Evaluation of the environmental and health risk of perfluorinated compounds in Italian waters

A survey of the distribution of perfluorinated carboxylates (from C5 to C10) and sulphonates (C4, C6 and C8) in the main Italian river basins have been carried out in order to get a reliable picture of the polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS) contamination and possibly to identify the main sources for the aquatic environment. Monitoring campaigns on river Po and its tributaries, on rivers Adige, Tevere, Arno and Brenta basin have been carried out. A survey has been performed also in transitional coastal areas such as river Po Delta and Lagoon of Venice. Chemical plant discharges and drinking waters present in the same basins were also sampled. In order to evaluate the ecological risk associated to this class of compounds we investigated their long term sublethal effects on the genetic and life traits parameters of populations of Chironomus riparius (Diptera, Chironomidae) under a multigenerational test.