UTILIZZO DI CAMPIONATORI PASSIVI IN POLIETILENE PER LA VALUTAZIONE DI INQUINANTI ORGANICI PERSISTENTI NEI SEDIMENTI E NELLE ACQUE DI FIUMI E LAGHI

In the present work, we described the effectiveness of using low-density polyethylene (PE) passive sampling to characterize the mobile and bioavailable forms of organic hydrophobic contaminants in sediments, by evaluating their concentration in pore water. In the first part of this work, the methods for preparing, deploying, and analyzing polyethylene (PE) passive samplers are detailed. In the second part, the validation of this approach is provided in a real case of study: the contamination of DDT (1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane) in the sediments of Lake Maggiore. In particular, we demonstrated that the PE used in situ as passive sampler are efficient tools in evaluating the bioavailability of organic contaminants in sediments, such as DDx, they are economically convenient, and more appropriate than the standard tools for biomonitoring. For these reasons, we suggest that the PE passive samplers could be used as an early warning tool of organic compound contamination during monitoring investigation in reclaiming sediment or soil experiments.