Temporal and spatial variations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations around a coke oven plant.

Unlabelled: From 1995 to 2004, in Genoa, Italy, daily concentrations of twelve polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured in particulate phase (PM10), around a coke oven plant in operation from the 1950s and closed in 2002. The study permitted to identify the coke oven as the main PAH source in Genoa, causing constant exceeding of benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) air quality target (1.0 ng/m3) in the urban area till 1,900 meters distance downwind the plant.

[Environmental and health impacts of wood combustion to produce heat and power].

Toxic chemicals such as benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins, and ultra fine particles were found in the smoke produced by wood combustion. Emission factors confirm that, to produce the same energy amount, many more pollutants are emitted by wood than by natural gas. Biomass burning produces a relevant deterioration of air quality inside and outside houses, notably due to emissions of fine and ultra fine dust (PM10, PM2.

Is the smokers exposure to environmental tobacco smoke negligible?

Background: Very few studies have evaluated the adverse effect of passive smoking exposure among active smokers, probably due to the unproven assumption that the dose of toxic compounds that a smoker inhales by passive smoke is negligible compared to the dose inhaled by active smoke.

Methods: In a controlled situation of indoor active smoking, we compared daily benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) dose, estimated to be inhaled by smokers due to the mainstream (MS) of cigarettes they have smoked, to the measured environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) they inhaled in an indoor environment. For this aim, we re-examined our previous study on daily personal exposure to BaP of thirty newsagents, according to their smoking habits.

[Review on environmental impact of solid wastes produced by municipal urban waste incinerators].

Incinerators reduce urban waste volumes and recover energy by combustion, but produce important quantities of solid wastes: bottom ashes and fly ashes. The presence of toxic heavy metals and persistent organic compounds, both in bottom and in fly ash, require attention for their disposal and for proposed use in cement production or as filling material in road construction. Recent ecotoxicological studies on leachates obtained from ashes produced by urban waste incinerators suggest an urgent proposal of common more stringent regulations in all Union European countries for ashes disposal and use.

[Identification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and benzene sources: the Genoa-Cornigliano experience].

Objective: To identify PAH and benzene sources in an industrial area in Genoa, Italy.

Design: Since 1994, airborne concentrations of benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and benzene and wind directions have been monitored in Genoa, near a steel factory operating very close to urban residences. The coexistence in the area of different potential sources (traffic, domestic heating, coal power plant, airport, sea transport) suggested to develop methods in order to identify main polluting sources.

Monitoring low benzene exposure: comparative evaluation of urinary biomarkers, influence of cigarette smoking, and genetic polymorphisms.

Benzene is a human carcinogen and an ubiquitous environmental pollutant. Identification of specific and sensitive biological markers is critical for the definition of exposure to low benzene level and the evaluation of the health risk posed by this exposure. This investigation compared urinary trans,trans-muconic acid (t,t-MA), S-phenylmercapturic acid, and benzene (U-benzene) as biomarkers to assess benzene exposure and evaluated the influence of smoking and the genetic polymorphisms CYP2E1 (RsaI and DraI) and NADPH quinone oxidoreductase-1 on these indices.

Urinary t,t-muconic acid, S-phenylmercapturic acid and benzene as biomarkers of low benzene exposure.

This research compared the capability of urinary trans,trans-muconic acid (t,t-MA), S-phenylmercapturic acid (S-PMA) and benzene excreted in urine (U-benzene) to monitor low benzene exposure and evaluated the influence of smoking habit on these indices. Gasoline attendants, urban policemen, bus drivers and two groups of referents working in two large Italian cities (415 people) were studied. Median benzene exposure was 61, 22, 21, 9 and 6 microg/m3, respectively, with higher levels in workers than in referents.

The use of S-phenylmercapturic acid as a biomarker in molecular epidemiology studies of benzene.

S-Phenylmercapturic acid (S-PMA), is a urinary metabolite of benzene, thought to be derived from the condensation product of benzene oxide with glutathione. S-PMA may be determined by GC, HPLC (UV or fluorescence detection), GC-MS, LC-MS/MS or immunoassays. The limit of sensitivities of most of these techniques is 1 microg/l urine or below.

Lung cancer in an urban area in Northern Italy near a coke oven plant.

Coke ovens are well-known sources of potentially carcinogenic air pollutants, but studies on resident populations are still poor. This study investigates the incidence of lung cancer near a coke oven in Cornigliano, a district of the Genoa municipality in Northern Italy. Genoa proper and one district similar to Cornigliano as regards socio-economic deprivation were selected as referents.

Pinus nigra and Pinus pinaster needles as passive samplers of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Nine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analysed in pine needles of different ages (from 6 to 30 months) collected from two species, Pinus nigra and Pinus pinaster, in seven sites located along a transect from a suburban to a rural area of Genoa (Italy). In all sites and for both species, concentrations of more volatile PAHs (phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene) were higher than those for other less volatile PAHs, which are preferentially sorbed to airborne particulates (benzo[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzofluoranthenes, benzo[a]pyrene). Concentrations of total PAHs found in P.

Personal daily exposures to benzo(a)pyrene of taxi drivers in Genoa, Italy.

Twenty-four hour personal exposures (both occupational and environmental) to benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) of 15 taxi drivers working in Genoa, Italy, were monitored in May-July 1998 (15 samplings), February 1999 (7 samplings) and June 1999 (7 samplings). The mean BaP exposures measured at these different times were 1.4 ng/m3, 1.