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Among the determinants of environmental health risk perception, health literacy and social media messages have been generally neglected. This study details the environmental health risk perception and its determinants in Italian university students, including a measure of functional health literacy and an analysis of newspapers and social media. A cross sectional survey was carried out among students from 15 Italian universities and different disciplines (grouped into Scientific-Health and Humanistic-Legal-Social sectors) using a self-administered anonymous questionnaire, divided into six sections: socio-demographic characteristics, information on health and environment, environmental health risk perception, trust, attitudes and behaviors and functional health literacy. Local newspapers and tweets in the same areas and period were analyzed in relation to quantity and topics. The study population included 4778 students (65.1% female) aged 21 ± 4.3 years, and functional health literacy was low (below the cutoff value) for 44.4% of students.A new outcome of the survey is that the detected association between high functional health literacy a higher global health risk perception and trust in institutions both as sources of information and as actors for protection against environmental risks.The internet and social networks were the most frequently consulted sources of information (77.7%), which was predictive of a higher risk perception. The possible relation between environmental health risk perception and tweet communication was highlighted by a comparison between the risk perception in the city with the highest number of tweets (Modena) and another one similar for socio-demographic characteristics (Pisa). In conclusion, the results of our study may be of help to strengthen information and education ⁎ 2Science of the Total Environment xxx (xxxx) xxx-xxx programs: functional health literacy should be taken into account in school programs, to produce a basic knowledge for a better understanding of health and environment. Moreover, mass and social media should be included in planning communication intervention and in verifying their results.

BackgroundLifestyles profoundly determine the quality of an individual’s health and life since his childhood. Many diseases in adulthood are avoidable if health-risk behaviors are identified and improved at an early stage of life. The aim of the present research was to characterize a cohort of children aged 6–8 years selected in order to perform an epidemiological molecular study (the MAPEC_LIFE study), investigate lifestyles of the children that could have effect on their health status, and assess possible association between lifestyles and socio-cultural factors.MethodsA questionnaire composed of 148 questions was administered in two different seasons to parents of children attending 18 primary schools in five Italian cities (Torino, Brescia, Pisa, Perugia and Lecce) to obtain information regarding the criteria for exclusion from the study, demographic, anthropometric and health information on the children, as well as some aspects on their lifestyles and parental characteristics. The results were analyzed in order to assess the frequency of specific conditions among the different seasons and cities and the association between lifestyles and socio-economic factors.ResultsThe final cohort was composed of 1,164 children (50.9 boys, 95.4% born in Italy). Frequency of some factors appeared different in terms of the survey season (physical activity in the open air, the ways of cooking certain foods) and among the various cities (parents’ level of education and rate of employment, sport, traffic near the home, type of heating, exposure to passive smoking, ways of cooking certain foods). Exposure to passive smoking and cooking fumes, obesity, residence in areas with heavy traffic, frequency of outdoor play and consumption of barbecued and fried foods were higher among children living in families with low educational and/or occupational level while children doing sports and consuming toasted bread were more frequent in families with high socio-economic level.ConclusionsThe socio-economic level seems to affect the lifestyles of children enrolled in the study including those that could cause health effects. Many factors are linked to the geographical area and may depend on environmental, cultural and social aspects of the city of residence.

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The formaldehyde (FA) genotoxic potential in occupationally exposed individuals is conflicting. A relevant indoor-air FA pollution was found in hospitals and scientific institutions where FA is used as a bactericide and tissue preservative. In the present study, we evaluated the frequency of chromosomal aberrations (CAs) in peripheral blood lymphocytes from workers in pathology wards who have been exposed to FA, compared with a group of unexposed subjects. The subjects were also analyzed for the GSTM1 and GSTT1 metabolic gene polymorphisms. The exposed subjects showed a significant increase in the frequency of CA per cell and in the percentage of cells with aberrations compared to control subjects. The different GST genotypes did not affect the level of cytogenetic damage since CA frequencies were not statistically different between the GST "null" genotypes and the GST "positives". The generalized linear models showed that the number of CAs and cells with CAs increased with age, but, independent of age, it was significantly higher in the experimental rather than in the control group. Cubic-spline regression confirmed the linear relationship between CAs and age, but it provided evidence for a non-linear relationship between CAs and the number of years of FA exposure. Similar results were observed when the model included the number of cells with CAs as dependent variables. Our results demonstrate that air FA induces CAs even consequently to low levels of daily exposure, indicating an increased risk of genetic damage for workers exposed to this air pollutant.

The effect of anodic pH on Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) inoculated with marine consortia was investigated to characterize the microbial community adaptation to possible pH environmental changes and to define the pH extreme boundaries beyond which MFCs do not run properly. Tests were conducted in triplicate using different feeding pH values (pHfeed) ranging from 3 to 13. The MFCs inoculated with marine consortia had a strong self-regulation ability and actively counterbalanced small variations in pHfeed maintaining the pH inside the anodic chamber (pHanode) close to neutrality. As soon as the pHanode deviated from neutrality it affected MFCs' performances. Alkaline conditions with pHanode values between 8 and 10 corresponded to the formation of a denser biofilm together with the best performance in terms of maximum power density (Pmax). Conversely, when the pHanode reached values lower than 5.5 or higher than 10, a sharp drop in MFC performances, as well as a decrease of viable population, were observed. Interestingly, the system was able to survive these extreme conditions and restart working effectively when neutrality was reset. The obtained results underline the high adaptability and recovery ability of anodic marine consortia even in extreme conditions, suggesting the employment of this inoculum for MFC applications as biosensors for on-site seawater monitoring or as power supply units to be installed in remote area.

The mechanisms responsible for negative biological effects due to airborne particulate matter (PM) exposure are still being studied, however the interactions between metals and biologic systems seem to be of primary importance. The aim of the study was to estimate a healthy risk linked to exposure to airborne PM10 metals by means of an environmental-sanitary risk assessment. Metals PM10 size distribution analysis was carried out in a central site of Torino city - Italy, then the Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) and the Cancer Risk (CR) were applied, according to standard EPA methods.All sampled metals were present on the different PM10 fractions, however some metals were distributed in some specific fractions: ANOVA test shows Cr, Cu, Mo and Pb as differently distributed among the eight fractions, rising the hypothesis of potential effects in specific tracts of respiratory system. Regarding the risk assessment, in general the CR was higher for an adult than for a child, conversely the THQ resulted higher for a child.While the concentrations of all the sampled metals appeared to be under control, their presence in the different PM10 fractions and their THQ and CR provided indications related to the body districts potentially in contact with these substance