Fire in Lonato: ARPA Lombardia Detects Dioxin and Furan Emissions Above Reference Limits

Following a fire in Lonato on 12 July that involved a warehouse storing plastic materials for a waste treatment company, ARPA Lombardia installed a high-volume air sampler and collected two filters to monitor emissions in the area identified using modelling and weather forecasts.

ARPA Lombardia’s laboratory results found benzo(a)pyrene levels below the quantification limit in both samples. Dioxins and furans were measured at 4.15 pg WHO‑TEQ/m³ in the first sample and 15.31 pg WHO‑TEQ/m³ in the second, exceeding a bibliographic reference value of 0.3 pg WHO‑TEQ/m³ associated with a local emission source. The agency said these figures do not represent a regulatory threshold and that the analytical picture is consistent with emissions linked to the fire and the combustion of plastic waste, while it was not possible to precisely define the geographic extent of the fallout.
Italian Version