Arpal
With about 300 employers, ARPAL is the Regional Agency for Environment Protection of Liguria Region, subject to the guidelines and supervision of the Region according to the provisions of articles 2, 4 and 23 of the Regional Law 20/06.
ARPAL is the public reference body in environmental matters, in charge of monitoring the regional environment and of controlling the potential pollution sources. It is operational since 1 January 1998 in support of the Region, Provinces, Municipalities for the protection of environment, biodiversity, water resources and soil, and for the prevention and promotion of collective health and safety.
ARPAL is part of the National System for Environmental protection, together with all other regional Agencies and ISPRA, the Italian Central Institute for Environmental Protection and Applied Research. ARPAL takes also part to the National Civil Protection System, including the Regional Meteorological and Hydrologic Center (RMHC) of Civil Protection, which carries out daily weather forecasts and rainfall measures as well as river level monitoring and discharge forecast with several products. It uses a meteo-hydrological forecasting chain the couples the meteorological models with the hydrological model, DRiFt, that allows to forecast river discharge over the main catchments of Liguria region, in a probabilistic context.
ARPAL is part of the National System for Environmental protection, together with all other regional Agencies and ISPRA, the Italian Central Institute for Environmental Protection and Applied Research.
The Regional Laboratory Department is a multi-site structure divided into territorial units located at the provincial level and a coordination office located at the headquarters of the Agency, in Genoa. More than 80 people, of which chemists, biologists and laboratory technicians, analyse almost 9.000 samples of drinking water each year, with microbiological and chemical parameters, and more than 500 samples of surficial water before purification treatment; ARPAL is also officially charged of food chemical and microbiological analysis (>2000 samples each year) and of air quality assessment (almost 9.000 samples per year).
In 2019, the laboratory carried out analyses on more than 500 samples of soils and sediments for numerous organic and inorganic parameters.
The Arpal multisite laboratory carries out analyses (chemical, microbiological, biological and physical) on all environmental matrices, not only within its institutional activities but also within European projects such as Geremia, Sedriport, Sediterra, Cleanair, Strategia Marina and interventions such as Ponte Morandi and Terzo Valico. In 2019 almost 400 thousand environmental parameters were analysed, more than a thousand on average per day, on 30 thousand samples reported.
In order to guarantee even more efficiency to its analysis at the service of the community, the laboratory has been equipped with new and important technological instruments, including microscopy facilities like two SEMs, a Raman microscope, and Orbitrap system (GC e HPLC) and an inductively coupled plasma (ICP-OES, ICP-MS e TQ-ICP-MS).
ARPAL contributes to the project with its wide experience in chemical and biological laboratory analysis on all environmental matrices, on many types of food and circular economy by-products (i.e. food industry by-products…), gained both within its institutional activity, and within EU projects (Sedriport, Sediterra, Geremia, Life PHAROS etc.). Therefore, ARPAL laboratories will be involved in carrying out chemical analyses on 150 samples at least of by-products of fish processing industry, looking for contaminants such as mercury, cadmium, lead, PCBs, PAHs, dioxins and microplastics.
Work Package
WP2 , WP3 , WP5 , WP6, WP7, WP8
Team
Riccardo Narizzano
PhD, Organic Chemistry and Physical Analyses Laboratory Director
He obtained Ph.D. at the University of Padua carrying out part of the research activity in the US at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), under the supervision of F. Stoddart (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2016) and J. Heath (Feynman Prize, 2000). He has been working at ARPAL since 2004. Currently he mainly deals with liquid and gas mass spectrometry and molecular spectroscopy. He also is Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Genoa.
Rosa Maria Bertolotto
Scientific Director
In ARPAL since 1998, she coordinated for many years the official monitoring program of regional marine environment and was one of the national coordinators of the national monitoring program Marine Strategy. She has been Head of the Regional Laboratory Department and she is currently the Scientific Director of ARPAL.
Andrea Bazzano
Ph.D., analytical technician
He has authored about 15 articles in the field of analytical chemistry, focusing on elemental isotope ratio determination for pollution source assessment. He served as a reviewer for Atmospheric Pollution Research, Environmental Pollution and Atmospheric Environment. At ARPAL, he works on determining PAHs and PCBs contents in environmentally relevant matrices and analysing data using R and Python scripts.
Cristina Capelli
Chemist, Head of Geoa laboratory
Currently she is in charge in the laboratory of Genoa dealing with environmental and public health protection applications. She works on determining metals contents in environmentally relevant matrices, food and MOCA. She has given thematic lectures about the analysis of PCDD/F and PCB dioxin like (HRGC-HRMS) at the University of Genoa.
Daniela Caracciolo
Environmental manager
She has 20 years’experience in managing of Nature 2000 network. From 2001 to 2002 she worked for Regione Liguria, Department Environment on biodiversity. She has a wide expertise in management of EU propjects (Alcotra, Maritime, Life, ect., programs).
Elena Nicosia
Responsible of Molecular Biology and Virology Sector
She graduated summa cum laude in Biology and obtained a Ph.D at the University of Genoa in bioavailability, accumulation and allergenicity in food Ni-free. She has been working previously as permanent officer of Region Liguria, Health Department on food safety and pollution/health matter and in particular as supervisor on fish products safety.
Francesca Salini
She has a deep expertise in management and reporting of projects financed by EU funds (TEN-T, Marcopolo, Interreg Maritime, ALCOTRA, etc.) and national funds (EDF, etc.).
Fulvia Risso
Charge with the coordination of the gas chromatography team of the laboratory of Genoa
Currently she is in charge with the coordination of the gas chromatography team of the laboratory of Genoa dealing with environmental, forensic and public health protection applications. She gives thematic lectures about chromatography and mass spectrometry at the University of Genoa. In her activity in ARPAL she developed an analytical method, published on J. Chrom. A., adopted by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency for the control and import of goods.
