Aquifers contaminated by vinyl chloride below a kindergarten: investigation and sanitary risk assessment issues

The aquifers below the city of Ferrara are characterized by a peculiar contamination by chlorinated ethenes with vinyl chloride concentrations up to more than 100000 ppb. These phenomena are observed in fully urbanized areas, with houses and also kindergartens, and are connected to the leaching of industrial wastes disposed of inside old clay pits or sugar factories lagoons. The paper presents the main results of different innovative technologies and tools for site characterization, source identification and risk assessment: direct-push drilling, isotopic fingerprinting, indoor gas monitoring