Ricerc@Sapienza

The presence of cyanobacteria and their toxins in water used as drinking water or for recreational purposes may represent a risk for human health. This work describes the development of an advanced analytical method for simultaneous determination of 21 cyanotoxins (including Microcystins, Cyanopeptolins, Anabaenopeptins and Microginins) in drinking water based on Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled with a Q-TOF mass spectrometer.

Concentrations of trace elements in drinking water affect its safety and acceptability for use. Potentially toxic element (PTE) contaminations are considered extremely hazardous because of toxicity, persistence, and bioaccumulative behaviour. Many areas in the Southern African Development Community are data poor and have poor accessibility. The results of our previous research identified the presence of fossil waters in southern Limpopo National Park. Groundwater and river water are the only sources of drinking water for the villages in the study area.

Thallium is a metal widely distributed in nature even though its abundance is very low. Although its presence in water distribution systems (WDSs) as a result of raw water contamination is an extremely rare condition, its toxicity has aroused concern in consumers. In September 2014, a severe contamination was detected in two WDSs of Pietrasanta, an Italian town (about 24,900 inhabitants including hamlets) of the province of Lucca in Tuscany region. The two WDSs, fed by one drainage gallery, three springs and five wells, were connected each other by a pipe and a reservoir.

The incidence of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CHABs) is increasing in Italy and worldwide. Cyanotoxins cause a substantial amount of human and animal poisoning from exposures in drinking-source and potable waters.
Cylindrospermopsin (CYN) is a hepatotoxin and nephrotoxic cyanobacterial produced by Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii and other cyanobacteria such as Umezakia natans, Aphanizomenon ovalisporum and Raphidiopsis curvata; it is also considered a potential carcinogen.

Contamination of groundwater by arsenic due to natural processes is rather common worldwide and hinders its use for drinking water supply. In many cases, arsenic contamination is found together with high levels of vanadium and fluoride. Therefore, more than one type of treatment is required to reduce concentrations of all these contaminants below non-hazardous levels so to make the source drinkable. The present study investigated the uptake capacity of arsenic, vanadium and fluoride by three iron-based adsorbent media differing for particle size, iron content and specific surface.