Freshwater mussels (*Unio Elongatuluser*) will be used to survey and monitor microplastics and emerging contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products, disinfectants, plasticizers, surfactants, and perfluorinated compounds, in Lake Orta (located between the Verbano-Cuso-Ossola and Novara provinces). These contaminants stem from industrial and domestic activities.
Previously involved in repopulation efforts and studies revealing their water purification capacity and ability to improve lakebeds, the mussels act as bioaccumulators for pollutants. They also serve as effective biosensors, providing measurable biological responses to the presence of these contaminants. Cages containing the bivalves will be placed at six different points in the Piedmontese lake and analyzed after one year.
This initiative forms part of the environmental monitoring project ‘Integrare. Qualità ambientale del lago d’Orta, dagli immissari ai contaminanti emergenti’ (Integrate. Environmental quality of Lake Orta, from tributaries to emerging contaminants). The project is led by the Ecomuseo del Lago d’Orta e Mottarone in collaboration with the University of Milan’s Department of Biosciences and the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research.
The two-year project’s results will be shared with ARPA Piemonte (the Regional Environmental Protection Agency), local municipalities, and the water management authority to inform targeted interventions.
“The goal of the chemical analysis,” explained Noelia Salgueiro-Gonzalez, head of the Mass Spectrometry Unit for Environmental Monitoring at the Mario Negri Institute, “is to detect the presence of emerging contaminants in Lake Orta’s waters using non-target and target screening methods. This will enable the assessment of potential anthropogenic pressures and the identification of possible pollution sources.”
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