title: Environmental monitoring of the area surrounding oil wells in Val d'Agri (Italy): element accumulation in bovine and ovine organs.
abstract: In this work, environmental heavy metal contamination in the Val d'Agri area of Southern Italy was monitored, measuring the accumulation of 18 heavy metals (U, Hg, Pb, Cd, As, Sr, Sn, V, Ni, Cr, Mo, Co, Cu, Zn, Ca, Mn, Fe, and Al) in the organs of animals raised in the surrounding area (kidney, lung, and liver of bovine and ovine species). Val d'Agri features various oil processing centers which are potentially a significant source of environmental pollution, making it essential to perform studies that will outline the state of the art on which any recovery plans and interventions may be developed. The analysis was carried out using official and accredited analytical methods based on inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and the measurements were statistically processed in order to give a contribution to risk assessment. Even though five samples showed Pb and Cd concentrations above the limits defined in the European Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006, the mean concentrations of most elements suggest that contamination in this area is low. Consequently, these results also suggest that there is no particular risk for human exposure to toxic trace elements. Nevertheless, the findings of this work confirm that element accumulation in ovine species is correlated with geographical livestock area. Therefore, ovine-specific organs might be used as bioindicators for monitoring contamination by specific toxic elements in exposed areas.
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Puglia e della Basilicata, Via Manfredonia 20, 71121, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Oto
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Miedico
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Puglia e della Basilicata, Via Manfredonia 20, 71121, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iammarino
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Puglia e della Basilicata, Via Manfredonia 20, 71121, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Paglia
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Puglia e della Basilicata, Via Manfredonia 20, 71121, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tarallo
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Puglia e della Basilicata, Via Manfredonia 20, 71121, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mangiacotti
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Department, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Puglia e della Basilicata, Via Manfredonia 20, 71121, Foggia, Italy. izsfgchimica@tiscali.it.
authors.forename: A Eugenio
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Chiaravalle
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D007558:Italy; D007668:Kidney / Q000737:chemistry*; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry*; D008168:Lung / Q000737:chemistry*; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D061329:Oil and Gas Fields; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012756:Sheep
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D019216:Metals, Heavy
keywords: Environmental contamination; Heavy metals; ICP-MS; Oil wells; Trace elements