The Presence of Ultra-Traces of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and Heavy Metals in Some Areas of Molise: The Importance of a “Blank” in Public Health Studies

Abstract

The emission of chemicals into the environment has increased in a not negligible way as a result of the phenomenon of globalization and industrialization, potentially also affecting areas always considered as “uncontaminated”. In this paper, five “uncontaminated” areas were analyzed in terms of the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals (HMs), comparing them with an “environmental blank”. Chemical analyses were carried out using standardized protocols. The ‘environmental blank’ results revealed the presence of Cu (<64.9 μg g−1), Ni (<37.2 μg g−1), and Zn (<52.6 μg g−1) as HMs and fluorene (<17.0 ng g−1) and phenanthrene (<11.5 ng g−1) as PAHs. However, regarding the results of the pollution status of the areas under study, fluorene (#S1, 0.34 ng g−1; #S2, 4.3 ng g−1; #S3, 5.1 ng g−1; #S4, 3.4 ng g−1; #S5, 0.7 ng g−1) and phenanthrene (#S1, 0. 24 ng g−1; #S2, 3.1 ng g−1; #S3, 3.2 ng g−1; #S4, 3.3 ng g−1; #S5, 0.5 ng g−1) were found in all areas, while the other PAHs investigated were detected at a concentration averaging less than 3.3 ng g−1. HMs were found in all of the investigated areas. In particular, Cd was detected in all areas with an average concentration of less than 0.036 μg g−1, while Pb was absent in area #S5, but present in the other areas with an average concentration of less than 0.018 μg g−1.

Impact of Plant–Microbe Interactions with a Focus on Poorly Investigated Urban Ecosystems—A Review

“…Considering that exposure to polycyclic aromatic compounds can pose several health risks (carcinogenic and mutagenic changes, respiratory and hematological problems, neurological dysfunctions, etc. ), the importance and benefits of PAH-degrading microbes is evident not only from an environmental/ecological perspective, but also for the impact on human health [126,127].…”