LAUNCH OF THE “SEA CARE” PROJECT

Press Release – ITALIAN NAVY AND ISTITUTO SUPERIORE DI SANITÀ TOGETHER FOR THE HEALTH OF THE PLANET – LAUNCH OF THE “SEA CARE” PROJECT

The Marina Militare (Italian Navy) and the Istituto Superiore di Sanità – ISS (Italian National Institute of Health) signed a memorandum of understanding to study the effects of human activities and environmental and climate change on board the ship Amerigo Vespucci and other naval units at sea

La Spezia, 20 May – This afternoon, on board the sailing training ship Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian Navy and the ISS signed a collaboration agreement called “Sea Care”. Such agreement was signed by the Chief of the Italian Navy, Admiral OF-9 Enrico Credendino, and the ISS President, Professor Silvio Brusaferro.

The research project on health risks, related to the environment and climate in the Planetary Health vision, will last three years and will be carried out through the monitoring of samples collected along the ordinary routes of the training ship Amerigo Vespucci and other naval units of the Italian Navy in territorial and international waters, to collect data on the state of health of the sea.

Among its main objectives, the project aims to create a consistent methodological approach for its entire duration to overcome the limits of the current site-specific analyses on marine pollution, often carried out using inconsistent methods, and to provide an overview of the contamination of our seas and how this all has an impact on human health and climate change.

At the time of signing, during a preliminary expedition, two ISS researchers were already on board the ship Duilio to carry out sampling while crossing the Atlantic ocean. The Unit is currently headed to the United States where it will take part in training activities with the U.S. Navy.

Sampling and laboratory activities will start in June on board the Vespucci, which has been awarded the “UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development” banner by UNESCO. Some ISS researchers will embark on the ship during the summer training camps.

Similar activities will be carried out on board the ship Alliance only by the staff of the Hydrographic Institute of the Italian Navy, in accordance with the protocols agreed upon with the ISS.

The two institutions will coordinate the sampling and analysis activities, which will take place in world-class laboratories specialised in analysing hundreds of persistent contaminants to assess their impact on the environment and human health. The project will also rely on support from ARPAE Emilia-Romagna within the National System for Environmental Protection (SNPA). The environmental agency is a point of reference to get to know marine ecosystems, to study the state of the sea also through satellite observation technologies (realised as part of the Copernicus Programme), to study microplastics and implement the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Another collaboration will be set up with the University of Padua – Department of Analytical Chemistry. These institutions will analyse the impact of microplastics and other persistent and emerging substances, such as perfluoroalkyl compounds, from a health and environmental perspective.

Admiral Credendino emphasised: “Protecting the marine environment is one of the tasks of the Italian Navy and one of the priorities that I have set at the heart of my mandate. Another priority is to improve the health and psychophysical well-being of the Navy personnel. This collaboration manages to achieve both objectives and is an example of how two world-class realities can work together in the interest of the Country System. For many years, the Navy has been carrying out sampling of marine waters, but thanks to this structured collaboration we will be able to better understand the health of our seas, providing the scientific community with fundamental data to work on.”

In highlighting the importance of this joint protocol, the ISS President, Silvio Brusaferro, said: “This project is an example of how the synergy between the Country’s excellences can help redesign future health scenarios from a planetary health perspective. Thanks to this alliance we have the opportunity to develop a standardised approach that will enable us to have an accurate and extensive overview of the state of health of the sea.“

Andrea Piccioli, ISS Director General, who will coordinate the activities for the ISS, focused on the model’s value for the future: “ISS researchers will follow our Navy’s ships all over the world for three years. Young researchers will always be on board to work with the crew and carry out sampling, as they are the most aware of the inseparable link between caring for the individual and caring for the planet. This project is also a tribute to future generations.“

“Health of the seas and human health: the ISS and Italian Navy for Planetary Health” is a unique and innovative programme that makes it possible to study environmental and climate change as a concrete threat to and risk for the delicate balance between human health and state of marine environments, also in a critical scenario as that of the Mediterranean basin which, by extension and density, would represent an open-air laboratory.

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