A study by INGV has defined the origin of the endogenous gas emitted in the area of Lavinio (Anzio). The work, published in the journal GeoHealth, represents an important scientific contribution of "medical geology" both for the new data presented and for the methodological approach used in the study of these phenomena in an anthropized context
The area of Lavinio, a fraction of the municipality of Anzio about fifty kilometers south of Rome, is affected by an anomalous release of endogenous gas of deep origin consisting mainly of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. The accumulation of these gases inside an underground tank for the collection of waste water from a nearby swimming pool can be identified as the natural event that caused the very serious accident that occurred in Lavinio in 2011.
These are the results of the study Anomalous Discharge of Endogenous Gas at Lavinio (Rome, Italy) and the Lethal Accident of 5 September 2011, conducted by a group of researchers from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) and recently published in the international journal GeoHealth.
“The metropolitan area of Rome”, explains Maria Luisa Carapezza, INGV researcher and co-author of the publication, “is between two Quaternary volcanoes: the Monti Sabatini to the northwest and the Colli Albani to the southeast. In this area there are various sites where an endogenous gas of deep origin, mainly made up of carbon dioxide and with a minor percentage of hydrogen sulphide, reaches the surface through faults”.
"We conducted detailed geochemical investigations, aimed at ascertaining the causes of the accident, which included measurements of the flow and concentrations of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide in the soil and air," continues the researcher. “The results suggest that the accident occurred due to a high concentration of gas inside the collection tank, flowed through the pipes carrying excess water from the adjacent pool and not through gas infiltrations from the floor or from the brings".
The INGV research group was able to define the origin of the gaseous emissions by borrowing volcanic monitoring techniques and adapting the scientific field instruments.
“The work represents an important scientific contribution to medical geology, not only for the new data presented but above all for the methodological approach used in the study of endogenous gas emissions in an anthropized context. In the last twenty years, in fact, numerous accidents involving the emission of endogenous gas have occurred in the Rome area.
In this regard, since 1999 INGV has created an ad hoc research group in the Rome Section1 which, precisely through the use of volcanic monitoring techniques, has developed an intervention protocol capable of defining the origin of the gas emitted , to evaluate the danger and, collaborating with the institutions responsible for the control of the territory, to suggest appropriate measures to reduce the risk in a short time and with scientific rigor.
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