Marcelo Enrique Conti

Sapienza University of Rome | la sapienza · Department of Management

Peat is the main constituent of cultivation substrates and a precious non-renewable fossil material. Peatlands provide important ecosystem services and allow the absorption and storage of carbon. Protecting peatlands helps tackle climate change and contributes to biodiversity conservation. Due to its importance, it is necessary to implement strateg...

This study explored the elemental, isotopic, and chemometric profiles of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo grapes to ensure the safety and quality of wines produced under the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) label. Essential nutrients, such as K, P, Ca, Mg, and Fe, were quantified alongside toxic elements, like Hg, Pb, Cd, and As, to evaluate the potent...

Veneto is Italy’s leading wine producer, contributing 23.1% to the entire national production. Veneto production mainly concentrates on protected designation of origin (PDO) wines with 1212 million euros as market value. The definition of some typical markers in wines is an excellent tool for the traceability and authenticity of the Veneto wine sup...

This paper aims to analyse European climate policy's state of the art concerning the urgent need to decarbonize society and the economy and meet pressing climate demands. Decarbonization refers to the progressive reduction of the carbon-to-hydrogen ratio within energy sources. The primary objective consists of a gradual transition to sustainable ec...

La produzione della pasta di cellulosa, le tecnologie e l’impatto ambientale

Peatlands in southern South America (Tierra del Fuego region, TdF) play a key role in the ecological dynamics of Patagonia. It is, therefore, necessary to increase our knowledge and awareness of their scientific and ecological value to ensure their conservation. This study aimed to assess the differences in the distribution and accumulation of elem...

In order to provide an updated baseline assessment of elemental concentrations in native lichens samples collected at eight selected sampling sites from Tierra del Fuego (South Patagonia), we have determined the concentration of more than forty elements in Usnea barbata by means of different analytical techniques (INAA, ICP-MS, ICP-OES, AMA and CV-...

The traceability and authentication of PDOs wines are important issues for safeguarding their production and distribution systems. This paper evaluated seven Venetian PDO wines, i.e., Amarone, Bardolino, Custoza, Pinot Grigio, Recioto, Soave and Valpolicella. For this purpose, 219 wine samples from the Veneto region were characterised by determinin...

This paper intends to critically review the concerns and levers of the plastics management sector. Here we emphasise the need for seamless integration between all stages (production, consumption and recycling) of the plastics supply chain and the fundamental role played by the state as a promoter of coherent policies for sustainable development. Th...

Bees are precious living beings for our planet. Thanks to their essential service of pollination, these insects allow the maintenance of biodiversity and the variety and amount of food available. Unfortunately, we are observing an increasingly devastating reduction of bee families and other pollinating insects for factors related to human activitie...

In this survey, we studied the levels of relevant atmospheric elements well known as tracers of vehicular traffic (i. e., Cu, Sb, Sn, Fe, Mn); biomass burning (i.e., K, Rb, Cs, Li, Tl); and soil resuspension (Si, Al, Ca, Ti) in bees and beehive products (honey, wax, pollen, propolis) in five selected sites in the Rome province (Italy). To attentive...

In this study, we determined the levels of elements (i.e. As, Be, Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni, Pb, U, and Zn) in bees and edible beehive products (honey, wax, pollen, and propolis) sampled from five selected sites in the Rome province (Italy). Rationale: to increase the information variety endowment, the monitoring breakdown structure (MBS) conceptual model w...

Adopting an interdisciplinary approach and framing sustainability issues from a resilience perspective, our paper first aimed to highlight nature-based solutions (NBSs) as levers to foster sustainable cities consistent with Agenda 2030-SDG 11 (2015) and the New Urban Agenda (Habitat III, 2016). Second, we empirically analyzed two Italian municipali...

Bees and their products are useful bioindicators of anthropogenic activities and could overcome the deficiencies of air quality networks. Among the environmental contaminants, mercury (Hg) is a toxic metal that can accumulate in living organisms. The first aim of this study was to develop a simple analytical method to determine Hg in small mass sam...

This study aims to investigate the airborne elements’ deposition by using native Usnea barbata lichens as biomonitors in the forested areas of Tierra del Fuego (TdF, southern Patagonia), an apparently pristine environment. The present study is linked to the volcanic eruption of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle which started in north Patagonia in June 2011...

I composti organici persistenti (Persistent Organic Pollutants, POPs) sono costituiti da un’eterogenea classe di composti di origine prevalentemente antropica che, a causa delle loro caratteristiche di tossicità e resistenza ai processi di degradazione, sono considerati inquinanti pericolosi per la salute umana e ambientale. I POPs comprendono tra...

Bee health and beehive products’ quality are compromised by complex interactions between multiple stressors, among which toxic elements play an important role. The aim of this study is to optimize and validate sensible and reliable analytical methods for biomonitoring studies and the quality control of beehive products. Four digestion procedures, i...

Bee health and beehive products' quality are compromised by complex interactions between multiple stressors, among which toxic elements play an important role. The aim of this study is to optimize and validate sensible and reliable analytical methods for biomonitoring studies and the quality control of beehive products. Four digestion procedures, i...

The ability of lichen transplant Evernia prunastri (L.) Ach. to reflect air concentration and spatial distribution of 7 polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), 10 polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and 23 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) was evaluated through the construction of a wide and dense biomonitoring network. For this purpose, 23 liche...

The ability of transplanted lichen Evernia (E.) prunastri (L.) to act as a high spatial biomonitoring tool for 14 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) was evaluated at 23 monitoring sites in a very polluted area in central Italy. The selected area is characterized by the presence of numerous emission sources, such as waste-to-energy plant, steel...

The paper investigates the complex interaction between technological innovation and norms: a crucial dynamic to facing the severe challenges of the Anthropocene. On the one hand, the sedimentation of norms acts as the genetic memory of a society. Allowing a reduction in the uncertainty of human condition and ensuring greater predictability of human...

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the discontinuity between animal and human birth. Starting from theories on animal instinct and those on animal/human behaviour; from Aristotle to Darwin, and the evolutionary synthesis of the 1940s, from distorted interpretations of Darwin’s thought to some aspects of modern ethology and animal psychology, a...

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the trace metal content in edible biomonitors (i.e., mollusks) in the Beagle Channel (southern Patagonia) and to assess the human health risks associated with their consumption. Rationale: The monitoring breakdown structure (MBS) conceptual model was applied to four sampling campaigns (2005 → 2012) that c...

The chapter aims to study the creative process and innovation in a common path, and the concept of creativity through the knowledge re-combining. This aspect is strongly connected with the role of lateral thinking in this process. Here we show a case of an Italian virtuous food company that considers these aspects, i.e. innovation and knowledge rec...

In this study we propose a conceptual framework, i.e. the Monitoring Breakdown Structure (MBS) as a tool for the management of marine ecosystems. The conceptual framework thinks through the complexity of marine ecosystems keeping into account the variety (space) and variability (time) dimensions. Consistently with the MBS we have built the control...

The aim of this chapter is to investigate the processes that have led to the inclusion of urban requalification projects in global policies and to critically analyze, in this regard, some of their environmental performances. How much pollution are we willing to put up within the cities? Is it necessary to have zero pollution? Is there a compromise...

Lichen transplants Evernia prunastri (L.) Ach. and recently available low-cost PM10 samplers were placed side-by-side for one year at twenty-three sites located in an urban-industrial hot-spot of Central Italy, thus enabling the construction of an extensive and dense air quality monitoring network. Accumulation levels of the elements in lichens aft...

In this study, we have investigated Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in the biomonitors Mytilus chilensis and Nacella (P) magellanica sampled along seven selected sampling sites along 170 km of the coastal area of the Beagle Channel (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina) in four sampling campaigns: 2005, 2007, 2011 and 2012. The control charts were built by applyi...

Il testo si propone di studiare i problemi ambientali nel contesto delle principali teorie economiche micro e macro e del management - che nel complesso costituiscono il corpus teorico fondamentale dell’economia ambientale -, tenendo altresì in considerazione quelle fonti normative che trovano nella tutela dell’ambiente la loro principale ragion d’...

Several studies have researched the short-term effect of sulfur dioxide (SO2) exposure on hypertension. However, no evidence has provided the relationship between long-term high pollution exposure of SO2 and morbidity of hypertension in cohort studies in China. This retrospective cohort study aimed to evaluate this association. We used Cox proporti...

With the aim to assess the gastropod mollusk Monodonta turbinata as biomonitor of trace metal pollution in seawater of a central Tyrrhenian ecosystem (Pontine Islands archipelago, Italy), one hundred individuals were collected in five strategic locations in two sampling campaigns during 2011 and 2012. Concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn wer...

Lo sviluppo delle attività economiche e la crescita della popolazione mondiale causano problemi ambientali nei sistemi socio-economici. L'ambiente è un esempio di sistema di tipo complesso perché al suo interno interagiscono sistemi sociali, sistemi biologici e fisici per i quali è difficile prevedere il loro comportamento nel lungo periodo; pertan...

The ability of lichens to accumulate different air pollutants beyond their needs in line with the atmospheric levels has conducted to their widely acceptance as biomonitors of inorganic and organic air pollution. Either by determining the concentration of accumulated pollutants or by tracking for damages in their health promoted by pollutants, lich...

Lichen Usnea barbata transplants were tested as a biomonitor of atmospheric deposition in an apparently pristine environment that is Tierra del Fuego region (Patagonia, Argentina). The present survey is connected with the volcanic eruption that started in north Patagonia on June 4, 2011 from the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano, Chile (north Patagonia...

This paper overviews the efficiency of the European carbon market EU-ETS (European Union Emission Trading System or Scheme) connected with projects JI (Joint Implementation) and CDM (Clean Development Mechanism). As known, these three flex mechanisms enable industries to earn emission reduction credits to be traded on the market. The aim of this pa...

In this paper we describe the characteristics and the applications of the multivariate methods for spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques independent component analysis (ICA) and two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) focused to their use in environmental studies. In our opinion, these methods are important because they allow to cha...

In this study, we investigated Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn in the seagrass Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile leaves and in the brown algae Cystoseira sp. sampled along a 280-km transect in the Tyrrhenian Sea, from the Ustica to Linosa Islands (Sicily, Italy) with the aim to determine their control charts (baseline levels). By applying the Johnson’s (Biomet...

In this paper we describe the characteristics and the applications of the multivariate methods for spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques independent component analysis (ICA) and two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) focused to their use in environmental studies. In our opinion, these methods are important because they allow to cha...

Bacteria are widely presented in any ecosystem, some of them are potentially harmful. In this context, detection of pathogenic bacteria in water, food and air is of great importance for human and environmental health. Although traditional microbiological methods are available, they are labour intensive and require well-trained personnel. To overcom...

In recent years, there has been a huge need for fast and reliable methods for environmental monitoring. Conventional analytical techniques for environmental pollutants entail high cost, trained personnel and often are not available for in situ detection. Conversely, electrochemical nanobiosensors have the advantages of low cost, ease of use, portab...

Background The levels of 19 elements (As, Be, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Se, Tl, U, V, Zn) from sixteen different Argentine production sites of unifloral [eucalyptus (Eucaliptus rostrata), chilca (Baccharis salicifolia), Algarrobo (Prosopis sp.), mistol (Ziziphus mistol) and citric] and multifloral honeys were measured with the...

The European Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) came into force in 1996. In 2010, the EU Parliament approves the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) that abrogates the IPPC directive. This directive lays down measures designed to regulate emissions arising from the activities of large European industries which recorded a constant d...

The aim of the paper is to offer a systemic overview about some critical and interdependent relations among carbon offset, carbon sequestration and carbon stock. Rooting in the complexity perspective, the work discusses some relevant measurement methods and financial issues related to the land use - land use change forestry (LULUCF) applied under K...

In this paper we analyze some chemical aspects concerning the browning development associated to the aggregation of marine organic matter (MOM) occurring in anoxic conditions. Organic matter samples obtained by the degradation of different algal samples were daily taken to follow the evolution of the aggregation process and the associated browning...

In recent years, there has been a pressing need for fast and reliable methods for environmental monitoring. Among the various pollutants, the heavy metals are some of the most harmful because these substances are non-biodegradable and retained by the ecological system. Conventional analytical techniques for heavy metals imply high cost, trained per...

This paper critically analyses the International policy on climate change, the role of the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the GHG emissions, particularly CO2. Also the commitment of the different countries to reduce or limit these emissions, the development of carbon sinks and the flexible mechanisms that uses credit trading between countries membe...

Nacella species and Mytilus species constitute a popular food in the Beagle Channel zone as both of them are well distributed in the area. With the aim to infer the daily intake of heavy metals through the consumption of these gastropod molluscs in the diet, more than one hundred individuals of Nacella (P) magellanica were sampled, separated in vis...

With the aim to evaluate the mollusk Nacella (P)magellanica as biomonitor of elemental pollution in seawater of the Beagle Channel, more than one hundred individuals of the gastropod were sampled, separated in viscera and muscle, and then examined with respect to the accumulation of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn. Collection was performed in seven strat...

Iridium tissue distribution and excretion in female Wistar rats following oral exposure to iridium (III) chloride hydrate in drinking water (from 1 to 1000 ng/ml) in a sub-chronic oral study were determined. Samples of urine, feces, blood and organs (kidneys, liver, lung, spleen and brain) were collected at the end of exposure. The most prominent f...

The aim of this study is to present and to discuss some characteristics of recalcitrant organic matter mechanism and formation. These aggregates called mucilages that are produced by the degradation reactions of several algae, have been investigated by infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. FTIR spectra of macroaggregates produced by different algal samples...

In order to test the aptitude of individuals of Mytilus chilensis as biomonitors of heavy metals pollution in seawater, several samples of this mollusk together with surrounding seawater samples were collected along 170 km of the coastal area of the Beagle Channel (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina) in 2005 and 2007. The study, performed in seven locatio...

Lichen, Usnea barbata, transplants taken from Tierra del Fuego (south Patagonia, Argentina) were tested as potential biomonitors of atmospheric airborne deposition in an apparently pristine environment. In 2005, lichens were sampled in a reference site (n = 31) and transplanted in the northern Region of Tierra del Fuego. After, respectively, 1 mont...

Lichen samples of Usnea barbata were used as possible biomonitors of the atmospheric background level of iridium (Ir), platinum (Pt) and rhodium (Rh) in the remote region of Tierra del Fuego (South Patagonia, Argentina). Lichens were collected in 2006 at 53 sites covering 7 different areas of the region (24 transplanted lichens of the northern regi...

We develop a 800 km long relative baseline of metal pollution for the Tyrrhenian Sea, from the north of Naples to south of Sicily (Italy), based on spatio-temporal (1997-2004) concentrations of trace metals in marine organisms and on the bioaccumulative properties of those organisms. The study concerns sites in the gulf of Gaeta-Formia, near Naples...

Trace elements were analyzed in organisms collected at five sampling stations along coastal areas of Linosa Island, Sicily (southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). Concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn were measured in Posidonia oceanica L. Delile tissues, the two brown algae Padina pavonica (L.) Thivy and Cystoseira sp., and the two gastropod mollusks...