The first phase of the research started in the second half of the Nineties, from a collaboration between the University of Brescia and the Italghisa of Bagnolo that at the time was working in ferroalloys. The analyzes involved the company’s workers, but also the population of the country. The study aimed to identify the effects of direct exposure to metals, in the case of Italghisa employees, and the indirect one of residents.
In March 2006 the Iseia study – Impact on health from exposure to environmental pollutants in the areas of Brescia and Taranto, financed by the EU – also began. To assess the health effects of environmental exposure to metals, biological, neuropsychological, motor and environmental parameters were measured in groups of people aged 11 to 13 and between 65 and 75 years living in areas with different industries. of ferroalloys. The results allowed the study to continue until April 2015 thanks to funding from the US National Institute of Health.
“Despite the fact that the emissions have been reduced and the biomarkers are currently lower, it is necessary to understand what the effects of exposure over time will be, to implement prevention strategies – stresses Roberto Lucchini, the project manager. Exposure to manganese generates a form of disease very similar to Parkinson’s disease, while lead causes cognitive problems, and in children learning delays “. All the investigations conducted so far have confirmed a reduction in motor and cognitive functions in relation to exposure to metals. The work of the University serves as a platform for interventions on the environment and, in the case of children, to bring out problems of psychological origin – hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, even an “intellectual retardation” – which remain latent due to inattention or lack of information, but that can be corrected if detected early. The new tests will be similar to games, while the air breathed by the children will be monitored by an electronic nose on the backpack.