Panel 1
Daniela Romano
The indicator represents the historical series of national heavy metal emissions from 1990 to 2022, by source sector. Since 1990, a reduction in emissions has been recorded for all metals. In particular, emissions of cadmium, mercury, and lead are in line with the internationally set targets under the Aarhus Protocol, having decreased by -63%, -64%, and -95%, respectively, compared to 1990 levels.
Heavy metal emissions primarily originate from combustion processes, both industrial and non-industrial, from production processes, and from the energy sector. Heavy metals are of significant health concern as they persist in the environment, leading to bioaccumulation, and are also recognized as important carcinogens. Among these, cadmium (Cd) is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen (known human carcinogens) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The estimation of total national heavy metal emissions, disaggregated by sector of economic activity, allows for the assessment of emission trends over the period in question and enables a comparison with the target set by the Aarhus Protocol.
The Aarhus Protocol on Heavy Metals (1998), within the framework of the Geneva Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (1979), sets the reduction target for cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb) at the emission levels of 1990 (or alternatively, any other year between 1985 and 1995).
Panel 2
ISPRA, 2024. Italian Emission Inventory 1990-2022. Informative Inventory Report 2024
Data quality assessment
ISPRA (Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research)
http://emissioni.sina.isprambiente.it/inventario-nazionale/
National
1990-2022
Indicator assessment
Estimation made for the preparation of the National Air Emissions Inventory. For air pollutants, the methodology used is that provided by the European Environment Agency (EMEP/EEA Guidebook - 2019). For a detailed description of the estimation methodology, reference is made to the Informative Inventory Report – IIR (https://www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/pubblicazioni/rapporti; https://www.ceip.at/status-of-reporting-and-review-results/2024-submission).
The emissions of cadmium, mercury, and lead are in line with the internationally established targets, having decreased in 2022 compared to 1990 by 63%, 64%, and 95%, respectively. These targets were already achieved in 1993 for cadmium and in 1991 for mercury and lead (Table 1, Figure 1).
Emissions of all three heavy metals are decreasing (Table 1 and Figure 1), thus outlining a positive environmental trend.
Data
Table 1: National Emissions of Heavy Metals by Sector
ISPRA
A: Energy Combustion and Transformation Industry;
B: Non-industrial Combustion;
C: Industrial Combustion;
D: Production Processes;
E: Fossil Fuel Extraction and Distribution/Geothermal;
F: Use of Solvents;
G: Road Transport;
H: Other Mobile Sources;
I: Waste Treatment and Disposal;
L: Agriculture.
The emission values have been updated in accordance with the annual update of the national emissions inventory.
Figure 1: Trend of national heavy metal emissions indexed to 1990.
ISPRA
The emission values have been updated in accordance with the annual update of the national emissions inventory.
Cadmium shows a decrease throughout the period 1990-2022 (-63%), primarily due to the reduction in emissions from industrial combustion (-79%), which in 2022 accounted for 29% of the total (Table 1, Figure 1). The overall reduction in mercury emissions (-64%) comes mainly from industrial combustion (-70%) and production processes (-49%) (Table 1, Figure 1). The reduction in lead emissions has been significant (-95%), especially thanks to the use of unleaded gasoline; it is noteworthy that the road transport sector, which contributed more than 83% on average to total lead emissions between 1990 and 1999, saw its share decrease to about 17% on average during the 2002-2022 period. Lead emissions from industrial combustion, although reduced by 70% since 1990, accounted for 38% of total emissions in 2022 (Table 1, Figure 1).