"Water is the material of life. It is matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water." With these words Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Hungarian physiologist, reminded us of the importance of water at the beginning of the 20th century.

Today the problem of water contamination is increasingly pressing. Multiple sources of pollution have a devastating impact on the environment and on waters in particular.

A study by the Mario Negri Institute revealed that 2.5t of medicines and 1.6q of drugs are poured into the aquifer system of the Lombard capital alone every year. For example, the impact of the massive use of antibiotics not only causes the release of resistant bacteria and resistance genes into the environment, but also of significant quantities of various antibiotics. Due to the continuous release, these substances reach the water basins and can infiltrate the groundwater.

The examination of water samples from some rivers (Seveso, Lambro and Olona) has highlighted the presence of high quantities of substances attributable to medicines, drugs and pesticides.

According to a study by the Federico II University of Naples and the Cary Institute of New York, fish would show, in waters polluted by drugs and narcotics, hyperactive behaviour, reproductive incapacity, an increase in muscle tissue lesions and a high rate of cortisol which induces lipogenesis.

Pollution: our solution

Our project was born from the observation and analysis of the watercourses present in the Rhodense district (MI) and aims to contribute to the reduction of pollutants in wastewater caused by molecules attributable to some drugs and pesticides (antibiotics such as Ciprofloxacin and Sulfamethoxazole; medicines such as Carbamazepine and Diclofenac, active principle of Voltaren; pesticides such as Glyphosate and Chlorpyrifos) with the use of aquatic plants (macrophytes), such as Typha latifolia and Phragmites australis, on whose roots numerous aerobic bacteria live.

Therefore, the plant world can help to reduce the contamination of organic pollutants, since, currently, conventional purification methods are not able to reduce/remove these substances that remain present in the treated waters. We believe that targeted phytoremediation can play a significant role in the future of water purification, because the use of bacteria allows for an effective metabolization of pollutants and an efficient use of resources.

Bacteria: a strategic choice

The choice of using bacteria is strategic as they are able to work all year round regardless of the presence of sunlight, variable quantities of oxygen and non-optimal temperatures.

Aerobic bacteria have been selected (e.g. Pseudomonas – various species; Labrys portucalensis sp. F11; Microbacterium sp. U50 and R31; Sphingomonas sp. U33; Streptomyces griseorubiginosus; Bacillus subtilis;) which, alone or in consortium, associated with the roots of aquatic plants, are able to decompose the molecules of contaminants thanks to the action of degrading enzymes. Through phytoremediation, plants capture oxygen from the atmosphere and transport it to the root system, where it is released to the aerobic bacteria which live in symbiosis with the roots and can therefore operate, degrading the organic molecules, transforming them into inorganic molecules.

Since the phytoremediation process requires a lot of time, to obtain greater efficiency, plants with long roots are used, placed in relatively deep waters and where there are no large temperature variations and pH variations. Ideally these requirements will be found at the outlet of sewage treatment plants.

The goals

Our project, in line with the gray color of the tender, has the following objectives:

• reduce pollution caused by antibiotic waste, drugs and pesticides dispersed in watercourses,

• use innovative techniques with low ecological impact and reduced energy costs,

• consolidate an ecological awareness

• use beneficial phyto-elements in the green landscaping of the area,

• recycle the vegetable waste of the selected plants to produce organic compost to be reintroduced into the process as a good practice of the circular economy in accordance with the green color of the tender.

For years, our high school has participated in national competitions and competitions; with numerous failures and just as many successes we have understood the importance of collaboration and interdisciplinarity. This is the philosophy of scientific research. With the Mad for Science 2023 edition we wanted to surpass ourselves: to create a scientific project that included numerous minds, thus favoring a comparison of ideas and thoughts. The work was the result of the collaboration of teachers of different disciplines and students of different ages: the common goal is to preserve the health of the environment:

"The future is in our hands!"

Serena Moltani

We therefore feel obliged to list all those who have contributed, even in their small way, to the realization of our project; we also remind you that we have collaborated with many sponsors, managing to receive feedback and contributions from specialized companies. Our project is an interdisciplinary and complete project, which merges the scientific area with the linguistic-expressive, historical-social and philosophical area. Further proof that:

"Science manages to unite people with different passions." 

Matteo Quistaini