Objective
AIM OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO INVESTIGATE TO WHAT EXTEND BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC PROCESSES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FORMATION OF METHYLMERCURY OBSERVED IN FRESHWATER AND MARINE ORGANISMS.
THIS PROJECT IS BASED ON AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO COMPARE MICROBIOLOGICALLY, ECOLOGICALLY AND GEOCHEMICALLY THREE ECOSYSTEMS:
- A "HIGH MERCURY ZONE
A CONTROL ZONE
A ZONE CONTAMINATED BY ANTHROPOGENIC MERCURYRELEASE. IN THESE ECOSYSTEMS FRESWATER, SEAWATER, PARTICULATE MATTER, SEDIMENTS AND BIOTA WILL BE INVESTIGATED. THE SPECIMEN OBTAINED WILL BE ANALYZED FOR TOTAL MERCURY, METHYLMERCURY AND OTHER MERCURY SPECIES. HOWEVER, IT IS NECESSARY TO FIRST DEVELOP NEW ANALYTIC PROCEDURES FOR THE DETERMINATION OF MERCURY SPECIES IN PLANTS AND HERBIVORES. THE ANALYSIS OF THESE MATRICES ARE STILL PRESENTING PROBLEMS. SPECIAL EFFORTS WILL BE DEVOTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW METHOD SUITABLE TO DETERMINE MERCURY SPECIES AT VERY LOW CONCENTRATIONS (NG-L) KNOWN TO OCCUR IN NATURAL WATERS. INTERCALIBRATION OF ANALYTICAL METHODS BETWEEN PARTICIPATING GROUPS WILL BE CARRIED OUT IN ORDER TO OBTAIN COMPARABILITY OF RESULTS. IN ADDITION, EXPERIMENTS WILL BE UNDERTAKEN IN MARINE MODEL ECOSYSTEMS IN ORDER TO OBTAIN MORE CONFINED INFORMATION ON BIOACCUMUALTION, LOSS, TRANSFER, AND TRANSFORMATION OF MERCURY SPECIES. FOR THESE INVESTIGATIONS THE EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP DEVELOPED BY THE KFA JUELICH WILL BE USED. IN THESE EXPERIMENTS RADIOTRACERS WILL BE EMPLOYED AND CONCENTRATIONS OF BOTH TRACER AND STABLE ISOTOPES WILL BE FOLLOWED IN THE RELEVANT MATRICES.
DETAILED PROGRAMME:
1.- DEVELOPMENT OF ANALYTICAL METHODS FOR THE DETERMINATION AND QUANTIFICATION OF INORGANIC AND ORGANIC SPECIES IN FRESHWATER, SEAWATER PARTICULATE MATTER, SEDIMENTS AND BIOTA.
2.- TRANSFER OF ANALYTICAL KNOW-HOW FROM JUELICH TO GENOVA AND LA SPEZIA AND VICE-VERSA. IN PARTICULAR ANALYTICAL METHODS FOR METHYLMERCURY.
3.- INTERCALIBRATIONS OF METHODS DEVELOPED BY PARTICIPATING GROUPS BY EXCHANGE OF REFERENCE STANDARD SAMPLES OF DIFFERENT MATRICES.
4.- SAMPLING IN THREE ZONES:
- MERCURY GEOCHEMICAL ANOMALY (MT AMIATA)
- AREA CONTAMINATED BY MERCURY RELEASE FROM CHLOR-ALKALI PLANT (SOLVAY, ROSIGNANO)
- CONTROL AREA WITH LOW MERCURY BACKGROUND LEVEL (TO BE DECIDED) FOR FRESHWATER, SEAWATER, PARTICULATE MATTER, SEDIMENTS AND BIOTA REPRESENTING DIFFERENT LEVELS IN ECOLOGICAL IMPORTANT TERRESTRIAL AND MARINE FOOD CHAINES.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
16147 Genova
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.