Site of National Interest (SIN), Brescia, Lombardia, Italy
Brescia-Caffaro
The Caffaro chemical plant, inside the city of Brescia, made polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from 1938 to 1984. PCBs, dioxins, mercury and arsenic are found in the soil of the plant, in more than 100 hectares of former farmland downstream and in groundwater.
At a glance
- Status
- Remediation under way
- Area
- 262 ha on land1
- Activity
- since 1909
- People affected
- 211,691 (2019)2
- Media
- soil, groundwater, living organisms
- Kind of site
- chemical works, landfill
- Area. The SIN has two separate perimeters: 262 ha for soil and 2,109 ha for groundwater (ISPRA, June 2024). The 2003 perimeter was amended by ministerial decree of 16 March 2021.
- People affected. Residents of the three site municipalities (Brescia, Castegnato, Passirano) at the 2019 census, according to SENTIERI; not the number of people exposed.
Contaminants
Status
Remediation under way
Soil (262 ha): 32% characterised, clean-up or containment project approved for 21%, procedure closed for 3%. Groundwater (2,109 ha): 8% characterised, project approved for 1%, procedure closed for under 1% (ISPRA, June 2024). On 8 March 2024 the special commissioner awarded the contract for decommissioning, clean-up and permanent containment of the plant in via Milano (Il Giorno).
Story
The Caffaro chemical company began making caustic soda and other compounds by the chlor-alkali process in Brescia in 1909. From 1938 to 1984 it also made PCBs. The plant belonged to the Snia group; the Caffaro companies later went into special administration.
According to the documentation collected by the SENTIERI project, soil and groundwater contain metals (arsenic, mercury, nickel, copper, lead, zinc), PCBs, PAHs, chlorinated aliphatic compounds, chlorobenzenes, pesticides, dioxins and furans. The contamination left the factory and reached the farmland to the south: more than 100 hectares, where farming has been banned since 2002. A first survey by the local health authority found high PCB levels in soil, in food grown in the area and in the blood of the people who ate it.
The site has been a SIN since 2002. In June 2024 the procedure was closed on 3% of the soil perimeter. In March 2024 the contract to dismantle and clean up the plant was awarded.
The abandoned farmland has become a laboratory for rhizoremediation: groups from the universities of Milan and Insubria have used soil from the site to study which plants and which root bacteria speed up the breakdown of aged PCBs and dioxins.
Timeline
- 1909The Caffaro chemical company starts making caustic soda and other compounds in Brescia.
- 1938PCB production begins.
- 1984PCB production ends.
- 2002Law 179/2002 adds Brescia-Caffaro to the Sites of National Interest; farming is banned in the contaminated area.
- 2003Ministerial decree of 24 February: the SIN perimeter is set.
- 2021Ministerial decree of 16 March: new perimeter.
- 20248 March: the contract for decommissioning, clean-up and permanent containment of the plant is awarded.
Health
A survey of a random sample of residents (Donato et al. 2006) found higher serum PCBs in people who ate locally produced food (median 1,143 versus 719 ng/g lipid), with the highest values among those eating food grown in the most contaminated area near the factory (median 2,551 ng/g lipid). In a later sample of 816 adults (Zani et al. 2019) the median was 435 ng/g lipid; serum PCBs were not associated with thyroid hormones, blood glucose, endocrine disease, diabetes or hypertension. A case-control study of 215 non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases and 215 controls found no association with serum PCBs (Magoni et al. 2019).
SENTIERI, Sixth Report (Brescia, Castegnato and Passirano; mortality 2013–2017, hospital admissions 2014–2018): overall mortality below expected in both sexes; in women, excess mortality from respiratory diseases and from liver cancer. Admissions in excess in both sexes for all natural causes, respiratory diseases, liver cancer and bladder cancer; in women also for breast cancer (1,258 cases, SHR 110; 90% CI 105–115). For melanoma, mortality is in line with expected and admissions are below expected.
Remediation
- 2024decommissioning and containment (contract awarded)Contract for decommissioning, clean-up and permanent containment of the via Milano plant awarded to a consortium of companies.
Plants and fungi at this site
PhytoremediationGreenhouse, with soil from the site
Festuca arundinacea, Cucurbita pepo subsp. pepo, Medicago sativa, Phalaris arundinacea
Greenhouse rhizoremediation trial on farm soil from the SIN contaminated with aged PCBs (mg/kg range), in 6 kg pots to approach field conditions. Ten treatments in triplicate: seven species (grasses and trees) and five growing conditions (single species, intercropping, redox cycle by flooding, added compost or ammonium thiosulfate), with unplanted controls, for 18 months. The same experiment produced soil half-lives for PCBs and for dioxins and furans.
Outcome After 18 months total PCBs had fallen by 14–20%. The best treatments (about 20%) were Festuca arundinacea with compost, Festuca arundinacea grown with Cucurbita pepo, and Medicago sativa with Rhizobium and mycorrhizal fungi. PCB half-lives ranged from 1.3 to 5.6 years. For dioxins and furans only Festuca arundinacea gave a significant reduction (11–24% depending on the congener; half-lives 2.5–5.8 years). In a later column test, soil grown with Medicago sativa released about twice as much PCB in leachate, bound to particulate organic carbon.
- Terzaghi E. et al. Rhizoremediation of weathered PCBs in a heavily contaminated agricultural soil: results of a biostimulation trial in semi field conditions. Science of the Total Environment 686:484-496, 2019
- Terzaghi E. et al. A new dataset of PCB half-lives in soil: effect of plant species and organic carbon addition on biodegradation rates in a weathered contaminated soil. Science of the Total Environment 750:141411, 2021
- Terzaghi E. et al. New data set of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofuran half-lives: natural attenuation and rhizoremediation using several common plant species in a weathered contaminated soil. Environmental Science & Technology 54:10000-10011, 2020
- Terzaghi E. et al. Plants radically change the mobility of PCBs in soil: role of different species and soil conditions. Journal of Hazardous Materials 388:121786, 2020
Microbial bioremediationLaboratory, with soil from the site
Rhodococcus spp.
Collection of aerobic bacteria isolated from SIN soil grown in the greenhouse with Phalaris arundinacea and flooded in cycles for three months. The strains, selected on biphenyl and on plant secondary metabolites, were tested for PCB degradation and plant growth promotion, with a view to bioaugmentation with native strains.
Outcome The collection was dominated by Actinobacteria. Three Rhodococcus strains degraded several PCB congeners in vitro, promoted lateral root emergence in Arabidopsis thaliana, colonised the roots and increased plant biomass in PCB-contaminated soil.
Microbial bioremediationLaboratory, with soil from the site
Medicago sativa, Centaurea nigrescens, Dactylis glomerata
Study of the bacteria associated with the roots of three spontaneous plants (Medicago sativa, Centaurea nigrescens, Dactylis glomerata) growing in a former farm field of the SIN after cultivation was banned. Communities described by 16S rRNA gene sequencing; 165 rhizosphere isolates able to grow on biphenyl tested for plant growth promotion and degradation potential.
Outcome Soil fraction and plant species explained 21% and 18% of the variation in the bacterial microbiome. The bphA gene (biphenyl dioxygenase) was present in the soil metagenome. Eleven isolates tested on tomato confirmed the plant growth promotion and protection effect.
PhytoremediationLaboratory, with soil from the site
Lepidium sativum, Eisenia fetida
Four-month vermiremediation test on Brescia-Caffaro soil contaminated with PCBs and dioxins: contaminated soil alone, with the earthworm Eisenia fetida, with garden cress (Lepidium sativum), and with both. Contaminants and nutrients in the percolating water were also measured.
Outcome PCBs, initially about 259,000 ng/kg, fell in all treatments to 160,000–194,000 ng/kg, with no difference between treatments in the total. Dioxins and furans, initially 176 ng TEQ/kg, fell to 79 ng TEQ/kg with earthworms and 73 ng TEQ/kg with cress. Earthworms may increase contaminants and reactive phosphorus in the percolating water.
PhytoremediationGreenhouse, with soil from the site, 2015–2016
Festuca arundinacea, Phalaris arundinacea, Cucurbita pepo subsp. pepo, Medicago sativa, Brassica juncea, Salix caprea, Athyrium filix-femina
The University of Insubria, the University of Milan and ERSAF took about 2,500 kg of soil from the site and grew plants on it in a greenhouse for 18 months (May 2015 – November 2016) in 6 kg pots: ten treatments in triplicate with seven species, intercropping, compost, redox cycles and ammonium thiosulphate, with unplanted controls. It is a semi-field trial, not an open-field one.
Outcome After 18 months total PCBs had fallen by 14–20%. The best treatments (Festuca arundinacea with compost or intercropped with pumpkin; alfalfa with Rhizobium and mycorrhizal fungi) reached about 20%. For dioxins and furans tall fescue alone gave reductions of 11–24% depending on the congener, with half-lives of 2.5–5.8 years. The authors name the short duration, against the persistence of these compounds, as a limit.
- Terzaghi et al., Rhizoremediation of weathered PCBs in a heavily contaminated agricultural soil: results of a biostimulation trial in semi field conditions, Science of the Total Environment, 2019
- Terzaghi et al., New data set of PCDD/F half-lives: natural attenuation and rhizoremediation using several common plant species in a weathered contaminated soil, Environmental Science & Technology, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, 2020
From the literature
Species that acted on one of this site's contaminants in at least one study. The list is automatic and takes no account of this site's soil, concentrations or climate.
Plants
- Agrostis capillarisCommon bentEvidence: field
- Cucurbita pepoZucchini, pumpkinPolychlorinated biphenylsDioxins and furansEvidence: field
- Festuca rubraRed fescueEvidence: field
- Medicago sativaAlfalfa, lucernePolychlorinated biphenylsPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbonsEvidence: field
- Populus × canadensisCanadian poplar (P. deltoides × P. nigra)Chlorinated solvents (TCE, PCE, chloroform)Evidence: field
- Populus × generosaHybrid poplar (P. trichocarpa × P. deltoides)Chlorinated solvents (TCE, PCE, chloroform)Polychlorinated biphenylsEvidence: field
Fungi
- Funneliformis mosseaePolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbonsEvidence: greenhouse
- Rhizophagus irregularisEvidence: greenhouse
- Pisolithus albusEvidence: greenhouse
- Aspergillus nigerBlack mouldEvidence: laboratory
- Agaricus bisporusButton mushroomPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbonsEvidence: laboratory
- Fomitopsis pinicolaRed-belted conkEvidence: laboratory
The rest are on the contaminant pages.
Nearby
SIN, Mantova, Lombardia
Mantua Lakes and chemical complex
64 km
SIN, Pioltello e Rodano (Milano), Lombardia
Pioltello and Rodano (former SISAS plant)
68 km
Former SIN, Cerro al Lambro (Milano), località Cascina Gazzera, Lombardia
Cerro al Lambro
72 km
- Petroleum hydrocarbons
- Mixed waste
SIN, Fidenza (Parma), Emilia-Romagna
Fidenza (former CIP and Carbochimica plants)
75 km
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
- BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes)
- Coal tar
MycoremediationMicrobial bioremediation
Sources
- Siti contaminati di interesse nazionale (indicatore, dati a giugno 2024), ISPRA, 2024
- Riferimenti normativi per i SIN (aggiornamento 31 dicembre 2025), ISPRA, 2025
- SENTIERI. Sesto Rapporto (risultati Nord-Ovest e schede informative dei siti). Epidemiologia & Prevenzione 47(1-2) Suppl 1, Epidemiologia & Prevenzione / ISS, 2023
- Donato F. et al. Exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls in residents near a chemical factory in Italy: the food chain as main source of contamination. Chemosphere 64:1562-1572, Chemosphere, 2006
- Zani C. et al. Polychlorinated biphenyl serum levels, thyroid hormones and endocrine and metabolic diseases in people living in a highly polluted area in North Italy. Heliyon 5:e01870, Heliyon, 2019
- Magoni M. et al. Serum levels of polychlorinated biphenyls and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma: a hospital-based case-control study. Chemosphere 235:969-975, Chemosphere, 2019
- Vergani L. et al. Novel PCB-degrading Rhodococcus strains (site description and coordinates). PLoS ONE 14:e0221253, PLoS ONE, 2019
- Il caso dei SIN Caffaro, un contesto «kafkiano». Ecoscienza 4/2017, Arpae Emilia-Romagna, 2017
- Bonifica Caffaro, aggiudicato l'appalto, Il Giorno, 2024
Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.