Fast monitoring of water quality is a fundamental part of environmental management and protection, in particular, the possibility of qualitatively and quantitatively determining its contamination at levels that are dangerous for human health, fauna and flora. Among the techniques currently available, Raman spectroscopy and its variant, Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), have several advantages, including no need for sample preparation, quick and easy operation and the ability to operate on the field. This article describes the application of the Raman and SERS technique to liquid samples contaminated with different classes of substances, including nitrates, phosphates, pesticides and their metabolites. The technique was also used for the detection of the air pollutant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and, in particular, benzo(a)pyrene, considered as a reference for the carcinogenicity of the whole class of these compounds. To pre-concentrate the analytes, we applied a methodology based on the well-known coffee-ring effect, which ensures preconcentration of the analytes without any pretreatment of the sample, providing a versatile approach for fast and in-situ detection of water pollutants. The obtained results allowed us to reveal these analytes at low concentrations, close to or lower than their regulatory limits.

Air trajectory calculations are commonly found in a variety of atmospheric analyses. However, most of reported research usually focuses upon the transport of pollutants via trajectory routes and not on the trajectory itself. This paper explores the major areas of research in which air trajectory analyses are applied with an effort to gain deeper insights into the key points which highlight the necessity of such analyses. Ranging from meteorological applications to their links with living beings, air trajectory calculations become important tool especially when alternative procedures do not seem possible. This review covers the reports published during last few years illustrating the geographical distribution of trajectory applications and highlighting the regions where trajectory application research proves most active and useful. As a result, relatively unexplored areas such as microorganism transport are also included, suggesting the possible ways in which successful use of air trajectory research should be extended.

Economically motivated adulterations of food, in general, and spices, in particular, are an emerging threat to world health. Reliable techniques for the rapid screening of counterfeited ingredients in the supply chain need further development. Building on the experience gained with CO₂ lasers, the Diagnostic and Metrology Laboratory of ENEA realized a compact and user-friendly photoacoustic laser system for food fraud detection, based on a quantum cascade laser. The sensor has been challenged with saffron adulteration. Multivariate data analysis tools indicated that the photoacoustic laser system was able to detect adulterants at mass ratios of 2% in less than two minutes.

An innovative hyperspectral LIDAR instrument has been developed for applications in marine environment monitoring research activities, remotely detecting the fluorescence spectra produced in the spectral interval between 400 nm and 720 nm. The detection system is composed by a custom made photomultiplier charge integrating and measuring (CIM) unit, which makes automatic background signal subtraction, and a liquid crystal tunable filter (LCTF). The new instrument therefore has hyperspectral resolution and allows automatic background subtraction; it is compact and automated by custom software that permit to adapt the instrument properties depending on the environmental conditions. Laboratory tests to characterize the instrument performance have been carried out, concluding that this sensor can be employed in remote sites for Chl-a detection.

Economically motivated adulterations (EMAs) of food and juice are a serious threat to our health. Although several accurate analytical methods are available to detect fraudulent ingredients in the supply chain, fast and user-friendly techniques are still missing, especially if reliable deployment in industrial settings is needed. After many years of application of laser photoacoustic spectroscopy (LPAS) to food fraud detection with CO₂ lasers, the Diagnostic and Metrology Laboratory of ENEA developed a portable and robust prototype based on a quantum cascade laser (QCL) to rapidly and easily identify EMAs in real scenarios. Fruit juice was used as a case study to evaluate its performance. Two EMAs were sensed in a few minutes and chemometrics tools allowed their quantification.