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"Barbara Nisi" Mercury Analysis Laboratory

The “Barbara Nisi” Mercury Analysis Laboratory is housed in the IGG headquarter in Florence.

The Laboratory

The laboratory is the fruit of a shared idea that was vigorously pursued by our late friend and colleague Dr. Barbara Nisi, who recently passed away, to whose memory this laboratory is dedicated.

The main activity of the "Barbara Nisi" Mercury Analysis Laboratory is aimed at geochemical-environmental investigations and the distribution of mercury in environmental matrices (water, soil/sediment/rock and air) and biological matrices, thanks to the experience gained during safety operations in the former mining area of ​​Abbadia San Salvatore (Mt. Amiata, Siena) and in other natural and anthropogenic contexts.

The Lumex RA-915M portable analyzer, in particular, allows the real-time measurement of elemental gaseous mercury (Hg0concentrations in the air (response time=1 sec) using the atomic absorption spectrophotometry technique with high-frequency polarization modulated light and Zeeman correction (ZAAS-HFM), necessary to eliminate possible interferences linked to the presence of impurities such as water vapor. The combined use of the RA-915M analyzer, the RP-92 flow regulator, and the dedicated bubbling system allows the analysis of total dissolved Hg in water (dl = 10 ng/L, up to 4 µg/L), while the combined use of the RA-915M analyzer with the specific pyrolyzer (PYRO-915+) allows the determination of Hg content in soils, rocks, waters, and biological matrices with a wide analytical range (from ppb to thousands of ppm). The investigations conducted primarily in the former mining areas of Amiata have produced numerous publications in international peer-reviewed journals. Recently, two articles have been published that, using the thermal desorption technique (PYRO-915+), have allowed the speciation of mercury in soils and river sediments.

Instruments

  • Elemental mercury gas analyzer (Hg0): LUMEX RA-915M
  • Flow reduction system with attached bubbling system: LUMEX RP-92
  • Pyrolyzer for the determination of Hg content and speciation: LUMEX PYRO-915+
  • LUMEX RAPID software for analytical management of LUMEX instruments with Msi PC
  • Atomic Fluorescence: PSA Merlin, PSA Excalibur
  • Heating bath: JULABO FT 401
  • Kit per l’analisi di Hg0 da gas interstiziali dei suoli
  • Kit for the analysis of Hg0 fluxes from soils using a static chamber
  • Muffles up to 350 °C and 1100 °C: TCF 120 and GEFFRAN 1600 P
  • Analytical balance: Sartorius ENTRIS II
  • Heating plate: Velp REC
Lumex RA-915M + flow regulator Lumex RP-92 + bubbling system
Lumex RA-915M + Lumex Pyro-915+ pyrolysis system

Staff and Contacts

The staff of the isotopic chemical laboratory is composed of:

  • Dr. Jacopo Cabassi (CNR-IGG Researcher – Laboratory Manager and Supervisor)
  • Dr. Guia Morelli (CNR-IGG Researcher)
  • Dr. Cristiano Romiti (CNR-IGG Post-Doc Fellow)
  • Dr. Federica Meloni (Associate with CNR-IGG collaboration assignment, DST-UNIFI Post-Doctoral Fellow)
  • Dr. Orlando Vaselli (Research Associate at CNR-IGG, Associate Professor at UNIFI)

Contacts:

Methods and Applications

The main methods used are:

  • Real-time measurement of mercury concentrations in air
  • Analysis of total dissolved Hg in water over a wide range of concentrations (from ng/L to mg/L)
  • Determination of Hg content in soils, sediments, rocks and biological matrices in a wide analytical range (from ppb to tens of ppm)
  • Speciation of mercury in solid matrices

Applications:

  • Environmental investigations on geological and biological matrices enriched in Hg
  • Evaluation of Hg contamination in different natural and anthropogenic contexts
  • Understanding the dynamics of speciation
  • Participation and implementation within the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership

Scientific Projects and Interests

The laboratory has been and is actively used in scientific conventions and projects, including:

  • 2023: Mediate II – gEochemical monitoring of chemical-physical parameters and trace elements (selenium, iron, aluminum, cadmium, mercury, nickel, total chromium and chromium VI) at 15 selected sites in the groundwater of Isola cAsTElluccio (Capolona, ​​Arezzo) for the period January 2023 – December 2023. and bi-phasic inclusion (liquid + vapor) rich in liquid and mono-phasic inclusion in calcite; (C) Bi-phasic inclusion (liquid + vapor) rich in liquid in calcite.
  • 2025-2029: LIFE HERMES – Harmonized Efforts for Reducing Mercury Emissions Safely, Coordinating Beneficiary: Minas de Almadén y Arrayanes, SA, SME (Mayasa)
  • 2025-2027: DiSTeM-Hg – Analysis of atmospheric precipitation and soil/sediment data to determine their concentration and estimate mercury (Hg) fluxes resulting from atmospheric deposition in the Mt. Etna study area – collaboration with the University of Palermo (DISTEM-UNIPA) as part of the PRIN 2022 project “An experimental minero-petrological model of sulphide-assisted Hg spEciation applied to volcano MonitoRing and sEdimentary recordS” (HERMES).
  • 2025-2026:Moni-Metals – Biennial monthly monitoring of physical-chemical parameters and trace elements in the groundwater of Isola Castelluccio (Capolona, ​​Arezzo) for the period January 2025 – December 2026.
  • 2025: Geochemical and isotopic investigations of groundwater in the San Zeno area (Arezzo), in collaboration with ARPAT
  • 2023-2026: IRGIE – Inventory of Geothermal Resources of the Aeolian Islands – research agreement with INGV as part of the POC project funded by the Department of Energy of the Sicilian Region – Department of Energy and Public Utilities.
  • 2024-2025: PNRR Task: Computational methods for investigating complex geochemical systems with spatial-temporal attributes of the National Center for High-Performance Simulation, Computing, and Data Analysis (CN1, PNRR mission 4 – Education and Research). Project leader: Prof. Antonella Buccianti (UNIFI).
  • 2024-2025: PNRR Task: Abiotic and biotic complex interaction dynamics and environmental stressors in riverine ecosystems: innovative multilevel data-driven modeling approaches of the National Center for Biodiversity (CN5, PNRR mission 4 – Education and Research). Project leader: Prof. Antonella Buccianti (UNIFI).
  • 2023-2024: Replication II – Monthly Monitoring of Chemical Parameters relating to trace elements (selenium, iron, aluminum, cadmium, mercury, nickel, total chromium and chromium (VI)) in the groundwater of Isola Castelluccio (Capolona, ​​Arezzo) for the period January 2024 – December 2024.

Publications

  • Meloni, F., Gozzi, C., Cabassi, J., Nisi, B., Rappuoli, D., & Vaselli, O. (2026). Integrating Compositional Data Analysis (CoDA) and Random Forest for lithology-specific geochemical baseline determination. Science of the Total Environment, 1011, 181169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.181169.
  • Meloni, F., Dinelli, E., Cabassi, J., Nisi, B., Montegrossi, G., Rappuoli, D., & Vaselli, O. (2025). Provenance and distribution of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in stream sediments from the eastern Hg-district of Mt. Amiata (central Italy). Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 47(4), 123. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-025-02434-8.
  • Meloni, F., Calabrese, S., Vaselli, O., Capecchiacci, F., Ciani, F., Brusca, L., Bellomo, S., D’Alessandro, W., Daskalopoulou, K., Venturi, S., Nisi, B., Rappuoli, D., Tassi, F., Cabassi, J., (2024). Active Moss Biomonitoring of Mercury in the Mine-Polluted Area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Mt. Amiata, Central Italy). Toxics, 13(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics13010002.
  • Meloni F., Higueras L.P., Cabassi J., Nisi B., Rappuoli D., Vaselli O. (2024). Thermal desorption technique to speciate mercury in carbonate, silicate, and organic-rich soils. Chemosphere, 365, (2024) 143349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.143349.
  • Meloni, F.; Montegrossi, G.; Cabassi, J.; Bianchi, F.; Nisi, B.; Rappuoli, D.; Vaselli, O. (2024). Geochemical Surveys of Ground and Surface Waters in the Abandoned Hg-Mine of Abbadia San Salvatore (Central Italy): A Preparatory Investigation before Remediation. Water 2024, 16, 1210. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16091210.
  • Morelli, G., Ciani, F., Cocozza, C., Costagliola, P., Fagotti, C., Friani, R., … & Rimondi, V. (2024). Riparian trees in mercury contaminated riverbanks: An important resource for sustainable remediation management. Environmental Research, 257, 119373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2024.119373.
  • Meloni, F., Nisi, B., Gozzi, C., Rimondi, V., Cabassi, J., Montegrossi, G., Rappuoli, D., Vaselli, O. (2023). Background and geochemical baseline values of chalcophile and siderophile elements in soils around the former mining area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Mt. Amiata, southern Tuscany, Italy). Journal of Geochemical Exploration. 255, 107324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2023.107324.
  • Meloni, F., Farieri, A., Higueras, P. L., Esbrí, J. M., Nisi, B., Cabassi, J., Rappuoli, D., Vaselli, O. (2023). Mercury distribution in plants and soils from the former mining area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Tuscany, Central Italy). Environmental Geochemistry and Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-023-01739-w.
  • Nannoni, A., Meloni F., Benvenuti M., Cabassi J., Ciani F., Costagliola P., Fornasaro, S., Lattanzi P., Lazzaroni M., Nisi B., Morelli G., Rimondi V. and Vaselli O. (2022). Environmental impact of past Hg mining activities in the Monte Amiata district, Italy: A summary of recent studies. AIMS Geosciences, 8(4), 525–551. https://doi.org/10.3934/geosci.2022029.
  • Lazzaroni, M., Vetuschi Zuccolini, M., Nisi, B.; Cabassi, J., Caliro, S., Rappuoli, D., Vaselli, O. (2022). Mercury and Arsenic Discharge from Circumneutral Waters Associated with the Former Mining Area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Tuscany, Central Italy). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 5131. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095131.
  • Cabassi, J., Lazzaroni, M., Giannini, L., Mariottini, D., Nisi, B., Rappuoli, D., Vaselli, O. (2022). Continuous and near real-time measurements of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: A new approach to investigate the 3D distribution of GEM in the lower atmosphere. Chemosphere, 288, 132547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132547.
  • Fornasaro, S., Morelli, G., Costagliola, P., Rimondi, V., Lattanzi, P., & Fagotti, C. (2022). Total mercury mass load from the Paglia–Tiber River system: The contribution to Mediterranean Sea Hg budget. Toxics, 10(7), 395. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics10070395.
  • Fornasaro, S., Morelli, G., Rimondi, V., Fagotti, C., Friani, R., Lattanzi, P., & Costagliola, P. (2022). The extensive mercury contamination in soil and legacy sediments of the Paglia River basin (Tuscany, Italy): Interplay between Hg-mining waste discharge along rivers, 1960s economic boom, and ongoing climate change. Journal of Soils and Sediments, 22(2), 656-671. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-021-03129-0.
  • Meloni, F., Montegrossi, G., Lazzaroni, M., Rappuoli, D., Nisi, B., Vaselli, O. (2021). Total and Leached Arsenic, Mercury and Antimony in the Mining Waste Dumping Area of Abbadia San Salvatore (Mt. Amiata, Central Italy). Applied Sciences, 11, 7893. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11177893.
  • Cabassi, J., Venturi, S., Di Bernardo, F., Nisi, B., Tassi, F., Magi, F., Ricci, A., Picchi, G., Vaselli, O. (2021). Flux measurements of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) from the geothermal area of “Le Biancane” natural park (Monterotondo Marittimo, Grosseto, Italy): biogeochemical processes controlling GEM emission. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 228, 106824, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2021.106824.
  • Vaselli, O., Lazzaroni, M., Nisi, B., Cabassi, J., Tassi, F., Rappuoli, D., Meloni, F. (2021). Discontinuous Geochemical Monitoring of the Galleria Italia Circumneutral Waters (Former Hg-Mining Area of Abbadia San Salvatore, Tuscany, Central Italy) Feeding the Fosso Della Chiusa Creek. Environments, 8, 15. https://doi.org/10.3390/environments8020015.
  • Lazzaroni, M.; Nisi, B.; Rappuoli, D.; Cabassi, J.; Vaselli, O. (2020). A New Low-Cost and Reliable Method to Evaluate the Release of Hg0 from Synthetic Materials. Processes, 8, 1282. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8101282.
  • Pasquetti, F., Vaselli, O., Zanchetta, G., Nisi, B., Lezzerini, M., Bini, M., Mele, D. (2020). Sedimentological, Mineralogical and Geochemical Features of Late Quaternary Sediment Profiles from the Southern Tuscany Hg Mercury District (Italy): Evidence for the Presence of Pre-Industrial Mercury and Arsenic Concentrations. Water, 12(7), 1998. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12071998.