Inquinamento

Italian cities are among the most polluted in Europe.The new indicator of air quality in European cities, published in recent days by the European Environment Agency (EEA), which examined the average levels of fine particulate matter ( PM2.5) in 372 urban centers with over 50 thousand inhabitants of the European continent.What emerges is that only 5 Italian cities - namely Sassari (6.2 μg/m3), Livorno (7.8 μg/m3), Savona (9.2 μg/m3), Battipaglia (9.6 μg/m3) , Syracuse (9.7 μg/m3) - present a "fair" air quality, while for 29 centers it is "moderate" and, for another 27, "poor".The Italian city that turned out to be the most polluted is that of Cremona, with 23.3 μg/m3, followed by Vicenza (23 μg/m3) and Padua (22.7 μg/m3). Specifically, the research – carried out thanks to the collection of data from 500 monitoring stations within the EEA member countries in the months of 2022 and 2023 - highlighted how onl...

In Los Alamos, New Mexico, the plants and water of numerous recreational spots would contaminated by "extreme concentrations" of plutonium:this is what independent analyzes report from the team of Professor Michael Ketterer, a scientist from Northern Arizona University, who declared that he had detected the highest levels of plutonium he had ever seen in an area accessible to the public during his ten-year career in the sector , and that such levels would even be comparable to those found in Chernobyl, the site of the Ukrainian nuclear disaster.All this after the US Senate passed a law for those who have been exposed to radioactive waste, which, however, would not apply to the citizens of Los Alamos.On the other hand, the Department of Energy (DOE) stated that the levels are "very low and well below the safe exposure range", although the scientist reiterated that the environmental risk is still concerning. The Dr.Michael Ketterer, professor emeritus of chemistry and...

The Veneto Regional Administrative Court ruled yesterday on the serious PFAS contamination in the provinces of Vicenza, Padua and Verona.He did so by sanctioning that even the Japanese giant Mitsubishi Corporation - which at the end of the 1980s established Miteni, of which it has held between 49 and 90% of the share capital over the years - will have to bear the costs for the cleanup of the poisons spread near the former Miteni of Trissino (Vicenza).Based on what emerged from surveys and investigations, in fact, in first instance administrative proceedings the judges have framed as responsible for pollution all the companies that have successively controlled the Vicenza plant.In 2009 Miteni was sold to ICI and then, five years after the outbreak of the PFAS scandal in 2013, it was declared bankrupt. Although Mitsubishi opposed it with a series of arguments, including the attribution to Miteni of "autonomous choices and entrepreneurial strategies", the absence of "legal...

The trial has officially begun before the Gup of the Court of Alessandria which sees the chemical giant Solvay in the dock for culpable environmental disaster.In fact, the industrial site of the company which produces, among other things, the toxic and persistent PFAS substances is located in the Piedmontese city.Last May 6, at the preliminary hearing, over 250 civil parties appeared before the judge, including environmental associations and institutions.There is talk of a very broad investigation, which specifically targeted two former Solvay managers, Stefano Bigini, plant director from 2008 until December 2018, and Andrea Diotto, director of the fluid and fluid production unit from 1 January 2013. from 1 September 2018 plant manager.The defense will file their briefs by 6 July, while an initial calendar of the hearings which will take place in the autumn has already been drawn up.Below the production center, the aquifer is the most contaminated in Europe by PFAS and recently the fir...

There are Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestlé, Danone and many others.Fewer than 60 multinationals are responsible for almost half of the world's plastic pollution, including 6 companies which alone represent a quarter of the total:this is what emerges from a new study conducted by an international team of scientists including some belonging to non-profit organizations.The research, already subjected to peer review and published in the scientific journal Science Advances, was based on the work of tens of thousands of volunteers who analyzed almost 2 million pieces of plastic waste collected in 84 different countries over a 5-year period from beaches, parks and rivers.This is a research that will focus the magnifying glass on single-use plastic and on the recycling strategies of multinationals since, according to the study's analyses, there is a correlation with direct proportionality between the annual plastic production of companies and the frequency of their brand detected among the wast...