Kiera Jefferson
The Venetian Lagoon, located in northeastern Italy, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world's top tourist destinations. The Lagoon, which includes the city of Venice, is a complex ecosystem that has undergone natural and artificial changes over the centuries. While the Lagoon has a long history of human habitation, modern development and industrialization have led to environmental concerns, including pollution. The COVID-19 lockdown provided a unique opportunity to study the impact of human activities on the Lagoon, revealing a decrease in pollution levels. However, the Lagoon continues to face contamination from sewage pipes, fragrance material, and microplastics, threatening its delicate ecosystem and the future of Venice.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Lagoon type | Enclosed bay of the Adriatic Sea |
| Lagoon location | Northern Italy |
| Lagoon size | 550 square kilometres (212 square miles) |
| Lagoon composition | 8% land, 11% open water, 80% mud flats, tidal shallows and salt marshes |
| Lagoon ecosystem | Estuarine |
| Lagoon cities | Venice, Chioggia, Lido di Venezia, Pellestrina, Jesolo, Cavallino-Treporti |
| Lagoon towns | Mestre, Marghera |
| Lagoon industries | Glass, leather, fur, dye works, fish farming |
| Lagoon pollution sources | Chemical plants, agricultural region, industries, tourism, fishing activities, dredging of channels, land use changes |
| Lagoon pollutants | Heavy metals (Hg, Pb, As, Cd, Zn, Ni), POPs (dioxins, PCBs, HCB, PAHs), microplastics, marine litter, water traffic emissions, solid waste, sewage release |
| Lagoon pollution impact | Loss of biodiversity, eutrophication, algae growth, water transparency issues |
| Lagoon protection efforts | Historical: "Provveditori alla Sanità" enforcing rules against pollution; Magistrato alle Acque governing lagoon ecosystem; Present: COVID-19 lockdown reducing pollution levels |
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What You'll Learn
Industrial, urban and agricultural impact
The Venetian Lagoon, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has been inhabited since ancient times. It is an enclosed bay of the Adriatic Sea in northern Italy, with the famous city of Venice at its centre. The lagoon is the largest wetland in the Mediterranean Basin, covering around 550 square kilometres.
The Venetian Lagoon is a transitional environment suffering from industrial, urban, and agricultural impacts. The nation's largest concentration of chemical plants and a very large agricultural region surround the lagoon, which are the main sources of pollution. Industries are the major sources of pollutants such as dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are delivered to the lagoon through point and non-point pollution pathways, as well as atmospheric fallout.
The impact of agriculture on the lagoon is significant, with the Po Valley, a very important agricultural region and the industrial heart of northern Italy, located nearby. The use of pesticides in agriculture has been investigated as a source of pollution in the lagoon, with studies showing a decrease in pesticide concentrations in the sediments over time.
Urban activities, including boat traffic and tourism, also contribute to the pollution of the lagoon. Mass tourism increases marine litter, water traffic emissions, solid waste, and sewage release. The COVID-19 lockdown measures provided a unique opportunity to analyse the impact of human activities on the lagoon, with a significant decrease in many contaminants observed during this period.
Historically, the Venetian Lagoon has been impacted by human interventions. Between the 13th and 16th centuries, Venetian hydraulic projects were undertaken to prevent the lagoon from turning into a marsh, reversing its natural evolution. The settlement of Venetians in the area also contributed to the modification of the lagoon, as the natural tendency for sediment infilling was enhanced by deforestation of the mainland.
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Plastic marine litter
The Venetian Lagoon is facing a growing problem of plastic pollution. Even the untouched ecological haven of the Lazzaretto Nuovo island has suffered from the detrimental effects of plastic pollution. Marine litter is washed ashore by the tide or carried into the lagoon by the wind.
Venice Lagoon Plastic Free (VLPF) is a non-profit organisation that aims to tackle this issue. They conduct shoreline marine litter monitoring sessions and clean-up operations in collaboration with various national and international entities. During their first marine litter monitoring session of 2022, they collected all the marine litter within an area of 100m along the riverside of the Lazzaretto Nuovo. The litter was organised into piles, separated by type, material, and size, and then registered using the MAELSTROM app. This allows for a better understanding of the types of marine litter and the creation of preventive measures and innovative collection and recycling solutions.
On Clean-up Day in June 2023, VLPF conducted a joint clean-up and environmental monitoring initiative in collaboration with the H2020 MAELSTROM and InNoPlastic projects. The initiative involved the participation of about 100 people of different ages and six different nationalities. A total of 1335.72 kilograms of waste was collected, including thousands of glass and ceramic fragments, hundreds of plastic bags and sacks, and plastic bottles.
To address the plastic pollution problem, various technologies and solutions have been proposed and discussed at international workshops organised by VLPF and its partners. These include mechanical recycling, pyrolysis, mechanochemistry, and syngas processes to find new uses for plastic waste. For instance, initial results from converting plastic marine litter from the Venice Lagoon into marine gas oil (MGO) via pyrolysis and distillation have shown approximately 50% (V/V) yield of MGO. However, it is important to monitor and manage specific pollutants that may be generated during these processes, such as ammonia and hydrogen cyanide from polyamide decomposition.
Overall, the issue of plastic pollution in the Venetian Lagoon is a pressing one, and organisations like VLPF are working hard to address it through monitoring, clean-up initiatives, and the development of innovative solutions.
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Chemical plants and oil refineries
The Venetian Lagoon has been subjected to various ecological and environmental issues due to human activities. The industrialisation of the nearby Marghera area in the 1920s played a pivotal role in altering the lagoon's ecosystem. The rapid construction of factories, chemical plants, and oil refineries irreversibly damaged the delicate balance of nature in the lagoon. This period of industrial development, coupled with Venice's unique geography, made the area particularly susceptible to air and water pollution.
The Mestre-Maghera complex, encompassing chemical and oil industries, led to the dredging of new deep navigation channels, further disrupting the ecosystem. The conversion of a large area of the lagoon into solid land had a detrimental impact on the surrounding environment. Industries are the primary sources of pollutants, discharging waste directly into the lagoon and contributing to both water and air pollution. The nation's largest concentration of chemical plants and a sizeable agricultural region surround the lagoon, exacerbating the pollution issue.
The soil in the areas that once hosted refineries and petrochemical plants contains high levels of aliphatic carcinogens, chlorinated substances, hydrocarbons, and dioxins. These pollutants pose risks to both ecological and human health. Studies have been conducted to assess the impact of chronic exposure to these industrial pollutants on the health of the local population, with a focus on the development of non-communicable diseases such as tumors.
The water quality in the Venetian Lagoon is deteriorating due to industrial discharge, plastic pollution, and tourism-related debris. The COVID-19 pandemic offered a brief respite, as reduced human activity resulted in clearer waters. However, the underlying issues remain, and addressing them is a challenge. Venice's reliance on an outdated sewage system further contributes to water contamination, as synthetic chemicals from personal care products enter the canals.
The impact of industrial pollution on the Venetian Lagoon is evident, and efforts to mitigate plastic pollution and reuse water resources are encouraging. However, the lack of comprehensive solutions to the sewage system and the continued presence of atmospheric pollution from smokestacks and factories continue to pose challenges to restoring the ecological health of the Venetian Lagoon.
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Dredging of channels
The Venetian Lagoon is the largest lagoon system in Italy and one of the largest in the Mediterranean Sea. It surrounds the city of Venice, which was built in the 5th century over 118 low-lying salt marshes in the lagoon. The city's unique geography and early dependence on water transportation made it a force in the maritime and mercantile industries through the Middle Ages.
Present-day Venetians continue to depend on these historic canals in their everyday lives. However, pollution from modern development threatens the future of the lagoon, the city, and its inhabitants. The late 19th and early 20th centuries marked the onset of industrialisation and major anthropogenic changes to the ecosystem. During the period from 1924 to 1960, increased urbanisation of the mainland and land reclamation for agriculture, aquaculture, and industry reduced the total surface of the lagoon by 3280 hectares.
A major industrial area, the Mestre-Maghera complex, including chemical and oil industries, was established, leading to the dredging of new deep navigation channels. The first chemical companies were installed in Porto Marghera in the 1920s, and chemical production increased dramatically after World War II, reaching a peak in the 1960s when Marghera was one of the major chemical production centres in Europe. This period of industrialization irreversibly changed the landscape of the lagoon and disrupted the balance of its delicate ecosystem.
Subsequently, both industrial and agricultural pollution (inorganic and organic) and deep-channel dredging had a major detrimental impact on the lagoon ecosystem. Dredging and redeposition of dredged sediments lead to much greater depths of excessive copper and zinc contents. The quality of the sediment near the industrial zone was considered so poor that the entire area was designated a "contaminated area of national interest" in 1999. More recent evidence, however, suggests that the quality of the uppermost lagoon sediment in the vicinity of the PMIZ is slightly improving.
The Venetian Lagoon and its canals face contamination due to sewage pipes and fragrance material contamination. Venice relies on a 16th-century sewage system that releases wastewater directly into its canals through underground channels. While this system was once renowned for its superior hygiene due to twice-daily tides exchanging wastewater from the lagoon with clean water from the Adriatic Sea, it is no longer adequate for managing the sewage demands of modern Venice. Personal care products, such as soap, detergent, and shampoo, commonly contain synthetic chemicals that do not easily degrade in nature and can interfere with the normal breakdown of organic waste. These chemicals run freely into the canals because Venice does not have a method to control their release.
In addition to chemical pollution, everyday activities such as fishing with hydraulic dredges to catch Tapes philippinarum, a bivalve species recently introduced into the lagoon, also contribute to the disturbance of the ecosystem.
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Human intervention
The Venetian Lagoon, located in northeastern Italy, is a system of estuarine lagoons that has been inhabited since ancient times. The city of Venice, also known as "The Floating City," was built in the 5th century over 118 low-lying salt marshes in the Lagoon. The Lagoon has been crucial for the growth and development of the Venetian Republic and its maritime empire, providing a natural defence system and a base for various economic activities such as fishing, hunting, and industry.
However, human intervention has significantly impacted the Venetian Lagoon over the centuries. Between the 13th and 16th centuries, Venetian hydraulic projects were undertaken to prevent the lagoon from turning into a marsh. These projects reversed the natural evolution of the Lagoon, and the pumping of aquifers since the 19th century further increased subsidence. Human activities such as land use changes, pollution, fishing, and dredging of channels have also taken a toll on the Lagoon's environment.
Industrial activities have been a major source of pollution in the Lagoon. In the 1920s, the nearby town of Marghera became an industrial zone, leading to the rapid construction of factories, chemical plants, and oil refineries. These factories released massive quantities of unregulated waste, including dioxins and heavy metals, into the Lagoon for decades before strict environmental regulations were implemented in the 1980s. Even today, non-biodegradable pollutants from this era continue to affect the Lagoon, contributing to the decline in native plant and animal species.
Agriculture has also played a role in the pollution of the Lagoon. Pesticides used in paddy fields and other agricultural activities have contaminated the water, and urban activities, boat traffic, and tourism have further exacerbated the problem. The COVID-19 lockdown provided a unique opportunity to study the impact of human activities on the Lagoon, as the absence of tourists and water traffic led to a significant decrease in pollution levels.
To address the issue of pollution, Venice established the "Provveditori alla Sanità" (health superintendents) in 1465 to enforce strict rules against air and water pollution. In 1501, a special water authority called the "Magistrato alle Acque" was formed to govern the lagoon ecosystem. While these efforts have been made to stabilise and preserve the Lagoon, human intervention has undoubtedly altered the natural balance of this delicate ecosystem.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, the Venetian Lagoon is polluted. It has been inhabited since ancient times, but the level of pollution in the lagoon has been a concern. The lagoon has been impacted by industrial, urban, and agricultural activities.
Industries are major sources of pollutants, which are delivered to the lagoon through point and non-point pollution pathways, as well as atmospheric fallout. In the 1920s, the nearby town of Marghera became a thriving industrial zone with chemical plants and oil refineries, which irreversibly changed the landscape of the lagoon and disrupted its delicate ecosystem.
Efforts have been made throughout history to stabilise and preserve the morphological and ecological features of the lagoon. In the 15th century, industrial activities were regulated, and health superintendents enforced strict rules against water pollution. Today, 80% of wastewater is treated in purification plants, but non-biodegradable pollutants from previous decades continue to affect the lagoon.
