Abstract
The study deals with the military firing range of Perdasdefogu (Sardinia–Italy) called PISQ, the activities there performed and the impact that some activities could have on human and animal health. The research started from some occurrences of evidence of diseases (a.k.a. Quirra Syndrome) among a population of 2,500 human inhabitants and an unknown number of animals, and proposes a novel type of investigation to verify whether the effects of military activities can trigger pathologies in humans. The investigation takes as starting point the analyses of the pathological tissues of inhabitants who developed cancers of the blood and the soft tissues. This was done by means of a Field Emission Gun Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope equipped with an X-ray microprobe of an Energy Dispersion System in order to detect micro- and nano-sized foreign bodies and identify their chemical composition. This method indicates the exposure the patients underwent by inhaling polluted air or ingesting polluted food. The investigation is based on the fact that the explosion of weapons hitting a target implies a temperature rise within the volume involved. The higher the temperature, the thinner are the particles (bomb + target) produced and aerosolized, thus allowing a higher possibility of particle internalization in the body. So, the study of the internalized particles compared with those produced by the different military activities through an environmental 1-year-long survey carried out by the Italian Ministry of Defense can give an idea if there is a coincidence of chemical composition. The pollution detected in the urban area of Mantua (Italy) is taken as a reference or control. The results indicate that in the pathological tissues of ten civilians, two soldiers who worked in the PISQ and five malformed lambs born of ewes that pastured in the firing range that there is the presence of nano-sized foreign bodies with chemical compositions that can be the results of bomb explosions and not of a usual urban environmental pollution.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Biggeri A et al (2006) Report on health status of residents with industrial, mining or military sites in Sardinia, Italy. Epidemiologia e Prevenzione Italia 30(Suppl 1):5–95
Broccia G, Cocco P, Casula P (2001) Incidence of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Hodgkin disease in Sardinia, Italy: 1974–1993. Haematologica 86:58–63
Broccia G, Longinotti M, Ginnico B, Porcu C, Chessa E (2011) Haematological malignancies on the island of Sardinia, 1974–1993: a geographical study. J Open Hematol 5:4–9
Zucchetti M (2006) Environmental pollution and population health effects in the Quirra area, Sardinia island (Italy) and the depleted uranium case. J Environ Prot Ecol 7:82–88
Zucchetti M, Coraddu M, Littarru B, Cristaldi M (2011) Environmental pollution and health effects in the Quirra area, Sardinia (Italy). Fresenius Environ Bull 20:810–817
Gramiccioni L (2004) Caso Sindrome di Quirra, Report Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) n. 33619, Roma
Mellis G, Lorrai S (2012) Monitoraggio ambientale al PISQ. Analisi chimiche su matrici fisiche e biologiche (Lotto 3-Fase veterinaria), Internal Report Italy, pp 1–48
Final Report (2013) Commissione parlamentare di inchiesta sui casi di morte e di gravi malattie che hanno colpito il personale Italiano … del senato del 16 marzo 2010- Relazione sulle risultanze delle indagini svolte dalla commissione. http://www.senato.it/service/PDF/PDFServer/DF/288867.pdf.
Gatti AM, Montanari S, (2005) Handbook of nanostructured biomaterials and their applications in nanobiotechnology. Capitolo 12: risk assessment of microparticles and nanoparticles and human health. American Scientific Publishers, Stevenson Ranch, California USA, pp 347–367
Gatti AM, Montanari S (2008) Nanopatology: the health impact of nanoparticles. Pan Stanford Publishing, Singapore
Nemmar A, Hoet PHM, Vanquickenborne B, Dinsdale D, Thomeer M, Hoylaerts MF, Vanbilloen H, Mortelmans L, Nemery B (2002) Passage of inhaled particles in to the blood circulation in humans. Circulation 105(4):411–417
Oberdörster G, Sharp Z, Atudorei V, Elder A, Gelein R, Kreyling W, Cox C (2004) Translocation of inhaled ultrafine particles to the brain. Inhal Toxicol 16(6–7):437–445
Gatti AM, Bosco P, Rivasi F, Bianca S, Ettore G, Gaetti L, Montanari S, Bartoloni G, Gazzolo D (2011) Heavy metals nanoparticles in fetal kidney and liver tissues. Front Biosci (Elite edition E3) 1:221–226
Gatti AM, Quaglino D, Sighinolfi GL (2009) A morphological approach to monitor the nanoparticle-cell interaction. J Imaging 2(S09, Editorial 1):2–21
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this paper
Cite this paper
Gatti, A.M., Montanari, S., Capitani, F. (2013). The Quirra Syndrome: Matter of Translational Medicine. In: Vaseashta, A., Khudaverdyan, S. (eds) Advanced Sensors for Safety and Security. NATO Science for Peace and Security Series B: Physics and Biophysics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7003-4_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7003-4_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-7002-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-7003-4
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)