Protection of the environment has been of public concern for many years in Italy and many institutions here are involved in this field. However, the advantages offered by the improvement of the quality of the environment are not always considered in economic terms, even though a rigorous evaluation of the relationships between economy and environment should help us to better understand how protection of the environment is related to economic development and social benefits.

Citizen science is having increasing influence on environmental monitoring as its advantages are becoming recognised. However methodologies are often simplified to make them accessible to citizen scientists. We tested whether a recent citizen science survey (the OPAL Air Survey) could detect trends in lichen community composition over transects away from roads. We hypothesised that the abundance of nitrophilic lichens would decrease with distance from the road, while that of nitrophobic lichens would increase. The hypothesised changes were detected along strong pollution gradients, but not where the road source was relatively weak, or background pollution relatively high. We conclude that the simplified OPAL methodology can detect large contrasts in nitrogenous pollution, but it may not be able to detect more subtle changes in pollution exposure. Similar studies are needed in conjunction with the ever-growing body of citizen science work to ensure that the limitations of these methods are fully understood.

Airborne particles containing elemental carbon (EC) are currently at the forefront of scientific and regulatory scrutiny, including black carbon, carbon black, and engineered carbon-based nanomaterials, e.g., carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, and graphene. Scientists and regulators sometimes group these EC-containing particles together, for example, interchangeably using the terms carbon black and black carbon despite one being a manufactured product with well-controlled properties and the other being an undesired, incomplete-combustion byproduct with diverse properties. In this critical review, we synthesize information on the contrasting properties of EC-containing particles in order to highlight significant differences that can affect hazard potential. We demonstrate why carbon black should not be considered a model particle representative of either combustion soots or engineered carbon-based nanomaterials. Overall, scientific studies need to distinguish these highly different EC-containing particles with care and precision so as to forestall unwarranted extrapolation of properties, hazard potential, and study conclusions from one material to another.

Viticulturists use copper fungicide to combat Downy Mildew. Copper, a non-degradable heavy metal, can accumulate in soil or leach into water sources. Its accumulation in topsoil has impacted micro and macro organisms, spurring scientists to research in situ copper removal methods. Recent publications suggest that microorganism assisted phytoextraction, using plants and bacteria to actively extract copper, is most promising. As vineyards represent moderately polluted sites this technique has great potential. Active plant extraction and chelate assisted remediation extract too little copper or risk leaching, respectively. However, despite interesting pot experiment results using microorganism assisted phytoextraction, it remains a challenge to find plants that primarily accumulate copper in their shoots, a necessity in vineyards where whole plant removal would be time consuming and financially cumbersome. Vineyard remediation requires a holistic approach including sustainable soil management, proper plant selection, increasing biodiversity and microorganisms.

OPAL is an English national programme that takes scientists into the community to investigate environmental issues. Biological monitoring plays a pivotal role covering topics of: i) soil and earthworms; ii) air, lichens and tar spot on sycamore; iii) water and aquatic invertebrates; iv) biodiversity and hedgerows; v) climate, clouds and thermal comfort. Each survey has been developed by an inter-disciplinary team and tested by voluntary, statutory and community sectors. Data are submitted via the web and instantly mapped. Preliminary results are presented, together with a discussion on data quality and uncertainty. Communities also investigate local pollution issues, ranging from nitrogen deposition on heathlands to traffic emissions on roadside vegetation. Over 200,000 people have participated so far, including over 1000 schools and 1000 voluntary groups. Benefits include a substantial, growing database on biodiversity and habitat condition, much from previously unsampled sites particularly in urban areas, and a more engaged public.

Ecotoxicity data with high reliability and relevance are needed to guarantee the scientific quality of environmental risk assessments of pharmaceuticals. The main advantages of a more structured approach to data evaluation include increased transparency and predictability of the risk assessment process, and the possibility to use non-standard data. In this collaboration, between the research project MistraPharma and the German Federal Environment Agency, a new set of reporting and evaluation criteria is presented and discussed. The new criteria are based on the approaches in the literature and the OECD reporting requirements, and have been further developed to include both reliability and relevance of test data. Intended users are risk assessors and researchers performing ecotoxicological experiments, but the criteria can also be used for education purposes and in the peer-review process for scientific papers. This approach intends to bridge the gap between the regulator and the scientist’s needs and way of work.

Recent data indicate accumulation areas of marine litter in Arctic waters and significant increases over time. Beaches on remote Arctic islands may be sinks for marine litter and reflect pollution levels of the surrounding waters particularly well. We provide the first quantitative data from surveys carried out by citizen scientists on six beaches of Svalbard. Litter quantities recorded by cruise tourists varied from 9–524gm−2 and were similar to those from densely populated areas. Plastics accounted for >80% of the overall litter, most of which originated from fisheries. Photographs provided by citizens show deleterious effects of beach litter on Arctic wildlife, which is already under strong pressure from global climate change. Our study highlights the potential of citizen scientists to provide scientifically valuable data on the pollution of sensitive remote ecosystems. The results stress once more that current legislative frameworks are insufficient to tackle the pollution of Arctic ecosystems.

Here we present the large-scale distribution of microplastic contamination in beach sediment across Europe. Sediment samples were collected from 23 locations across 13 countries by citizen scientists, and analysed using a standard operating procedure. We found significant variability in the concentrations of microplastics, ranging from 72±24 to 1512±187 microplastics per kg of dry sediment, with high variability within sampling locations. Three hotspots of microplastic accumulation (>700 microplastics per kg of dry sediment) were found. There was limited variability in the physico-chemical characteristics of the plastics across sampling locations. The majority of the microplastics were fibrous, <1mm in size, and blue/black in colour. In addition, using Raman spectrometry we identified particles as polyester, polyethylene, and polypropylene. Our research is the first large spatial-scale analysis of microplastics on European beaches giving insights into the nature and extent of the microplastic challenge.

Global marine litter pollution is increasing dramatically, and oceanic islands are one of the most vulnerable ecosystems due to their high debris accumulation rate compared to continental sites. Remote areas, such as inhabited islands, represent a perfect study case to track marine debris sources, due to the assumed low rates of local production of debris. Guafo Island is one of the largest islands of the Chilean Northern Patagonia and is considered a remote zone. The accessible coast of Guafo Island was monitored during four austral summers revealing higher levels of marine debris accumulation than continental Chile. Plastic was the most abundant type of debris constituting 50% of the total litter monitored. Our results suggest that most of the plastic identified is likely to be related to local fisheries activities. Mitigation measures including collaboration among fishing communities and scientists could contribute to reduce the coastal debris pollution in remote areas.

Identifying environmental damage due to anthropogenic activities is a focal point for scientists and policy makers like those involved in the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). Many of these approaches focus on ecological endpoints for assessing environmental perturbations, which lead to policies emphasizing mitigation rather than prevention. Biomarkers provide early-warning indicators of stress but it is necessary to distinguish their natural variations from those induced by chemical stress. The global aim of this study was to establish a baseline assessment criterion (BAC) using historical data in a reference site to define toxicity thresholds. We have developed a multiple polynomial regression model (MPR) accounting the influence of salinity, temperature and size of individual on energetic reserves (glycogen and lipids) in the marine polychaete Hediste diversicolor. The model identified a complex, orthogonal relationship between confounding factors and glycogen and a linear relationship between lipids and size of individuals.