EXPOSURE TO AIRBORNE CADMIUM IN SOME ITALIAN URBAN AREAS

Three hundred and ninety-five daily airborne particulate samples colle cted in urban and industrial areas of Genoa and La Spezia, and 46 samp les from urban areas of a further 16 Italian towns, provide informatio n for the mean airborne cadmium exposure. The geometrical means for ca dmium were the highest near the municipal urban waste incinerator of G enoa and in the industrial area of La Spezia (respectively 9.0 and 5.1 ng/m(3)). After closure of the incinerator a significant decrease (-9 6%) in cadmium around the plant was found. In all the urban areas, mea n cadmium concentrations ranged from 1.5 to 2.8 ng/m(3) and at the rur al site of La Spezia the mean cadmium concentration was 0.9 ng/m(3). T hese results agree with those found for other, similar European areas. Traffic and urban waste incineration were identified as the main sour ces of cadmium.