(ANSA) - ROME, FEBRUARY 09 - Enea 'finds out' pollutants in the water with an innovative laser system.
The National Agency for new technologies, energy and sustainable economic development has developed a methodology for analyzing water based on laser Raman spectroscopy, capable of detecting the presence of pollutants in real time, even at low concentrations, especially nitrates and sulfites.
The instrumentation, explains the Agency in today's issue of Eneainform@, consists of a portable laser device, already used successfully to detect the presence of pollutants in the air, capable of also providing information on the chemical structure of pollutants in the water, thanks to the interaction of light with molecules.
It is a non 'destructive' technology which gives rapid responses, does not require particular conditions for measurements and can be applied directly to the sample without any preparation.
"We examined the most common pollutants that can be found in the waters of rivers, lakes and artificial basins, as a result of agricultural and industrial activities" explains Salvatore Almaviva, Enea researcher at the Diagnostics and Metrology Laboratory at the Frascati Research Center and co-author of the study published in the international journal Sensors, together with the other researchers from the Antonia Lai Agency, Florinda Artuso, Isabella Giardina and Alessandra Pasquo.
"These substances endanger natural ecosystems and pose a risk to human and animal health when those same waters are used for irrigation in agriculture and for watering livestock, thus entering our food chain", adds Almaviva.
(HANDLE).