in the area. The results indicate significant relations between the concentration of heavy metals and descriptors of the size spectra of benthic macroinvertebrates, suggesting that in aquatic ecosystems, descriptors linked to size can be a useful tool in support of bio-monitoring and assessment of ecological risk, considering their ease of application and sensitivity to perturbation pressures in an industrial area.