Search Results (9)

Active biomonitoring of mercury (Hg) using non-indigenous moss bags was performed for the first time within and around the former Hg mining area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Mt. Amiata, central Italy). The purpose was to discern the Hg spatial distribution, identify the most polluted areas, and evaluate the impacts of dry and wet deposition on mosses. The exposed moss bags consisted of a mixture of Sphagnum fuscum and Sphagnum tenellum from an external uncontaminated area. In each site, two different types of moss bags, one uncovered (to account for the wet + dry deposition) and one covered (to evaluate the dry deposition), were exposed. The behavior of arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb) in the mosses was investigated to assess the potential relationship with Hg. GEM (Gaseous Elemental Mercury) concentrations were also measured at the same sites where the mosses were exposed, although only as a reference in the initial stages of biomonitoring. The results revealed that the main Hg emissions sources were associated with the former mining area of Abbadia San Salvatore, in agreement with the measured GEM concentrations, while arsenic and antimony were related to soil enriched in As-Sb waste material. The three elements registered higher concentrations in uncovered mosses with respect to the covered ones, i.e., wet deposition was the key factor for their accumulation on the uncovered mosses, while dry deposition was especially important for the covered samples in the mining area. Hg was accumulated in the mosses via GEM adsorption, uptake of particulate Hg, and precipitation via raindrops/snowfall, with almost no loss and without post-deposition volatilization. The results testified that the chosen biomonitoring technique was an extremely useful tool for understanding Hg transport and fate in a contaminated area. Full article

Since 2013, 34 surveys of surface and ground waters within and outside the former Hg-mine of Abbadia San Salvatore (Italy), which is currently under remediation, were performed for determining Hg, As, Sb, and main and minor solutes. The water quality is rather poor since most waters show relatively high Hg concentrations (up to 695 µg/L). Differently, As and Sb only overcome the Italian law thresholds in a few sites. A high geochemical variability was observed for most groundwaters without any clear relationship between wet and dry periods. The main source of chalcophile elements is likely related to: (i) the interaction between meteoric waters and soils contaminated by the previous production of mercury; or (ii) the interaction between meteoric waters and the anthropic filling material of a former paleo-valley near the furnaces edifices. While the remediation is expected to be concluded in 2025, the aquifer contamination still remains a problem. Our investigation, including geochemical/hydrogeological modeling, is prodromal to future activities aimed at reducing the Hg content. Currently, the construction of a hydraulic barrier is apparently the most suitable solution to minimize the interaction processes between water–rock and man-made material, which are responsible for the 10-year concentration variability. Full article

The Via Francigena stands as a European Cultural Route recognized by the Council of Europe, serving as a link between Northern and Southern Europe, extending from Canterbury through France and Switzerland to Rome in Italy. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights underscores the right of all individuals to partake in the cultural life of their communities, which entails ensuring that heritage sites remain accessible to everyone, regardless of their physical, cognitive or sensory abilities. To achieve this, the ‘rurAllure’ project has been initiated to promote and disseminate the cultural and natural heritage along this pilgrimage route in an inclusive manner. This paper reviews the existing resources regarding accessibility in the Italian segment of the Via Francigena, comparing them to initiatives undertaken on other European Cultural Routes. This serves as an initial step to comprehend the measures required to guarantee that everyone can fully engage with and comprehend these cultural experiences. The analysis revealed that most of the limited accessibility efforts along this route have primarily focused on physical accessibility. Regrettably, cognitive and sensory accessibility has received considerably less attention. In this context, this paper proposes the thermal heritage located along the Val d’Orcia section in Tuscany, Italy, as particularly promising for the development of accessible experiences due to its tactile characteristics. The future efforts to enhance accessibility along this route should consider approaches like Universal Design for Learning and the geography of perception to create resources and new experiences that cater to a wide range of individuals. Full article

It is now widely accepted that climate change is having a profound impact on the weather systems around the world. These, in turn, have a considerable effect on two important elements of the Tuscan economy: wine production and tourism. This case study sought to explore the relationship between the perception of Tuscan wine-producing agritourism owners of the potentially abstract notion of climate change and their concrete experiences as entrepreneurs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight wine-producing agritourism owners or managers in Val d’Orcia, a small area of Siena, Tuscany, and analysed thematically. The impact of climate change on the area’s viticulture is undeniable but the responses to the challenges are more nuanced. Political leadership on the climate crisis appears absent and perhaps as a consequence, these small-scale operators lack knowledge and funds to enable them to plan ahead: they react often day-to-day to the immediate weather conditions rather than planning long term. While recognizing the difficulties they face from climate change as viticulturists, as agrotourism owners they welcome the longer seasons which enable them to open in the formerly barren shoulder seasons but struggle with last-minute cancellations due to unpredictable weather in the area. Full article

Dissolved and suspended toxic elements in water discharged from abandoned and active mining areas pose several critical issues, since they represent a threat to the environment. In this work, we investigated the water, suspended particulates, and stream sediments of a 2.1 km long creek (Fosso della Chiusa) that is fed by waters draining the galleries of the abandoned Hg mining area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Mt. Amiata, Tuscany, central Italy). The geochemical results show evidence that the studied matrices are characterized by relatively high concentrations of Hg and As, whereas those of Sb are generally close to or below the instrumental detection limit. Independent of the matrices, the concentration of As decreases from the emergence point to the confluence with the Pagliola creek. In contrast, Hg concentrations display more complex behavior, as water and sediment are mainly characterized by concentrations that significantly increase along the water course. According to the geoaccumulation index (I_geo), sediments belong to Class 6 (extremely contaminated) for Hg. The I_geo of As varies from Class 6, close to the emergence, to Class 2 (moderately contaminated), dropping to Class 0 (uncontaminated) at the confluence with the Pagliola creek. Finally, the total mass load of Hg and As entering the Pagliola creek was computed to be 1.3 and 0.5 kg/year, respectively, when a mean flow rate of 40 L/s was considered. The calculated loads are relatively low, but, when the Fosso della Chiusa drainage basin is taken into account, the specific load is comparable to, or even higher than, those of other mining areas. Full article

Total and leached Arsenic, Mercury and Antimony were determined in the topsoils developed on the mining waste dumping area of Le Lame (Mt. Amiata, central Italy) where the post-processing Hg-rich ore deposits from the mining area of Abbadia San Salvatore were stored. The concentrations of As, Hg and Sb were up to 610, 1910 and 1610 mg kg⁻¹, respectively, while those in the leachates (carried out with CO₂-saturated MilliQ water to simulate the meteoric water conditions) were up to 102, 7 and 661 μg·L⁻¹, respectively. Most aqueous solutions were characterized by Hg content <0.1 μg·L⁻¹. This is likely suggesting that the mine wastes (locally named “rosticci”) were possibly resulting from an efficient roasting process that favored either the removal or inertization of Hg operated by the Gould furnaces and located in the southern sector of Le Lame. The highest values of total and leachate mercury were indeed mostly found in the northern portion where the “rosticci”, derived by the less efficient and older Spirek-Cermak furnaces, was accumulated. The saturation index was positive for the great majority of leachate samples in Fe-oxy-hydroxides, e.g., ferrihydrite, hematite, magnetite, goethite, and Al-hydroxides (boehmite and gibbsite). On the other hand, As- and Hg-compounds were shown to be systematically undersaturated, whereas oversaturation in tripuhyte (FeSbO₄) and romeite (Ca₂Sb₂O₇) was evidenced. The Eh-pH diagrams for the three chalcophile elements were also constructed and computed and updated according to the recent literature data. Full article

The Galleria Italia waters drain the complex tunnel system of the former Hg-mining area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Tuscany, central Italia) and feed the 2.5 km-long Fosso della Chiusa creek. The mining exploitation was active for more than one century and more than 100,000 tons of liquid mercury were produced by roasting processes of cinnabar (HgS). In this work, a discontinuous geochemical monitoring of the Galleria Italia circumneutral waters was carried out from February 2009 to October 2020, during which the main physicochemical parameters, main and minor dissolved species and trace elements (including Hg) were determined. In the observation period, significant variations in the water chemistry were recorded, particularly when flooding waves, due to intense precipitations, occurred, with the two main events being recorded in February 2009 and January 2010. The chemical composition of the Galleria Italia waters was Ca(Mg)-SO₄ and related to congruent dissolution of gypsum/anhydrite at which a contribution from carbonatic and silicatic minerals and partial solubilization of CO₂ and and H₂S oxidation is to be added. Regarding the trace elements, Al, Mn and Fe were up to 1500, 768 and 39520 μg L⁻¹, with these elements also showing high contents in the sediment precipitating by the Galleria Italia waters. In most cases, dissolved mercury was below the instrumental detection limit (<0.1 μg L⁻¹), although occasionally it reached >1 μg L⁻¹. Considering a mean flow rate of 40 L s⁻¹ of the discharged water, the amount of dissolved mercury released from Galleria Italia was computed, although most mercury was occurring in the sediment (1.2 mg kg⁻¹). A more realistic computation of mercury released from Galleria Italia should involve a sampling network along the Fosso della Chiusa before entering the riverine system of the Tiber basin, into which dissolved and suspended mercury are to be determined along with that occurring in the sediments. Full article

Mercury is a toxic and noxious element and is the only metal that naturally occurs as gas. One of the most challenging topics (included in the United Nations Minimata convention) is to understand the adsorption–release processes of manmade materials (e.g., concrete, bricks, tiles, painting). Adsorption of Hg by construction and demolition waste materials has recently been studied, but investigations on how much Hg⁰ can be released from these products are rather poor. The abandoned mining site of Abbadia San Salvatore (Siena, central Italy) where, for about one century, cinnabar was roasted to produce liquid mercury, is known for the high concentrations of (i) Hg⁰ in edifices and structures and (ii) total and leachate Hg in synthetic materials. In the present paper, a new, simple and low-cost method to measure the amount of GEM (Gaseous Elemental Mercury) released from anthropic materials (concrete, wall rocks, and tiles) located in the Hg⁰-rich environments of the former mining site, is proposed. The efficiency of a specific paint that was supposed to act as blocking agent to Hg⁰ was also tested. Full article

Mercury has a strong environmental impact since both its organic and inorganic forms are toxic, and it represents a pollutant of global concern. Liquid Hg is highly volatile and can be released during natural and anthropogenic processes in the hydrosphere, biosphere and atmosphere. In this study, the distribution of Gaseous Elemental Mercury (GEM) and the total and leached mercury concentrations on paint, plaster, roof tiles, concrete, metals, dust and wood structures were determined in the main buildings and structures of the former Hg-mining area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Siena, Central Italy). The mining complex (divided into seven units) covers a surface of about 65 ha and contains mining structures and managers’ and workers’ buildings. Nine surveys of GEM measurements were carried out from July 2011 to August 2015 for the buildings and structures located in Units 2, 3 and 6, the latter being the area where liquid mercury was produced. Measurements were also performed in February, April, July, September and December 2016 in the edifices and mining structures of Unit 6. GEM concentrations showed a strong variability in time and space mostly depending on ambient temperature and the operational activities that were carried out in each building. The Unit 2 surveys carried out in the hotter period (from June to September) showed GEM concentrations up to 27,500 ng·m⁻³, while in Unit 6, they were on average much higher, and occasionally, they saturated the GEM measurement device (>50,000 ng·m⁻³). Concentrations of total (in mg·kg⁻¹) and leached (in μg·L⁻¹) mercury measured in different building materials (up to 46,580 mg·kg⁻¹ and 4470 mg·L⁻¹, respectively) were highly variable, being related to the edifice or mining structure from which they were collected. The results obtained in this study are of relevant interest for operational cleanings to be carried out during reclamation activities. Full article