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Mine exploitations worldwide have generated a great amount of tailings, which still contain large quantities of Potentially Harmful Elements (PHEs) able to contaminate soil, water, air, wildlife, and the food chain. Phytoremediation is an option to immobilize and/or extract PHEs from polluted mining areas. This study aims at assessing the phytoremediation properties of Helicrysum italicum (roth) G. Don, and in particular the capacity to absorb, transfer and accumulate some PHEs, such as Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn, in the plant tissues. A restricted literature review (7 papers) is also proposed in order to outline the H. italicum's behaviour and verify its possible use in phytoremediation strategy of polluted mine soils. A number of 22 contaminated sites from Montevecchio mine area (Sardinia, Italy) were sampled and the results compared with 6 uncontaminated sites. In each site both rhizospheric soil materials and H. italicum plants were sampled. Total composition and bioavailable fractions were analysed on soil samples. Helicrysum italicum roots, stems and leaves were separately analysed to extract PHEs; root/soil and leaf/root ratios were calculated to elucidate plant behaviour. Results show that Cd and Zn are the most bioavailable PHEs in contaminated sites compared to uncontaminated ones (300 and 500 folds, respectively), while Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn exceed the thresholds of the Italian environmental legislation when aqua regia extraction is executed. Helicrysum italicum plants growing on contaminated soils accumulate significantly more Cd, Ni, Pb and Zn than plants growing on uncontaminated soils, while no significant differences are found for Cu. For all considered PHEs the root/soil ratios are >1 in both contaminated/uncontaminated sites meaning that H. italicum can be defined as a tolerant species for remediation of metal-polluted soils. The leaf/root ratios weakly >1 of Zn, Pb and Cu and

Still more than 30 years after the Chernobyl accident, foodstuff based on black blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) with relevant 137Cs activity concentrations are still found in the European Union market. Moreover, recently, mass media reported that food products based on black blueberries produced in UE were rejected by Asian markets because the 137Cs activity concentration was greater than 100 Bq kg-1. It is known that Ukraine, Belarus and Russia are great exporters of black blueberries: there is a strong suspicion that the berries are collected also from the most radio-contaminated areas of these countries and introduced in UE markets. For this reason, about 40 samples of jams, marmalades, stewed fruits and other food preparations based on black blueberries were analysed by high resolution gamma spectrometry with high purity germanium detectors to measure 137Cs and 134Cs activity concentration. All the food preparations of the study have been collected in supermarkets and in local stores of northern Italy. 134Cs, as expected following its half-life, was less than minimum detectable activity in all samples. 137Cs activity concentration was widely variable among samples: the minimum, mean and maximum concentration were 1, 54 and 162 Bq kg-1, respectively. The activity concentrations found in these products were corrected for the radioactive decay and reported to the same date. The activity concentration in fruits was calculated from fruit percentage content reported on the product label. In fruits used for marmalades, jams and stewed fruits, 137Cs activity concentration up to 230 Bq kg-1 was found. In a sample of blueberries in syrup, 137Cs activity concentration in blueberries was 450 Bq kg-1. The results found in organic jams and in non-organic jams were compared using parametric and non-parametric tests to find possible differences between the two groups.

Questo lavoro trae origine dall'osservazione che anche a distanza di più di trenta anni dall'incidente di Chernobyl si rilevano in prodotti a base di mirtilli neri (Vaccinium myrtillus) immessi in commercio nell'Unione Europea concentrazioni di 137Cs non trascurabili [M. Calabrese, Applied Physics Res. Vol. 10 n. 5, 2018], [J. Lehto, J. of Env. Rad. 116 (2013) 124-132]. Inoltre, recentemente i mass-media hanno riportato notizie di prodotti a base di mirtillo nero provenienti dall'UE e respinti da mercati asiatici perché la concentrazione di 137Cs superava i 100 Bq kg-1. E' noto che l'Ucraina è uno dei maggiori esportatori di mirtilli neri ed esiste il forte sospetto che vengano raccolti anche nelle zone più contaminate del paese e che siano immessi nei mercati dell'UE [https://aeon.co/essays/ukraine-s-berry-pickers-are-reaping-a-radioactivebounty]. Per questo motivo sono stati analizzati mediante spettrometria gamma circa 40 campioni di marmellate, composte, confetture ed altre preparazioni alimentari a base di mirtillo nero reperibili nella grande distribuzione nel nord-est Italia. Le misure sono state condotte con rivelatori al germanio iperpuro e sono state determinate le concentrazioni di attività di 137Cs e 134Cs. Il 134Cs, come atteso, è risultato inferiore alla M.A.R. in tutti i campioni. La concentrazione di 137Cs nelle marmellate presenta ampia variabilità, con valori compresi tra 1 e 162 Bq kg-1 (valore medio 54 Bq kg-1). Le concentrazioni di attività nei frutti sono state normalizzate per il decadimento radioattivo e ricalcolate sulla base del contenuto di frutta dichiarato in etichetta. Per le marmellate e composte, sono state determinate concentrazioni di 137Cs nei frutti fino a ~230 Bq kg-1. In un campione di mirtilli sciroppati è stata rilevata una concentrazione di ~450 Bq kg-1. I risultati ottenuti su marmellate biologiche e non biologiche sono stati confrontati tramite i principali test statistici per individuare eventuali differenze tra le due sottopopolazioni.

Vengono presentati i risultati scaturiti dal progetto I.S.A. in cui si è proceduto alla fitodepurazione di acque di depurazione ed al loro impiego per interventi di fertirrigazione.

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