ItalianoThe conference "Emerging micropollutants and contaminants. Testimonials, solutions and perspectives" organized by LE2C, Politecnico di Milano, IRSA-CNR, Università di Milano-Bicocca and Lariana Depur was held on Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th June with a large and qualified participation of business representatives, researchers, doctoral and graduate students and representatives of local authorities.
The conference, starting from a regional vision of the problem and widening the horizon to strategies with an international scope, took stock of the presence of priority and emerging contaminants in water, of sources and mechanisms for their introduction into the municipal, industrial, agricultural and zootechnical spheres and of removal techniques. In addition to the Politecnico di Milano-DICA, the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche-IRSA, the University of Studies di Milano Bicocca-DISAT and the Lariana Depur, the participants included the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection of Lombardy, the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, the University of Insubria, the Emilia Romagna Regional Agency for Prevention, Environment and Energy, the University of Ferrara and the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. Important international institutions such as the Joint Research Centre-EC, the Universitad de Santiago de Compostela, the Université de Limoges and the Department for the Territory of the Canton of Ticino also brought their testimonies. Equally important was the point of view of several companies directly affected by the problem of micropollutants and emerging contaminants such as: Process Factory, Serbian Textile Centre, TBF+Partner, CAP Group, Veolia, Xylem and De Nora.
Among the technological solutions and management perspectives, the performance of conventional and more advanced processes were analysed, also considering national and international application examples. In particular, the experience of Switzerland and the strategy of the ZDHC (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Compounds) foundation to eliminate (or at least reduce) the load of hazardous compounds from the textile and fashion industries were discussed.
In the final round table, researchers, industry representatives, environmental monitoring technicians, integrated water service operators and public and private administrators discussed the actions necessary for a balanced use of new chemical substances and their removal, in line with the maintenance of a suitable environmental quality of water resources.
In addition to continuing the monitoring of the presence of these substances in the environment, wastewater and water supply, and research activities to understand the mechanisms of removal and development of abatement technologies, in the coming years it will be necessary to develop strategies with a holistic approach and collaboration between the various actors involved (planning and control bodies, universities and research centers, water service managers, technology providers).
Read the Press Release (IT)
Speaker presentations will soon be available on the event page