Urinary levels of metal elements in the non-smoking general population in Italy: SIVR study 2012-2015.

The purpose of this study of the Italian Society of Reference Values (SIVR) was to provide the reference values for metals in the urine of the Italian general population. Thirteen sampling centres situated in the north, centre and south of Italy took part in this project. Each sampling centre selected 20 adult subjects.

Methodology to define biological reference values in the environmental and occupational fields: the contribution of the Italian Society for Reference Values (SIVR).

Background: Biological reference values (RVs) explore the relationships between humans and their environment and habits. RVs are fundamental in the environmental field for assessing illnesses possibly associated with environmental pollution, and also in the occupational field, especially in the absence of established biological or environmental limits.

Objectives: The Italian Society for Reference Values (SIVR) determined to test criteria and procedures for the definition of RVs to be used in the environmental and occupational fields.

Iodine nutritional status and thyroid effects of exposure to ethylenebisdithiocarbamates.

Introduction: Italy is still characterized by a mild iodine deficiency and is among the most intensive users of chemical products for agriculture in Europe. The aim of this study was i) to evaluate thyroid effects of exposure to mancozeb, a fungicide widely used in agriculture, in a sample of Italian grapevine workers, and ii) to verify whether the iodine intake may modulate the risk of thyroid disruption due to the mancozeb metabolite ethylenthiourea (ETU).

Methods: One hundred seventy-seven occupationally exposed male workers (29 from Chianti, a mild iodine deficient area, and 148 from Bolzano an iodine sufficient province) and 74 non-occupationally exposed male controls (34 from Chianti and 40 from Bolzano) were enrolled in the study.

[Benzene in soft drinks: a study in Florence (Italy)].

The aim of this study was to determine the amount of benzene present in soft drinks sold in Florence (Italy). We analyzed 28 different types of soft drinks, by measuring concentrations of benzoic acid, sorbic acid, ascorbic acid (using high performance liquid chromatography with UV detection) and benzene (using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry). Data was analysed by using SPSS 18.

Assessment of foetal exposure to cigarette smoke after recent implementations of smoke-free policy in Italy.

Aim: We investigated foetal exposure to cigarette smoke following maternal active and passive smoking at the end of the pregnancy in a cohort of mother-infant dyads after recent implementation of the Italian smoke-free legislation and information campaigns against smoking.

Methods: Study subjects were 979 mothers and their newborns attended at one of the major Florence hospitals between the end of 2004 and during 2005, when smoking banning legislation in all the enclosed places of employment was completely enforced. A structured questionnaire was completed by mothers and cord serum cotinine was used as a biomarker of foetal exposure to maternal smoke at the end of the pregnancy.

Urinary 1-hydroxypyrene and t,t-muconic acid as biomarkers of exposure to environmental pollutants in two areas in Italy (EPIC-Florence and Ragusa).

Aims And Background: Several chemical compounds included in the group of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and benzene are well-known human carcinogens present in the atmosphere of polluted urban areas. Major sources include vehicle traffic and industrial emissions, but also cigarette smoke. Genotoxic damage derived from exposure to PAHs can be measured in healthy adults by specific assays as PAH-DNA adducts.