Guarino, Annalise (2022) TRACE ELEMENTS, ORGANIC COMPOUNDS AND INTERSTITIAL GASES (RADON AND CO2) DISTRIBUTION IN THE NEAR SURFACE ENVIRONMENT OF CAMPANIA REGION: NEW METHODS FOR PATTERNS RECOGNITION OF HIDDEN ASSOCIATIONS. [Tesi di dottorato]

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The PhD thesis starts by illustrating the work developed within the Environmental Geochemistry Working Group (EGWG), of the Department of Earth, Environmental and Resources Sciences of the University of Naples Federico II, with the “Campania Trasparente” project. The mapping of background/baseline values of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in regional soils highlighted the inadequacy of the national environmental regulations (D.Lgs 152/2006) for managing site-specific problems, especially for geo-pedologically varied regions such as Campania. Therefore, it was decided to investigate the question relating to the definition of reference baseline values at a sub-regional scale in a delicate area between the alluvial plain of the Sarno river, to the south, and the slopes the Mt. Vesuvius, to the north. In addition, being the plain north of Vesuvius known for being an area featured by a serious anthropic impact and characterised by a very high population density, a detailed study was conducted on this area to define the sources of contamination of PTEs, PAHs and OCPs. During the development of the regional cartography, it was also found that the distribution of the bioavailable concentrations (based on an ammonium nitrate leaching) of PTEs and other elements in soils did not follow a linear model when compared to measured total concentration (referring to a modified Aqua Regia leaching); it was, hence, decided to study the behaviour of some of those parameters that are recognized to some extent by the current literature as responsible of the change occurring in the bioavailable fractions. The high concentrations of uranium (U), thorium (Th) and potassium (K) found in regional soils, mainly due to the volcanic nature of the geologic source materials, gave rise to concern about the exposure of the population to low ionizing radiation and to radon. Therefore, it was made a first attempt to estimate the regional variations of the pedogenic radon flux using the available geochemical data jointly with a radiological database containing data on environmental gamma radiation associated with U-238, Th-232 and K-40 decay in regional soils. The assessment of the health risk due to Rn-222 based on quantitative information rather than observational data such as those retrieved from geological maps was completed. In addition, some considerations were made on the possible use of Rn-222 flux as a proxy of the presence of active tectonic lineaments across the Campania region.

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