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Air pollution impact assessment on agroecosystem and human health characterisation in the area surrounding the industrial settlement of Milazzo (Italy): A multidisciplinary approach

TitleAir pollution impact assessment on agroecosystem and human health characterisation in the area surrounding the industrial settlement of Milazzo (Italy): A multidisciplinary approach
Publication TypeArticolo su Rivista peer-reviewed
Year of Publication2008
AuthorsTriolo, L., Binazzi A., Cagnetti P., Carconi P., Correnti A., De Luca E., Bonito R., Grandoni G., Mastrantonio Marina, Rosa S., Schimberni M., Uccelli Raffaella, and Zappa Giovanna
JournalEnvironmental Monitoring and Assessment
Volume140
Pagination191-209
ISSN01676369
Keywordsagricultural ecosystem, Agriculture, agroecosystem, Air pollution, air pollution indicator, Aluminum, arsenic, article, atmospheric pollution, Cadmium, cause of death, Chromium, concentration (composition), concentration (parameters), Crop, Crop yield, Crops, ecosystem, ecotoxicity, ecotoxicology, environmental impact assessment, Eurasia, Europe, Female, food contamination, food intake, Geographic distribution, Geographical epidemiology, health impact, Health status, human, Humans, industrial area, industrial emission, Italy, Lead, major clinical study, male, Manganese, Mathematical models, men's health, Messina [Sicily], Microbial communities, microbial metabolism, Milazzo, Mortality, Nickel, nonhuman, Ozone, Ozone layer, Sicily, soil analysis, Soil Microbiology, soil microflora, Soil Pollutants, Soil pollution, Soils, Southern Europe, Sulfur dioxide, Thermoelectric plant, Toxicity, trace element, Trace elements, Urban Health, vanadium, Vegetables, Vegetation, Vibrio fischeri, xenobiotic agent
Abstract

In order to evaluate the impact of atmospheric pollutants emitted by the industrial settlement of Milazzo (Italy) on agriculture, sulphur dioxide and ozone levels in air were monitored and the data were used to estimate yield losses of the most widespread cultures. Trace element concentrations in crops and soils were also detected and metabolic profiles of soil microbial communities were considered. Vibrio fischeri test was used to appraise airborne pollutant ecotoxicity and epidemiological studies on causes of death distribution were carried out to characterize health state of people living in the area. All the sampling points were selected in farms on the basis of a theoretical meteo-diffusive model of industrial air pollutants. Experimental SO2 and O3 values mainly exceeded the threshold established by Italian and EU regulations to protect vegetation and they correspond to estimated significant crop losses. Conversely toxic element residues in soils and in agroalimentary products were generally lower than the fixed values. SO2 and O3 concentrations, toxic element infcontents and ecotoxicity levels of airborne pollutants were not related only to industrial site emissions, while the fluctuations on metabolic profiles of soil microbial communities seem to agree with the predicted deposition of xenobiotic compounds from the industrial plants. The epidemiological study evidenced a better health state of populations living in the investigated area than in the Messina province and the Sicily region but, inside the area, males living in the municipalities closest to the industrial settlement exhibited a worst health state than those in the very far ones. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007.

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URLhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-41749116126&doi=10.1007%2fs10661-007-9859-z&partnerID=40&md5=1a13a0742348c0388601d921eb65445a
DOI10.1007/s10661-007-9859-z
Citation KeyTriolo2008191