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ENVIRONMENTAL
GEOCHEMISTRY |
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Staff
Prof. Sabatini Giuseppe (Full Professor)
Dr. Riccobono Francesco (Assistant Professor)
Dr. Protano Giuseppe (Researcher )
Sig. Baroni Fabio (Technical Staff)
Dr. Luigi Antonio Di Lella (Technical Staff)
Dr. Giancarlini Luca (Post-Doct. Research fellow )
Dr. Nannoni Francesco (Post-Doct. Research fellows )
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Research
activities: |
Research
by the Environmental Geochemistry Unit is mainly focused on: |
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the geochemical cycling of toxic heavy elements through the superficial
geochemical spheres
(i.e. atmosphere, hydrosphere, pedosphere and biosphere) and their
transfer to higher organisms and human beings. Particular emphasis
is given to the mobility and behavior of the heavy elements introduced
into the air, surface water and soil from both natural and anthropogenic
sources such as mining areas, power production and other industrial
plants.
Besides the well known toxic heavy elements (i.e., arsenic, lead,
cadmium, mercury, antimony), particular attention is paid to the
geochemical behavior in the environment of new entries such as uranium,
rare earth elements (REEs) and the platinum group elements (PGEs). |
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Geochemical
mapping, based mainly on stream sediment and soil surveys, is actively
carried out by the Unit as a reference tool for evaluation of the
background levels of the elements, identification of significant
anomalies, both positive and negative, as well as the localization
and characterization of pollution sources of natural or anthropogenic
origin. |
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The
Research Unit performs geochemical modeling of the mobility and
behavior of pollutants in the superficial geochemical spheres in
order to predict the fate of noxious substances in the environment.
Efforts are made to improve the performance of software and to implement
thermodynamic databases in order to simulate the diffusion and reaction
paths of pollutants in industrial accidents. |
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Sono,
inoltre, studiati e validati, in collaborazione con i biologi del
Dipartimento, interventi di bonifica in aree contaminate utilizzando
tecniche innovative, friendly ed a basso costo quali la phytoremediation
e la rizofiltrazione. |
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