Environmental Effects of Chemical Ammunitions Dumped in the Southern Adriatic Sea (Italy)

Presentation at MIREMAR - Conference

Luigi Alcaro - Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Rome /Italy

Abstract

The presentation shows the main results obtained within the REDCOD project (Research on Environmental Damage caused by Chemical Ordnance Dumped at sea) co-financed by the European Commission. With the aim of assessing the environmental threats of chemical ordnance dumped in the Southern Adriatic Sea specimens of Conger conger and Helicolenus dactylopterus were collected within the dumping sites and in control stations and samples of their tissues have been analyzed through a multidisciplinary approach in order to assess noxious effects possibly related to the dumped ordnance. Although Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs) and their degradation products were not detected within the analyzed tissues, the results of other analyses performed provide a rather worrying picture of the affected ecosystems.

Contact
Luigi Alcaro
Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA)
Via Vitaliano Brancati 48
00144 ROMA / Italy
luigi.alcaro(at)isprambiente.it

Files

• Presentation
• REDCOD-Project Video