Derogation from drinking water quality standards in Italy according to the European Directive 98/83/EC and the Legislative Decree 31/2001 - a look at the recent past.

BACKGROUND: Until 2012, the European Directive 98/83/EC and the Italian Legislative Decree 31/2001 allowed derogation from the drinking water quality standards in Italy with a number of requests higher than any other European country. The present work aims to assess the extent of the derogation granted in Italy, in particular by noting those issued from 2001 to 2012, in order to obtain a retrospective quality indicator, useful for evaluating the risk arising from population exposure. METHODS: The most significant factors leading to derogation were analyzed. We first carried out an in-depth analysis of the European, national and regional legislation and subsequently distributed the obtained data according to: parameters regarding derogation; length of the derogation; area involved; and maximum parameter value granted by the derogation acts. RESULTS: We found approximately 100 derogation acts, granted in 14 Regions and concerning 19, mostly chemical, parameters. The most frequently granted derogation, in 12 Regions, was due to the presence of arsenic. Furthermore, given its 10-year presence in Campania and Lazio, fluoride was the most widespread parameter in the Italian territory. The year 2006 had the largest number of derogations issued with 22 acts found: this decreased to one during the third three-year derogation granted in 2012. CONCLUSIONS: Data collected showed how often Italy applied for drinking water quality derogation in recent years, going so far as to request a third three-year derogation. While this phenomenon has highlighted a practice largely ignored by the public, derogation acts have often involved the same parameters, underlining how difficult it can be to comply with the standards in a timely manner.

Androgen receptor immunoreactivity in rat occipital cortex after callosotomy.

Gonadal steroidogenesis can be influenced by direct neural links between the central nervous system and the gonads. It is known that androgen receptor (AR) is expressed in many areas of the rat brain involved in neuroendocrine control of reproduction,such as the cerebral cortex.It has been recently shown that the occipital cortex exerts an inhibitory effect on testicular stereoidogenesis by a pituitary-independent neural mechanism. Moreover, the complete transection of the corpus callosum leads to an increase in testosterone (T) secretion of hemigonadectomized rats. The present study was undertaken to analyze the possible corticocortical influences regulating male reproductive activities. Adult male Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups: 1) intact animals as control; 2) rats undergoing sham callosotomy; 3) posterior callosotomy; 4) gonadectomy and posterior callosotomy. Western blot analysis showed no remarkable variations in cortical AR expression in any of the groups except in group I where a significant decrease in AR levels was found. Similarly, both immunocytochemical study and cell count estimation showed a lower AR immunoreactivity in occipital cortex of callosotomized rats than in other groups. In addition, there was no difference in serum T and LH concentration between sham-callosotomized and callosotomized rats. In conclusion, our results showthat posterior callosotomy led to a reduction in AR in the right occipital cortex suggesting a putative inhibiting effect of the contralateral cortical area.