SPONDE

The procedure involves i) pre-treatment of samples by mild heating in a portable thermoblock in contact with appropriate reagents, ii) retention of HgIN on a material of the proposing group's invention, iii) voltammetric determination of HgIN and CH3Hg.

To date, the official technique used to monitor HgTOT and CH3Hg is the direct mercury analyser (DMA), a laboratory instrument that requires experienced personnel, gas, lamps and a lengthy extraction procedure with organic solvents to determine CH3Hg.

The SPONDE project will apply the procedure for monitoring HgTOT, HgIN and CH3Hg in water bodies (lakes, rivers, streams) in the Po Valley. The area in question is of interest in this regard, as the institutional monitoring of ARPA Piedmont and the Piedmont Region has for years shown repeated findings, of unknown origin and in any case, except in well-known cases such as Lake Maggiore, not traceable to specific known anthropic sources, relating to the presence of trace mercury, with particular reference to the Po River and its tributaries, especially those on the hydrographic right. The instrument developed allows sampling, pre-treatment and analysis of water directly on site, with immediate assessment of HgTOT, HgIN and CH3Hg content. The quantification of CH3Hg is of paramount importance due to its high toxicity and bioavailability and its bioaccumulation along the aquatic food chain.

The proposed method is competitive in terms of simplicity, portability and sustainability. In addition, software will be developed that allows the results obtained at the satellite coordinates of the site under analysis to be stored in a database hosted on a central server. This will allow (i) a more precise mapping of the distribution of HgTOT, HgIN and CH3Hg, (ii) an easy evaluation of concentration trends, (iii) faster monitoring in subsequent years, and (iv) a reduction in costs. The collaboration with the company Thasar s.r.l, will allow for constant IT support and technical consultancy.