ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY OF POLLUTANTS, LABORATORY

The aim is to provide to the student the ability to select strategies and procedures to monitor quality of the environmental systems, therefore the student will be supported to chose the more appropriate analytical procedure and methodologies to assess the presence and distribution of pollutants in environmental matrices and the more suitable parameters to define the quality level of environmental systems.
The course allows to acquire the analytical competence to determine trace and ultra-trace chemical species, acquire the concept of speciation and the analytical techniques to differentiate and quantify the chemical forms in which elements can be present in environmental matices.

The course will give to the student the ability to produce and interpret analytical data useful for the correct assessment of the environmental quality. Indeed the student will be able to select the more convenient analytical technique to control the presence and the distribution of chemical pollutants or the parameters useful to describe the level of environmental quality; it will be able to define the better sampling strategy, in terms of distribution of samples, sampling methodologies and sampling instrumentation, more adequate to monitor environmental systems.

In depth knowledge of instrumental and classical analytical techniques. Basic knowledge of statistics and chemometric methods.

It will considered all the analytical steps to determine the pollutant concentration in environemtal systems.
General characterization of the environmental system. Sampling strategy. Sample treatment. Analytical determination. Procedures for the chemical and physical speciation of analytes.
The parameters considered can be shared in two groups as:
-Inorganic parameters and anlytes
Total content and speciation of trace elements, total phosphorous and hydrolysable phosphorous, total nitrogen and its speciation, reactive silicon: Dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand, Biochemical oxygen demand.
-Organic parameters and pollutants
Total organic carbon, hydrocarbons (aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic), clorinate hydrocarbons (PCBs, PCDFs, PCDDs, pesticides).
For some parameters will be also described the automatic methodologies for continuous monitoring.
Will be made experimental exercises to apply the techniques and methodologies studied.

Fiefield F.W., Hanes P., Environmental Analytical Chemistry, Chapman and Hall, London
Mundroch A., MacKmight S.D., Handbook of Techniques for acquatic Sediments Sampling, Lewis Publ., Boca Raton.
Fresenius W., Quentin K.E. and Schneider W., Water Analysis, Springer-Verlag Berlin.
Hunt D.T.E. and Wilson A.L., The Chemical Analysis of Water, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge.
Manahan S.E., Environmental Chemistry, Lewis, Chelsea, Michigan.
Moore T.C.Jr. and Health G.R., in "Chemical Oceanography", J.P. Riley and R. Chester (Eds.), Vol.7, chapt. 36, Academic Press, London.
UNICHIM, Misure alle Emissioni, Flussi gassosi convogliati, Metodo Unichim n.825.
Methods for determination of inorganic substances in water and fluvial sediments, U.S.Geological Survey.
Batley G.E., Trace Element Speciation: Analytical Methods and Problems, CRC Press, Florida.
Greenberg A.E., Connors J.J. and Jenkins D., Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, APHA, AAWWA, WPCF, Washington.
Manahan S.E., Environmental Chemistry, Lewis, Chelsea, Michigan.
Spiro T.G., Stigliani W.M., Chemistry of the Environment,Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River.

During the laboratory activity the student will be invited to present and give the interpretation of experimental results, at the end the student must present one report to describe the studied system by critical discussion of results.

Lectures in class and experimental activity in laboratory and on field. The class lectures will be used to explain the strategy to describe one environmental system taking in consideration the physical characteristics of environmetal systems (morphology, time and space variability, homogeneity) and relation with the study aims; will be highlighted chemical, physical and biological parameters that can be used for the general characterization of the system; will be described the chemical-analytic methodologies to determine specific classes of pollutants. The experimental activities will be used to give at the student the opportunity to apply autonomously the studied procedures.

Italian

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Natural capital and environmental quality" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development