Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale
Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA)
ISPRA is the National Research Institute for Environmental Protection and Research with leading and coordination function of the National Network System for Environmental Protection (SNPA) made by Regional Environmental Agencies.
The National Center for the Laboratories Network (CN LAB) of ISPRA was created with the aim of ensuring support for the network of laboratories of the ARPA / APPA Agencies. Its technical-scientific activities are aimed at improving the effectiveness, efficiency and homogeneity of analytical methods and monitoring programs of environmental matrices (air, inland and marine waters, soil, waste) in order to protect citizens and the environment.
CN-LAB brings together laboratories qualified for environmental analytical activities with a division into 5 Areas: Biology, Chemistry, Ecotoxicology, Physics and Metrology.
ISPRA current organization includes three Departments and 5 National Centres.
EU Research infrastructures
The National Center for the National Network of Laboratories (CN LAB) carries out studies on the relationship between the presence of chemical contaminants in environmental matrices and health-related effects, especially with regard to the entry of contaminants through the food web and diet, and morphological and molecular taxonomy studies (environmental DNA) to identify species toxic to human health. CN-LAB brings together qualified laboratories for environmental analytical activities with a subdivision into 5 Areas: Biology, Chemistry, Ecotoxicology, Physics and Metrology.
The Chemistry, Biology and Ecotoxicology Areas, which actively participate in the consortium, include 4, 5 and 4 laboratories respectively. The Chemistry Unit has 4 laboratories for determination of the following parameters: organic contaminants; metals and trace elements; organic micropollutants and volatile compounds; nutrients and physico-chemical parameters. Its major topics are chemical analyses and integrated quality assessment of the different environmental matrices; chemical speciation studies, bioaccumulation and biomagnification studies in organisms exposed to toxic substances. The Biology Unit has the following laboratories: benthos ecology; nekton ecology; soil ecology; ecophysiology, histology and morphology; marine molecular biology, that carry out studies on biodiversity and human pressures interactions; morphological and molecular taxonomy of aquatic organisms and terrestrial infauna; marine litter pollution and interactions with living organisms; stress physiology and reproduction biology of aquatic organisms. The Ecotoxicology Unit has the following laboratories: marine ecotoxicity and microbiology; biomarkers; fish-ecotoxicity; aquatic and terrestrial ecotoxicity, that carry out on development and application of standardized protocols for ecotoxicity tests; biomarkers at subcellular and cellular level in order to evaluate the effects of exposures to chemical substances; Environmental Risk Assessment by mean of comparison of different results from chemical, biological and ecotoxicity analysis.
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