12 Years of honey surveys in northern Italy: How anthropic activities can influence honey quality.

Bees and hive products, such as honey, can act as indicators of environmental quality. Our research aimed to evaluate historical data of honey quality in Lombardy (Northern Italy) and consider the possible sources of air contamination that can influence it. We collected analytical data from the local Health Protection Agency on residues of 57 honey samples from 2011 to 2022, comparing a rural area and an industrial area.

On the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 in outdoor air and the interaction with pre-existing atmospheric particles.

The spread of SARS-CoV-2 by contact (direct or indirect) is widely accepted, but the relative importance of airborne transmission is still controversial. Probability of outdoor airborne transmission depends on several parameters, still rather uncertain: virus-laden aerosol concentrations, viability and lifetime, minimum dose necessary to transmit the disease. In this work, an estimate of outdoor concentrations in northern Italy (region Lombardia) was performed using a simple box model approach, based on an estimate of respiratory emissions, with a specific focus for the cities of Milan and Bergamo (Italy).

Results of an interlaboratory comparison of analytical methods for quantification of anhydrosugars and biosugars in atmospheric aerosol.

An interlaboratory comparison was performed to evaluate the analytical methods for quantification of anhydrosugars - levoglucosan, mannosan, galactosan - and biosugars - arabitol, glucose and mannitol - in atmospheric aerosol. The performance of 10 laboratories in Italy currently involved in such analyses was investigated on twenty-six PM (particulate matter) ambient filters, three synthetic PM filters and three aqueous standard solutions. An acceptable interlaboratory variability was found, determined as the mean relative standard deviation (RSD%) of the results from the participating laboratories, with the mean RSD% values ranging from 25% to 46% and decreasing with increasing sugar concentration.

Measurement of the carbonaceous component in the Milan urban particulate matter.

The carbonaceous component in the Milan urban particulate matter, i.e. the two components black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC), has been measured by means of a thermogravimetric analyzer combined with an infrared spectrophotometer (TGA/FT-IR).